How to Achieve Success With Small Business Digital Asset Management

What is digital asset management?

Digital asset management encompasses all guidelines and best practices for the sharing of digital files among several parties. DAM includes not just what you see when you open your files, but also the information underlying them, including metadata and engagement tracking. 

“Digital asset management is essentially the organization of a business’s digital files,” said Laura Grant, a senior marketing manager at BlueSky Solutions who organizes all the company’s digital assets. Grant added that the best document management software, which powers digital asset management, must offer “secure storage, easy access and sharing, clear cataloging and file naming, searchability and tagging, and version control.”

In short, DAM governs the cloud systems to which your team uploads and stores its work, enables the sending of digital assets to other parties and builds the backbone of most modern companies.

How can small businesses benefit from digital asset management?

Small business DAM solutions are ideal for organizing, storing and sharing the rich media resources of a company. That’s because different teams, channels and departments need to store and share creative assets, such as videos, images, podcasts and media in other formats, to accomplish the organization’s goals.

“DAM can improve workflow efficiency, enhance collaboration and provide a secure repository for valuable digital files,” said Alex Li, the founder of StudyX who also oversees the company’s DAM. “It also ensures brand consistency and reduces the risk of content misuse. By reducing redundancy and saving time in content searches, DAM systems can lower operational costs.”

In an era defined by digital communication and remote work, effectively managing digital assets is the only real way to adequately streamline your workflow. Without managing your digital assets, you can’t easily convey key information – such as project updates or newly generated invoices – to your clients and vendors. DAM gives your company a computerized filing system with folders for all your needs. It’s a digital space that holds much more information than a physical file cabinet ever could.

Traditionally, DAM systems were too expensive for many small businesses. But the cloud has revolutionized today’s DAM software by delivering a better user experience and more features at prices smaller companies can afford. Here are some of the ways small businesses benefit from DAM software:

• Saving time by integrating DAM software into existing workflows
• Adding a layer of protection from theft and privacy with cloud-based DAM systems
• Spending less money on hardware storage with cloud-based DAM systems
• Improving efficiency by using a DAM tool, rather than a team of people, to handle digital assets
• Increasing productivity with faster deployment of marketing materials and campaigns
• Easily accessing assets for team members and co-workers from one centralized location
• Fine-tuning how assets are uploaded and distributed, such as by setting expiration dates and file permissions
• Ensuring brand consistency by reducing the chances of someone using an older version of branded materials across campaigns and channels
• Saving time and money by reusing assets
• Making companies more accessible, thus helping businesses connect with their customers

Who benefits from digital asset management software?

Virtually everyone involved in any business transaction benefits from DAM software. That’s largely because proper management of your digital assets puts all your key materials in reach with just a few clicks while storing these files in the cloud. As such, you’ll never spend money or time searching for or replacing lost materials, and you and your team will benefit from DAM software.

“[DAM] enables businesses to efficiently manage their content in a centralized location, allowing teams to access, share and distribute assets while maintaining consistency and control over IP,” Li said.

Your clients, vendors and other business partners will benefit from DAM software as well. You’ll need just a few seconds to share files stored in your DAM system with people from outside your organization, and you can easily do so while permitting only certain people to access your files. Most DAM platforms include security safeguards that limit access to a predetermined group, so you can share sensitive files outside your organization while protecting your business’s information. With this fortified security comes more trust between you and the many third parties with which you work.

“[DAM] can keep sensitive assets secure and accessible only by authorized people,” Grant said. “If done properly, a good DAM system is a huge benefit to an organization.”

What are some useful digital assets for small businesses?

Digital assets are pieces of content that are stored digitally and are valuable to a business, a consumer or a user. These are the most common types:

• Photos
• Videos
• Slide decks, such as Google Slides and PowerPoint presentations
• PDFs
• Excel spreadsheets
• Text files
• Word documents
• Graphics, such as logos
• HTML documents and associated files, such as CSS
• Audio files

Some digital assets are more valuable than others. For example, videos and photos from a one-time event can’t be replaced. Small businesses often pay a licensing fee for the right to use a photo or video. If the company can’t find the asset, the only option is to pay another licensing fee, which is a waste of money.

Another example is a digital user manual or e-book containing a variety of assets, such as images, diagrams and charts. When you are creating a project like this, having an effective DAM solution in place will save you a lot of time and money.

How should you digitally manage your assets?

Your DAM program is more likely to succeed if you set rules on how to organize your assets. Take the following steps to properly manage your digital files.

1. Set file-naming rules.

With real-life filing cabinets, you’ll likely find yourself rummaging through stacks of paper to find the right asset. DAM solves this problem if you establish robust file-naming rules.

“There needs to be clear guidance on how … new assets should be named, tagged and stored to ensure the system stays organized and easy to use,” Grant said. She noted that setting these guidelines can save time when searching for files while reducing any unnecessary duplication in creating materials.

2. Choose a categorization system.

Will you organize your assets by their type, their date of creation or both? Answer this question to determine how your team categorizes your business’s digital files. This way, once you’ve named a file, you can store it in the proper place within your document management system.

“Businesses can use [a] DAM platform to organize their digital files so that assets can be properly tagged with metadata, categorized and stored in an accessible way,” Li said.

3. Set access protocol.

Most assets only require some employees, not your whole team, to access them. Setting access protocol ensures that only employees with clearance to certain assets can reach them. Grant suggested drafting guidance for access protocol that’s as clear as the rules you develop for naming files.

