Introduction

The world is going digital, as consumers, we’re all accustomed to speed and convenience. We want information on any device. It’s crucial for companies to manage their digital assets—to make sure the content created by employees and partners reaches the right people on time. Digital Asset Management or DAM software helps corporate marketers, designers and editors keep track of their in-house images, videos and audios and create new assets on demand.

What are Digital Assets?

Digital Assets are files stored on a computer or a network. They can be images, videos, CAD diagrams, etc.

In order for Digital Assets to be useful in your organization, you need to store and organize them in a logical manner.

Create folders that reflect the structure of your digital asset repository and store each type of digital asset in its own folder (e.g., photos/images; videos/movies).

Name folders and files as best practices dictate (e.g., date format YYYYMMDD; title plus description; descriptive name).

Why manage Digital Assets?

Providing a structure helps your digital assets grow and develop in a healthy manner, and withstand challenges that may arise due to extraordinary circumstances.

You need to know how to take care of your digital assets so they can remain a part of your brand strategy for a long time in the future.

Digital assets are an investment in both time and money—but if you’re not managing them efficiently, chances are you aren’t seeing returns on those investments.

How can you manage Digital Assets?

There are many types of DAM software, and some will be more suitable for your needs than others. The most important thing is that you choose a system that can meet all your requirements.

Let’s take a look at what makes DAM software so powerful:

It can manage any type of digital asset from multiple sources. This means if you want to create an online library of all your company's files, the software should allow you to include files from different employees and departments in one place. If each employee has their own way of storing their images on their computer or phone, this becomes harder to do with things like Dropbox alone. In this situation, using DAM software becomes essential because it brings everything together to be organized and managed easily by one person (the person running the DAM).

How to find the right DAM software?

When looking for a DAM software, it’s important to find out what the software can do. You need to know what you require and what the software can do in terms of functionality.

But there are also other factors that come into consideration when making the choice.

What kind of content is the system compatible with? Can it handle audio files and video clips? Does it support all types of images (JPEG, GIFS, PNG)? What about PDF documents? Etc.

Is there a maximum size limit for files? If so, how large are they allowed to be without causing problems in terms of performance or security issues?

Does this DAM allow users access from anywhere (including mobile devices) by using their own credentials or does it require an additional piece of software installed locally on each computer used by authorized employees?

The importance of managing digital assets

Digital assets are an important part of your business.

Managing digital assets is key to protecting your business from risk.

The benefits of managing digital assets include:

Minimizing cost and risk by knowing what you own, where it is and how it's being used

Avoiding unexpected liabilities that can result from lost or stolen data (e.g., intellectual property theft)

Increasing the value of your company by making sure that you have access to all the intellectual property (IP) rights associated with your content

Conclusion

The digital asset management (DAM) software market is expected to grow from $6.5 billion in 2018 to $24.8 billion by 2025 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28%. The key drivers for this growth include increasing adoption of DAM software across industries such as retail, media & entertainment, manufacturing and others, growing corporate spending on IT systems integration and outsourcing services for managing digital assets.