What is DAM?
Guide to Digital Asset Management
Digital Asset Management (DAM) software handles the process of collection, storage, enrichment, and distribution of all media assets.
In this complete guide, we’ll dive into:
What is a digital asset?
A digital asset is any file that is stored digitally and is uniquely identifiable. Here’s a breakdown of the types of digital assets that can be managed within a DAM system:
- Images
- Videos
- Animations
- Logos
- GIFs
- PDFs
- Audio files
- Presentations
- Sizing charts
- 3D images
- 360 images
- CAD files
All these assets inform your customers’ buying decisions and enrich the online experience. Even after a customer has completed their online purchase.
DAM – what, how, and why?
What is DAM?
Digital Asset Management solutions offer a central hub where you can gather, store, and enrich all branded assets. They then connect your assets across unlimited sales channels and physical stores for publication.
It serves as a centralized location for different departments, meaning your teams don’t need to work disparately from different systems. Which can cause unnecessary duplication, errors and slow down time to market.
How does it work?
Import
Import multiple formats of rich digital assets from unlimited internal and external data sources, centralizing them into one single location. These can be assets from suppliers, your photography studios, or campaign teams.
Manage
Manage the production, editing, and enrichment of all your assets from a single source of truth. And if your DAM software is integrated with a PIM solution (Product Information Management), your digital assets will automatically associate with the rest of its product data (SKU number, descriptions, translations, etc).
Enrich
Optimize all assets for different sales channels and campaigns easily within the DAM. This includes all relevant metadata such as alt and title tags. Meaning your assets are always sales-ready, with no missing data.
Distribute
Publish your digital assets across unlimited channels, in the unique format required. Easy automation makes this quick and easy for fast time to market.
Why use DAM?
Digital assets play a crucial role at every stage of the buyer journey. Here are some key stats every brand should know about the power of digital content:
- 67% of consumers claim that high-resolution visuals drive more views and conversions than text-based descriptions.
- 82% of global internet traffic in 2022 came from video
- Tutorials and how-to videos were the 3rd highest video type searched worldwide in 2022, at 26.4%
- 60% of consumers prefer to see images that provide a 360 view
Who benefits from using DAM software?
DAM software is utilized across retail, distribution and manufacturing. To put it simply, any business that manages digital assets will benefit from a DAM system. Let’s take a look at how it can assist specific teams:
Studio teams
Studio teams can quickly and efficiently upload everything they’ve been working on to a Digital Asset Management (DAM) platform. Removing manual processes means studio images will be ready for sale much quicker. So other teams (campaign, merchandising, eCommerce etc) make quicker progress too.
Version control tools enable you to see when assets were uploaded, and who by. So only the most up-to-date version is worked on and published across all sales channels.
Product managers
Product managers are responsible for delivering products from design, all the way through to them being ready to sell online. Depending on the industry, this may also include Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).
Any powerful Digital Asset Management software will support file formats such as Computer-Aided Design (CAD) assets, JPEG, PNG, PDF etc. So it’s easy to track the product as it moves through its lifecycle.
Centralized access to all digital assets makes it easy for product managers to ensure there’s consistency across their products.
eCommerce teams
In eCommerce, the primary focus is to create amazing online experiences that keep customers coming back. With the rise of omnichannel and multichannel strategies, social commerce, and personalization, eCommerce teams are increasingly dealing with larger, more complex digital assets.
DAM systems ensure all digital assets are of the highest quality and tailored for different use cases. For instance, DAM ensures all assets meet the specific requirements of each channel. And when it comes to personalization, it enables tailored imagery depending on location, demographics, or buyer intent of the customer.
SEO teams
SEO teams can ensure the relevant metadata with the right keywords are allocated to all digital assets within the DAM. Meaning products have the best chance of appearing on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). This can extend to all types of digital assets, such as care instructions, certifications, and Product Data Sheets.
Powerful storage means SEO teams can also store and optimize video transcripts against product listings. Again, this will give your products the best possible chance of being surfaced in search results.
Sales and marketing
Marketing teams need access to digital assets when planning and running product promotions. Digital assets are crucial when writing the descriptions so they accurately reflect the product. As well as ensuring all assets comply with brand guidelines for cross-channel consistency.
For sales teams, access to digital assets like accreditations or sizing charts, is super important to provide accurate information to customer queries.
The business benefits of Digital Asset Management solutions
1. Save time and speed time to market
Disparate systems often mean you lose time searching for digital assets and duplicating efforts across teams. Manual authorization chains can also hold up publication. DAM systems automate this whole process via a central source of truth, accelerating time to market.
In an integrated DAM and PIM solution like Pimberly, assets are auto-linked to their associated products. Meaning all product data can be held centrally to the individual SKU. This saves teams a mass amount of time in ensuring every aspect of product information is sales ready.
2. Boost productivity
With a cloud DAM system, every team can access everything they need. At any time and from anywhere in the world, provided there’s a secure internet connection.
A powerful DAM solution works via automatic workflows to trigger alerts and move the enrichment process through. So your team members will always know what actions they have and their deadlines.
3. Achieve super SEO
93.12% of search queries across all search engines are done via Google. We know that asset size plays a part in site load speed. So automatically re-size your digital assets stored in your DAM so slow page speeds won’t harm your SEO efforts.
