Edward Boatman • May 19th
Building a brand involves a lot of work, from determining your brand identity to making sure that brand identity is woven into everything you do. Whether you’re launching a new product, posting on social media, or redesigning your website, any content you create to represent your brand should include your brand visuals and other branding elements that people can use to identify your brand.
Maintaining consistency across multiple channels is one of the most difficult aspects of branding. Brands update their logos, colors, and typography all the time, and making sure all your teams have access to the most recent brand visuals can be a hassle. Digital asset management eliminates that hassle by streamlining the creation, sharing, organization, and retrieval of digital assets.
Whether you’re just starting as a small brand or you’re looking to enhance your legacy brand, digital asset management systems are a great resource. Learn more about the benefits of a digital asset management system, how to choose a digital asset management system, and how to get started.
A digital asset management (DAM) system is a system used to create, store, organize, and distribute digital assets. These digital assets often include brand visuals like your logo, color palette, and typography, but your library can also include things like videos, documentation, and other types of graphics.
DAM systems are an alternative to traditional file sharing. Instead of sharing individual files or folders with each team member, you have a centralized library where everyone can retrieve the latest assets.
Digital asset management is a key part of brand enhancement because it helps you maintain consistency across multiple channels of communication. All your teams have access to your latest brand visuals and guidelines, so you can rest assured knowing the content they create will align with your brand.
In addition to improving brand consistency, DAM systems also help increase efficiency. Since teams don’t have to waste time searching for files and you don’t have to manually share them, everyone can save time and use that time to be more productive.
Implementing a DAM system can help you boost your return on investment (ROI) whether you’re creating video content for social media or launching a new campaign with your marketing team.
Implementing a DAM system can be a complex task, but it helps to understand how digital asset management impacts your brand strategy as a whole. From your brand identity to your marketing strategy, digital asset management can help you create a more effective brand strategy. Here’s what you need to know.
Planning and launching a marketing campaign involves a lot of work and a lot of moving parts. Digital asset management can help streamline your marketing campaign and enhance collaboration across teams.
Efficiency is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to marketing. Marketing campaigns can be very expensive, and inefficiencies result in even higher costs. Implementing a DAM system means you don’t have to waste time manually sharing files with your design and marketing teams. As long as you’ve got your latest brand visuals in your library of digital assets, all your teams will be able to retrieve them and start working.
This efficient process also means teams can collaborate seamlessly without a loss of productivity. If your marketing team is waiting for your design team to complete a graphic or video, you’re not maximizing productivity. With digital asset management, your design team can work more efficiently to deliver the materials your marketing team needs to move forward with the campaign.
The streamlined nature of DAM systems also allows you to change how you shape your marketing strategy since you have more available resources.
Your brand identity is how people recognize your brand. Think of some of the biggest brands you know; McDonald’s has the Golden Arches and red-and-yellow color palette, while Nike has the iconic swoosh and the “Just Do It” slogan. These brands are so recognizable because their brand identity is woven into everything they do.
Digital asset management allows you to create a centralized library of all your digital assets, including logos, graphics, color palettes, typography, and brand documentation. Normally, you’d have to manually share these assets with new and existing teams before starting your next project.
Instead, you can simply replace the files in your DAM system with the latest versions of those files, and the changes will be reflected for every user. Since everyone sees your latest logo and color palette, you can be confident that any content they create will represent your brand.
Consistency is one of the biggest benefits of a digital asset management system, but it’s not just about making sure people are using the latest visuals. Your library can also include your brand guidelines, providing design and marketing teams with a detailed set of instructions on how to use your brand assets.
As you become more familiar with digital asset management and expand your library of assets, you’ll learn how DAM systems can help you shape and maintain your brand identity.
Implementing a digital asset management system is one of the biggest challenges. You have to choose the right DAM solution, upload and organize all your digital assets, and integrate your DAM system with the software you’re currently using. In this section, we’ll break down everything you need to know to get started with digital asset management.
Digital asset management plays a key role in enhancing efficiency and consistency. Since everyone has access to your latest brand visuals, content creation is streamlined, which saves you time.
The time you save can be spent on other tasks that are more beneficial to your project. Even better, you don’t have to spend an eternity onboarding new teams to make sure they have up-to-date copies of your logo, color palette, and other assets.
Consistency is essential in branding, and digital asset management helps you ensure consistency across teams. Everyone can use the same brand visuals, so you don’t have to worry about your website using a different logo and color palette than your social media profile.
You can measure the ROI of digital asset management using a simple formula:
(Gain from DAM - Cost of DAM) / (Cost of DAM) * 100 = ROI
Before you get started, it’s important to know how to choose a digital asset management system that works for you. There is a wide range of DAM systems available, but they vary widely in terms of pricing, features, and ease of use.
Start by making sure your DAM solution can handle the volume of files you need to store. Some brands may have a few dozen digital assets, while others may have thousands of brand visuals and PDFs for documentation. If you’re a smaller brand, look for a cost-effective option that can scale as your digital library grows.
Next, you can focus on the features your DAM solution offers. When you’re looking at features, you want to look for time-saving features and features that make your DAM software more robust. Here are some of the features we recommend keeping an eye out for:
Consider trying a few free trials to see which DAM system works best for you. You might prefer one user interface (UI) over another. Sometimes it just comes down to what feels right for you.
Implementing DAM and integrating your assets and software can be a lot of work, but following a handful of best practices can make your life easier.
Start by creating a taxonomy and naming convention for your digital assets. When you upload new assets, you can use standard tags and naming formats to make sure those assets are easy to find.
You should also create a training manual for new and existing teams. Include the tags you commonly use and a search guide to make it easier for teams to find the assets they need.
The benefits of a digital asset management system can’t be understated, but there are common pitfalls people run into. Here are some of the obstacles you might face with digital asset management.
When you’re storing all your brand visuals and other digital assets in a centralized library, security is a concern. It’s important to make sure you’re only giving access to the team members who need to have access to your DAM system.
Data privacy can also be an issue, especially when it comes to regulations. You’re responsible for safely handling customer data, so you need to make sure your DAM system is secure and compliant if you’re storing any customer data there.
Implementing a DAM solution can be an overwhelming process if you’re new. You have to spend time uploading and organizing all your files, and you have to make sure your teams know how to use your DAM system to find what they’re looking for.
While integrating and adopting digital asset management can take a while, it’s worth the time and effort.
Your return on investment will depend on the cost of your DAM system, the size of your company, and how much time you save through digital asset management.
To get a better idea of what the cost looks like for your company, feel free to use our pricing calculator.
The best digital asset management systems are designed for security and compliance, protecting your digital assets at all times.
The sheer volume of files can make implementation a challenge. It can also be difficult to keep your digital assets organized if you’ve got a larger library of assets.
Digital asset management is one of the most effective ways to streamline content creation and build a more consistent brand. If you want to save time and money while enhancing your brand, consider investing in a DAM system.
Lingo makes it easy to implement digital asset management to streamline your business. With features like AI-enhanced search and automatic file conversion, we help you save as much time as possible. Contact us to learn more or start your free trial to try Lingo today.