4. Keep your team and system up to date.

DAM is more effective with modern technology and a knowledgeable team behind it. Always check whether you’re using your document management system’s latest version, and continue educating your employees on DAM best practices.

“Regular updates to the system and consistent employee training will help with smooth usage and observance of asset management policies,” Li said.

How do you implement digital asset management?

These are some of the most common reasons small businesses implement DAM systems:

• They want to reduce the number of asset requests from co-workers or team members.
• They need to centralize assets that are spread out over various cloud storage systems and personal hard drives.
• They are tired of spending time finding the files they need to complete a task or project.

The decision to use a DAM system is the first step for small businesses to get control over their digital assets and determine the best way to manage and analyze New Technology File System (NTFS) permissions and data streams. However, without a comprehensive strategy, assets can get lost, be stored without proper security or become disorganized.

Before you implement a DAM system, develop a coordinated strategy that will identify what the assets are, why they have been created and how they should be used. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Outline your goals.

Focus on the reasons for implementing a DAM system, and outline your main objectives for the software. Define a coordinated approach to creating or acquiring digital assets, including a method for handling third-party licensing issues and version control.

If your goal is to improve the efficiency of digital communication systems, becoming aware of cloud communication trends, along with cost and productivity benefits in cloud-based communication assets, can enable you to move into new areas of technology and communication efficiency.

If your goal is to improve internal processes, use process management software to help manage your assets, inventory, staff and other aspects of your business in productive ways. These systems enable expansion and improve accountability, and they can grow with your business.

2. Identify your criteria for digital asset management software.

Analyze existing workflows to compile a list of criteria for choosing the right software. Consider these factors:

• How many current users will need access to your system, and what is your projected growth (need to scale)?
• Which hosting option will work best for your company?
• How many people will need access to the assets?

3. Perform a content audit.

By conducting an audit of your assets, you will get a clear overview of what you currently have, how it is being used, and why it was created or acquired. This information will help you establish requirements for how to use and manage these assets and improve your content, ultimately resulting in a better return on your investment.

4. Understand the customer journey.

Understanding the customer journey enables businesses to know what they are building and for whom. This knowledge helps to translate business requirements into digital asset specifications you can measure and optimize to achieve business goals.

5. Organize the life cycle of digital assets.

The life cycle of an asset encompasses the following steps:

• Creating or acquiring the asset
• Verifying the asset was added to the system without data errors
• Checking the quality 
• Updating, extracting or entering metadata information
• Ensuring asset retrieval is a smooth process based on available criteria
• Converting asset formation that is suitable for editing or delivery
• Exporting asset files, including all necessary components
• Storing and archiving large files in cost-effective long-term storage locations
• Distributing the asset

6. Determine the software requirements.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for DAM systems. Analyze your needs and requirements before spending money on a solution. Small businesses will likely need less storage space than larger organizations with multiple departments and locations. Choose the system that meets your objectives and needs.

7. Consider how digital asset management will integrate with other systems.

Small businesses use many systems and processes to accomplish their business goals. Be sure the DAM software you choose integrates well with the other systems your company uses.

8. Implement digital asset management.

Implement the DAM system in small steps by identifying the top priorities and acting on those first. Put together a task force that will implement the system. Spend the necessary time to plan what will work best for everyone who will use the system, and include them in the planning process. This approach helps teams work together to build an effective solution before it is rolled out company-wide.

9. Use workflows.

It’s better to assign tasks to specific users than to task everyone with every step in the workflow. Build workflows that define these operations:

• Obtaining files
• Attaching metadata information 
• Modifying or renaming original files
• Organizing, cataloging and tagging 
• Documenting the process in writing

Small businesses can maintain control over their digital assets and coordinate user access to content by implementing a DAM system. Having a single document repository for all assets will streamline the DAM process.

What is the future of digital asset management?

Researchers expect DAM software to thrive over the next decade or so. A research report by Market Research Future predicts the DAM software market will experience a compound annual growth rate of 11.78 percent through 2032, with the market reaching a value of approximately $15.2 billion. 

Compared to other major geographies – Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa – the North American region is expected to hold the top position in the market. The success of the North American region will directly reflect the United States’ part as a leading growth contributor and the success of the U.S.-based Adobe Systems, which is using advanced algorithms to maintain data integrity.

Artificial intelligence (AI) should play a substantial role in DAM’s future. “We can expect to see [businesses] using AI to help tag and organize assets,” Grant said. This technology can streamline and automate workflows as well as asset naming, categorization, search and identification. 

It’s especially powerful for creating accurate, highly detailed metadata — and AI’s usage merits the addition of new metadata fields, too. For AI-created digital assets, metadata fields should include:

• The AI platform that generated the asset
• The prompt via which the AI platform generated the asset
• Whether an actual person has fact-checked the AI-generated asset
• Which people contributed to the asset’s creation
• Series numbers for each asset if you generate more than one from the same prompt

Manage your assets with ease

Can’t find that file you need? Implement DAM, and you’ll never face this frustrating scenario again. Plus, as AI tools become more prevalent within the DAM space, you’ll do less work than ever before to name, organize and locate files. The future of DAM is around the corner, and it’s here to stay — just like your files.

Sean Peek and Max Freedman contributed to this article.