Pimberly DAM automatically generates search-friendly alt image name tags so you’ll always be SEO compliant. And, Pimberly DAM will re-format and name assets as they’re being published to unique channels. So you’ve always got control over SEO titles.
4. Drive discovery and demand across all channels
High-quality digital assets that are fully optimized will ensure your products show up in image and video searches. Differentiated and engaging digital assets also stand you out against the competition and lead to higher click through rates.
Often, customers will be interacting with your products across various platforms. So consistent messaging is super important. Having everything in one place makes it easy to ensure all your digital assets meet your carefully crafted brand guidelines.
Lastly, with popular channels like TikTok and Instagram, having the infrastructure to create and manage this content provides a big competitive advantage.
5. Boost conversion and average order values (AOV)
Capabilities such as zoom and 360 views are known to result in higher conversion rate by replicating that in-store experience. These assets can easily be managed within a DAM solution.
Increase Average Order Values (AOV) with digital assets to show which related products your customers might also be interested in. Think of functionalities like “shop the look” or “shop the room”.
Lastly, launching campaigns with DAM means you’re better equipped to respond to market changes and react to consumer demands. Getting to market ahead of your competitor gives you a head start on maximizing on those conversions.
6. Reduce returns
The average eCommerce return rate is between 20-30%. Online shopping means customers aren’t able to touch and see products in real life. This is where your digital assets really add value. A combination of high-quality images, videos, size, and style guides work wonders to break down the digital barriers.
Is an integrated DAM right for me?
An integrated DAM is already connected to other core marketing systems, like a Product Information Management (PIM) platform. Integrated PIM and DAM platforms allow you to associate all product imagery with the core product data (descriptions, languages etc). Further reducing the need for separate data handling.
To understand if you’ll benefit from an integrated DAM solution, see the features Pimberly offers in our core PIM + DAM platform:
Line Sheets
A line sheet provides granular details on a product, including dimensions, material, variants etc.
The Pimberly platform collates all the information needed to create them from the PIM. This data then populates pre-defined templates to automatically create brand-new line sheets, stored within the DAM. Because they’re connected, any changes made to the product data will reflect in real time. So you know that everyone has access to the most accurate and up-to-date information.
Spec and Sell Sheets
Similar to line sheets, spec and sell sheets are a powerful way of sharing detailed and complex product details with customers. They’re also really handy if you need to provide extra details through the supply chain, or with internal teams.
In the same way line sheets are created, Pimberly can also create unlimited amounts of spec and sell sheets, automatically.
Auto-sizing charts
Auto-sizing charts within Pimberly enable you to easily create accurate, comprehensive sizing charts using the data held within the PIM. Once created, changes to the dimensions will automatically create a new auto-sizing chart.
It’s also possible to create sizing charts based on product hierarchy at either a product or child level.
Catalog
Catalogs are a great way for you to create an even more refined customer experience. Pimberly catalog automates the creation, publication, and editing of your catalogs, all from a central location. Tricky elements of creating catalogs, such as pagination and indexing, are completely automated, saving you a tonne of time and money.
It’s also easy to create localized versions of your catalog, with tailored digital assets for each market you sell to. Connect to pre-made InDesign templates to ensure the formatting of the catalog is consistent with your brand guidelines. This saves creative teams significant time and resources as both text and, importantly – imagery – will be imported in the correct format.
Auto Image Tagging
One of the most time-consuming factors of managing digital assets is making sure they have the correct tags.
With Pimberly AI, tagging your digital assets is totally automated. As you upload your digital assets, Pimberly AI uses powerful technology to identify objects and faces in your assets. It leverages technologies including facial recognition, object auto-tagging, and deep learning to generate the best possible results.
This free’s up time to focus on delivering best-in-class online experiences. It also works wonders in preparing your images for top on-site discoverability.
Audit and compliance capabilities
Pimberly’s integrated DAM software keeps an archive and record of any changes you make to your digital assets. So you’ll always have an audit trail of version history.
Different sales channels have different criteria for the format of their imagery. Within Pimberly PIM, define these criteria for each channel so assets are published with the correct dimensions and resolutions. Ensuring images are fully compliant in this way means your products will always be optimized with the imagery you’ve planned.
Shop the look
“Shop the look” functionality works wonders for increasing AOV. Let’s take an example of a lifestyle shot of an outfit or a fully fitted-out room. By auto-associating the products using the metadata, Pimberly seamlessly creates a ‘shop the look’ experience. It’s also quick and easy to create product relationships within your PIM to create kits and bundles.
When should I consider a DAM solution?
Are you:
- Managing a large number of digital assets across multiple systems and spreadsheets?
- Looking to improve the online customer experience with more varied digital assets, such as zoom or 360 views?
- Looking to personalize digital assets for different geographies and locales?
- Wanting to improve your SEO rankings to drive more discovery and demand?
- Keen to reduce your return rates from poorly represented products?
- Focusing on creating consistency across multiple online and offline customer touchpoints?
- Looking for a way to manage multiple campaign assets efficiently and effectively?
Sound familiar? Request your personalized demo and see how Pimberly’s PIM & DAM will transform product experiences.
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