Integration with other systems
archiving
Work anywhere and anytime
Overview and findability
Uniform corporate design
Import & export files
Digital asset management can make many work steps easier and more productive in a company. Learn more about organizing digital media with a DAM here.
Managing digital media with digital asset management (DAM)
Here is a picture, there is a video and somewhere a folder with last year's presentations. As chaotic as it sometimes gets on your own desktop, some company drives that are used as media storage are just as disorganized. But especially in the course of digitization and the increasing concentration on online content, access to digital files, also known as assets, is becoming increasingly important. However, these are still often simply stored locally on individual computers and therefore have to be searched for or even purchased several times. Digital asset management, DAM for short, helps companies manage their assets and digital content and make them centrally accessible.
What is digital asset management?
With DAM software, you can look at any form of Present a database in which digital assets, i.e. media files such as graphics, images, videos, music, texts or presentations, are stored and organized. This applies from a simple photographer's image database to a marketing portal for decentralized companies. These databases are intended to store and Simplify asset management and unify all digital content in one central location. In general, this storage is part of content management and is sometimes also referred to as media asset management (MAM). This DAM software can be used purely internally within the company or in cooperation with external suppliers and partners as well as press contacts.
Find and organize files
Digital asset management (DAM) can make many work steps easier and more productive in marketing and in companies. The most important point in digital asset management (DAM) is to create a platform on which all assets and content are easy to find. This is done by importing all images, videos, content, and other media files here. From this collection, exactly the assets and content required for the planned work step can now be downloaded and exported elsewhere, such as when creating advertising material in marketing. To make it possible to find the right asset in the shortest possible time, Additional metadata can be stored on the files, which helps with research and clarity. For example, you can search for and filter the properties of an image. Another advantage of this central storage is that, at the same time, All digital assets are archived, meaning that nothing is lost and does not have to be purchased multiple times.
Brand Management
In addition to being used as a database, a DAM system can can also be used as a brand portal solution to ensure a uniform implementation of the corporate identity in marketing and to provide all participants in the company with the necessary information. In addition, consistency can also be ensured by automatically generating watermarks and other recognition features. By storing them in a central location, assets can also be easily accessed in most cases regardless of time and location (e.g. by different teams), which is a great advantage, especially in the flexible working world of the 21st century. In order to further simplify the work steps, a DAM system usually also offers the option of connecting them to other systems (via interfaces). For example, a web shop solution, web-to-print systems or marketing management systems can directly access the individual digital assets through integration, which are still physically in the DAM software.
What are the benefits of digital asset management?
- Organized storage of files (digital assets) and content
- Easy search and find assets and content through metadata
- Easy sharing of files within a company or between partners and teams
- High brand consistency (corporate identity) in various projects
- Share files (digital assets)
- Increased security (less lost content)
- Save time and increase productivity
- Saving local storage space
- Cloud-based systems can be accessed from anywhere
- Management of distribution and copyrights
In which areas is DAM software used?
In order to take advantage of these advantages and functions and to see whether digital asset management software is also suitable for your own company, it is advisable to take a closer look at the areas of application. In itself, a DAM solution can be used in all areas where digital content is being worked with. This is particularly useful in the digital and online sectors as well as in marketing. Industries that have been using such database systems for a long time include the music and film industry as well as in photography. But it is not only in the media sector that it is important to manage content correctly; smaller start-ups and large corporations are also already using DAM to simplify their processes and provide employees and teams with a single point of contact for digital assets. Here, it is primarily the marketing, sales and PR departments that find the content they need for their own work through digital asset management. They usually use the images and content to layout advertising materials or create presentations. In public relations and also in cooperation with agencies and partners, DAM software is particularly suitable for file exchange. All in all, it means that digital asset management is relevant for companies that work with images or digital content.
How do I choose the right software?
- Get an overview: Talk to potential users whether a system can support their daily work
- Identify features: Prioritize and select the most important functions and benefits ü Identify savings: How worthwhile is the system in terms of ROI?
- Define the system's payment method: One-time purchase or software as a service?
- Investigate file management: How should metadata (tags) be used to organize?
- Calculate number of users and storage space: How many users and storage space are required in the DAM solution?
How can I obtain a DAM system?
Software purchase
One such After purchase, a license-based management system is installed on individual computers or in the internal corporate network. In order to be able to access each other's content, the brand's employees and partners must therefore be in the same network. The initial purchase of digital asset management is seen as a one-time, major investment. Additional annual maintenance fees (approx. 20% of the purchase price) must often be paidso that the latest software version is available to you. Only then can it be ensured that bug fixes and security gaps are also resolved by the provider.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
SaaS systems are a Cloud hosting, in which the system is not made available on computers, but online via a web app. This has the advantage that employees can access images, videos, presentations, content, and content from any location. All you need is an existing Internet connection. However, the reference is based on a cloud system associated with monthly rental costs. However, using this subscription to the software, users will provided with new features and updates.