The path to DAM success

Do any of the following describe your approach to digital asset management?

• File storage and accessibility through cloud applications like DropBox or Google Drive.
• Making other applications—like SharePoint, Slack or Outlook public folders—do the job.
• Relying on file names or hashtags for discoverability, with some that are highly descriptive and others uselessly vague—and even though you’ve created naming conventions, they’re not used consistently.
• Organization by folders.

These and other tactics can work for some time and some purposes, but they don’t integrate into a cohesive system. They don’t streamline or save time. They keep your digital assets—designs, pictures, videos, presentations and more—from being the useful, valuable resources they could be.

And, there comes a time in most organizations when this splintered approach to managing digital assets no longer works, especially as file volumes continue to grow exponentially.

A brief explanation of digital assets

Digital assets are digital files that result from a creative process. They could be the work of someone like a graphic designer, engineer, architect, writer, software developer, thought leader, artist, photographer, musician or subject matter expert. Digital assets are the building blocks of content. While not tangible, they have value, especially in a digital world.

In corporations and other enterprises, digital assets are most commonly created and used by a few departments or user groups like marketing and product development. They are needed for branding, product design, engineering, training and communications.

Yet digital assets are being created by nontraditional users too. The increasing sophistication of smartphones and tablets and other personal technology has made everyone a potential creator of digital assets, while social media has made everyone a publisher. In fact, social media is driving much of the growing demand for digital assets.

Why your organization needs a cohesive DAM approach

A growing number of diverse users are both creating and requesting the use of digital assets. Communication is now mostly digital, and most content is born digital. Even traditional print formats like annual reports are made available electronically.

Other reasons to adopt a strategic view of digital asset management include:

• Your valuable, creative digital works won’t get lost, duplicated, buried, unused or misused.
• DAM systems give the capabilities, capacity, speed and scalability to process large digital files more quickly, efficiently and accurately.
• Different roles can be assigned to control access and automate management of license agreements to protect copyrights and reduce the risk and consequences of copyright violations.
• You can incorporate metadata for order, visibility and awareness to maximize appropriate use and truly leverage the value and utility of your creative works.

Perhaps most importantly, DAM systems control distribution over any number of different channels and to different user groups, including websites, social media, e-commerce, microsites, intranets, other applications and more.

Successful DAM: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Please note the DAM webinar has now ended. Check out this post for a full recap of the event as well as links to the webinar recording and slide deck.

That’s why LAC Group is collaborating with Bynder to deliver a webinar on a cohesive approach to digital asset management, one that incorporates strategy, tools, processes and best practices. Two DAM experts will share their knowledge on how you can provide transparency, access and opportunity into your media assets. Together, they will tell you all you need to know to implement and manage successful DAM systems while avoiding common pitfalls, like poor metadata practices or lack of input from all user groups.

DAM expertise

Our own DAM expert, Phil Spiegel, has extensive experience leading large commercial and broadcast film, video and image archives including National Geographic and Getty Images. He currently manages content operations for a major LAC Group client in broadcasting news and entertainment. Phil is a frequent contributor to webinars, articles and conferences on digital asset and content management topics.

Joining Phil will be DAM Consultant Emily Kolvitz from Bynder. Emily’s digital asset experience comes from retail, an industry with extensive DAM requirements, where she was digital asset manager for JCPenney. With training in library and information science, Emily also brings understanding of critical concepts like cataloging and user accessibility.

It is not an exaggeration to say that between them, Phil and Emily have managed and optimized millions of digital assets over the course of their DAM careers.

Helpful DAM implementation tips and advice

We’re excited to bring this webinar to the growing number of people who are tasked with digital asset management responsibility. Attend this webinar, The path to DAM success, to learn and better understand the following:

• Key differences between DAM as product and DAM as practice
• How to evaluate a DAM vendor beyond features
• Common barriers to DAM adoption
• What successful DAM implementations look like

We invite you to join us in this collaborative effort that marries technology with strategy and process—what a concept! It’s for managers and decision-makers who are in discovery mode, ready to move away from splintered, ineffective solutions or ready to start a brand-new implementation.

Don’t take another DAM step without guidance!

If you have any questions or issues you would like Phil and Email to discuss, please submit your request as soon as possible. And we invite you to share a link to this post with colleagues who may be interested in knowing more about digital asset management.