What Is a Digital Asset Management Plan?
by Lumavate | Last Updated: Feb 24, 2024
What Is a Digital Asset Management Plan?
Today’s organizations need to have access to a way to manage all of their digital assets in a meaningful and accessible manner and share those files as needed with ease. There are various ways to do so, including the use of a digital asset management plan or platform. Simple to use, depending on the type selected, it can provide organizations with the support they need in a variety of situations.
What Is Meant by Digital Asset Management?
Digital asset management (DAM) is a type of software that makes it possible for organizations to store their digital files. It sounds simple enough, but the right digital asset management software is far more robust in what it does and how it works than the typical use of a spreadsheet.
With digital asset management platforms, organizations are able to store, manage, and share their digital files. The DAM is accessible to multiple parties and shared across multiple departments within the business. It can be used both internally and externally. Externally, it allows partners, like agencies and channel partners, to have access to the most accurate and up-to-date information.
What Are Examples of Digital Assets?
Most organizations have some digital assets. They are any type of data or information that is managed in any type of digital format. Some of the most common examples include:
Images
Documents
Video files
Audio files
Manufacturers, for example, typically have a great deal of assets like this available to them for their products. That includes items such as:
Product images
How-to videos
Owner’s manuals
Troubleshooting videos
Product data sheets
What Is a Digital Asset Management Plan?
The key to utilizing a DAM is to have a plan or a way to implement the digital asset management tool for the first time. Having a solid strategy for putting the plan in place is critical to ensuring the process works the way you desire and that there are few problems and complications over time. The implementation and long-term usage of the platform are dependent on your ability to create and input this plan.
Most digital asset management implementation plans will include the following steps.
Define the Objective
The initial step is to determine why you’re implementing a DAM tool.
Do you hope to have a single location for storing and managing digital assets?
Are you working to create better brand consistency?
Do you want to reduce the time spent looking for assets?
Determine what the main objective is. That will help to formulate the process and build the plan.
Identify Relevant Team Members
Often, multiple people within an organization will be involved in the use and management of the DAM. As a result, some of those people should be involved in the planning process for the DAM tool.
Within most organizations, the DAM tool is maintained and operated by the marketing team. There are other members of other teams, though, that still need to have access and must be able to contribute to the tool.
Define who this is in your organization. It could include:
The marketing team
Product management team
Team members from sales
Customer support teams
Product marketing teams
IT teams
Any member who should be included in the oversight and management of the DAM tool should be involved in the evaluation and implementation processes.
Evaluate Available DAM Vendors
A variety of vendors that offer a digital asset management solution are available, though they are not the same. As you make a list of those to consider, there are five key questions you need to answer about each one:
What is the primary problem(s) we’re trying to solve with the DAM?
How many digital assets do we have, and what types?
How will we structure the taxonomy of our digital assets?
What other systems do you need to integrate with?
Where and how will the digital assets be used?
With answers to these questions, you can start to determine which is the best DAM solution for your business.
Organize Your Current Digital Assets
Most often, this is the most cumbersome component of the process. Many companies have digital assets that are stored in countless locations.
Spend the time now gathering this information so you can begin to gain access to the necessary tools and resources. Discuss these digital assets available in all areas of the business. It is not possible to implement the DAM tool if you do not have these assets organized and located.
Setup Tagging Structure
The next step is to set up a tag system. Tags allow organizations to easily filter through their digital assets to find what they need faster. This makes the best use of the DAM platform and saves both time and money.
Determine what your tagging structure will be now before you start to implement the DAM solution. The key to success is to have consistency from the start. That way, when you begin to add assets, you have a clear, easy way to identify what tags are used and how digital assets can be located with them.
Implement DAM Software
The process of adding digital assets to the selected DAM tool will require some time, depending on the type of tool you’ve selected. The previous tag structure is also a concern. You will also need to add users with specific roles and permissions to the tool. Be sure to assign them the level of access they need.
Some DAM solutions, like Lumavate, give you the ability to create and launch brand portals within your organization. That lets you easily share digital assets with team members within various departments, marketing agencies, channel partners, and others. Determine if you will need this and assign those roles as required.
Train Team Members
The final component of implementing digital asset management tools is training your team. Do not skip this step. You will likely benefit from having multiple training sessions for different user levels.
The marketing team, for example, typically needs hands-on training where all aspects of the DAM software should be trained. The sales team may need most but not all of those tools, providing them with just the level of access they need for the assets stored in the DAM platform via the brand portal.
What Is a Digital Asset Management Company?
The top digital asset management systems provide a wide range of features and tools. Prominent DAMs include some of the most well-known brands. Some digital asset management examples include:
Adobe
Canto
Bynder
Brandfolder
These four organizations are standalone DAMs. In these situations, you have to use a third-party solution or agency and developers to create digital experiences. That can lead to high costs, especially when using a product like Adobe, which requires a significant lead time. Not all digital asset management companies are the same.
When it comes to the best DAM systems, there are various factors that must be considered, including digital asset management pricing, features, time to implement, and overall ease of use.
Lumavate is a bit different and one of the best digital asset management solutions as a result. What makes it different is that it not only offers DAM but also includes a full Product Information Management (PIM) and Digital Experience Platform (DXP) on its platform. That means it provides a way for seamless built-in integrations to the DAM for users.
Also, note that Lumavate’s DAM can be associated with product records in only a few clicks and used in digital experiences built without any technical resources.
Learn more about how Lumavate works by taking a demo of the product now.