“Digital asset” has become a common term in marketing these days! They are content that are stored digitally so that you can create, manage, publish and share with anyone inside or outside your organisation. While a lot of people have considered digital assets to only photos and videos owned by an enterprise or individual in the past, the definition of digital asset is constantly changing as new digital formats are emerging in business. Today, common types of digital assets include photos, videos, audio files, presentations, graphics, PDFs, spreadsheets, documents and more. What makes these files a digital asset is the value they bring to the company. Therefore, the key elements that make a file a digital asset to the company are:
• It is owned by an enterprise or individual
• It provides value to the enterprise or individual
• It is searchable and discoverable
Now that you know what a digital asset is, the Digital Asset Management (DAM) system is a system that helps organisations to organise, find, retrieve and share their digital content from one place.
What are the main functions of digital asset management software?
• They centralise the digital assets to a single location in order to maintain the file consistency and integrity. And any file changes that are made can be viewed in a unified history.
• A centralised DAM provides employees, clients, contractors, stakeholders or anyone who is involved with the business dealings of the company-controlled access to their entire digital content library.
• Standardise the different aspects of digital assets including the formats, names, categories etc. so that they are easy to access and edit.
Most digital asset management solutions these days offer much more than just file storage. They provide add-on modules such as brand guidelines and project workflow management tools to drive efficiencies across the entire digital content lifecycle. Some of their key benefits are:
• Quick and easy access. Since they are cloud-based, everyone has 24*7 access to the files from any device with an internet connection. As all the files are centralised to one location, one can find what they need faster.
• Safe and secure digital assets. Files stored in external hard drives have the risk of getting lost. But a DAM system eliminates this risk by ensuring safe and secure storage in one location.
• Secure file sharing. Files are shared from the DAM platform with both internal and external stakeholders within the system. You can also control the way assets are used after sharing.
• Reduce the risk of out-dated files being used. Important assets are easily updated from upon upload ensuring users always use the most up to date content.
• Helps control copyright management. A serious problem that companies face is distribution and usage of digital assets whose rights have expired through unauthorised channels. DAM software checks the copyright situation and even hides the files with expired licence.
You should be aware that digital management systems come in all shapes and sizes depending on the needs and specific use cases of the organisation. For example, while the Branded DAMs focus on marketing and sales materials, the Production DAMs’ focus is on storing, organising and controlling frequently changing files. You’ll have to choose one that best meets your needs. And that is something software providers with good industry expertise and experience like Ramco asset management can help you with!
