Who Manages a Digital Asset Management System?

Digital assets have become the new currency of a complex, ever-changing online landscape. Understanding their management and effective organization is crucial to success in an evolving world.

A digital asset management system, or DAM, is one such solution to organizing digital assets. The best ones allow you to integrate with your tech stack and create streamlined digital experiences without the need for technical resources.

But who manages a digital asset management system? And what teams are tasked with its ongoing management?

Let's answer this question in greater detail in the upcoming sections below.

What Is an Example of a Digital Asset?

Digital assets include images, documents, and video files, as well as other records you can store in a digital environment.

A few other examples of digital assets include:

• Forms

• Text

• Audio files

Most small to medium-sized businesses own a small number of assets. However, enterprise brands control hundreds if not thousands of unique pieces.

The management of these digital assets requires significant forethought and planning. This includes sourcing digital management solutions to retain and organize your digital assets.

What Helps Manage Digital Assets?

The most effective way to manage digital assets is with the assistance of a digital asset management (DAM) solution. A DAM enables teams to  centrally store manage, and share digital files.

Here's what it looks like to acquire digital asset management software:

• Once you find a solution for your company, you can begin moving branded assets into the platform.

• Then, you can organize all assets with tags so you can instantly find and share curated files with your team.

• This improves productivity for multiple stakeholders and reduces communication silos and the misuse of certain assets.

Digital asset management solutions may see use in other departments, including PR, sales teams, and customer success. External designers, writers, and photographers may also need access, as well as remote help desks and channel partners like retailers and vendors.

What Is an Example of a Digital Asset Management System?

There are many different types of digital asset management companies on the market. Let's take a look at six of the most prominent:

1. Lumavate: This is one of the best digital asset management systems as rated by G2 users. Marketers can store unlimited virtual assets with virtually all file types supported. Since there are no IT resources required to launch, the platform is 75 percent more cost-effective for brands.

2. Acquia: This is a SaaS platform built around Drupal, which is an open-source CMS. Because Acquia is a Drupal-only hosting solution, it's not the right fit for many brands.

3. Adobe: Adobe is a computer software company known for tools like Photoshop and Acrobat. It also offers a DAM solution — although its high cost may not be feasible for most brands. Even if you do want to try using their DAM, keep in mind there may be a lengthy implementation time before launching your solution.

4. Canto: Canto is a DAM built for a variety of businesses. Because it's not heavily focused on product-based industries, it may not offer all the features your business needs to manage product data. Keep in mind you may have to pay for features you don't need, such as a worldview of your files with the Geo View tool.

5. Bynder: Bynder uses AI integrations to quickly retrieve your assets. Unlike Lumavate, however, it's not combined with a product information management (PIM) solution or digital experience platform (DXP). Users also report a steep learning curve, even for teams with existing DAMs.

6. Brandfolder: Brandfolder's DAM is marketed towards creatives, marketers, and agencies. However, it doesn't offer a free trial to users, unlike platforms like Lumavate. Plus, past users complained of a difficult onboarding process that left many team members confused about the next steps.

You should know the last four DAM vendors on this list are considered standalone DAMs. This means they require you to use a third-party solution (like agencies and developers) to create digital experiences for your brand. Lumavate, however, doesn't require any technical resources to set up. It's possible to prepare for your DAM in just a single day of onboarding.

Additionally, Lumavate offers a full PIM and DXP in addition to its DAM. These are seamless, built-in integrations to the DAM experience, making it simple and easy to centralize the management of both digital assets and product data.

You can associate product records with Lumavate's DAM in a few simple clicks. With so many solutions for digital experiences, we remain one of the best DAM systems for growing CPG, manufacturing, and medical device companies.

Who Manages a Digital Asset Management System?

A DAM is usually owned by the marketing department and typically controlled by the digital asset manager. The digital asset manager job description includes monitoring, adding to, and curating the database for quality. The marketing team is generally responsible for creating the taxonomy of content, as well as ensuring only approved branded content becomes available in the DAM.

In most organizations, the marketing department provides other business sectors with the ability to access or view the DAM. They may be allowed to pull approved branded content or suggest improvements or even additions to the lineup.

Keep in mind you can share a DAM with external partners, agencies, and channel partners. This allows you to streamline PR and brand awareness campaigns, saving more time to focus on complex tasks.

With Lumavate, you can connect your assets to a larger management ecosystem and empower your marketers to create seamless digital product experiences. Our digital asset management tools help you take a holistic approach to storing, retrieving, and optimizing product data. This allows you to build branded customer experiences, centralize product data, and manage digital assets all in one platform.