The Intersection of Digital Asset Management and Content Operations
Multiple departments touch branded content every day, from marketing teams creating the content to sales teams accessing collateral and key stakeholders reviewing and overseeing everything. This is all part of the process of creating and distributing content, known as content operations. Along this journey, it’s essential to store content assets in a way that’s easy for everyone to find and access.
Digital asset management, or DAM, is one system teams use to improve the storage, retrieval, and usage of all the company’s digital assets. These assets may include documents, images, videos, and more.
DAM software offers a platform for all the above operations to take place and includes relevant functional elements like organizational tools and workflow capabilities. As such, it leads to faster and more efficient content processes from creation to approval and distribution.
In this article, we’ll dive deeper into the critical intersection of digital asset management and content operations and the ways businesses can leverage it.
What Is Content Operations?
Content operations is a term that covers every aspect of creating, distributing, and analyzing content. In today’s business landscape, optimizing content operations often means distributing content effectively across a multitude of available digital channels. Otherwise, companies risk falling behind fierce competition that leverages multi-channel marketing campaigns to reach people online.
But while attempting to create valuable content for every digital channel regularly, many companies face challenges managing content effectively. One reason is that several professionals and stakeholders from different departments often must collaborate on creating, editing, approving, and posting or distributing content. Because many team members need to touch a content asset before it goes out to the public, facilitating communication and workflows between several departments can prove challenging.
Fortunately, companies can use a digital asset management system to facilitate better communication and optimized processes within content operations.
The Synergy Between DAM and Content Operations
DAM streamlines content creation and distribution through a variety of methods. By creating a singular place for all relevant assets to live and providing an efficient organizational system, DAM allows team members to find the assets they need to work on or review quickly.
A DAM system uses metadata, or a summary of what a particular asset includes, to help ensure consistent organization and improve content searchability. It also often stores every version of an asset while displaying only the newest version up front. Users can access this feature on most DAM software by uploading a new version with the same file name as the old one. Metadata can also help identify duplicates and suggest combining them.
Additionally, DAM systems can enhance content collaboration among teams through workflows. For instance, users can set workflows that automatically send the content piece they’re working on to the next team in the creation and approval process once they mark their part as complete.
Benefits of Integrating DAM in Content Operations
DAM increases efficiency and saves time and resources through robust workflow capabilities and enhanced communication. It allows users to comment and communicate directly in the software without switching to other applications, which boosts collaboration.
Also, integrating DAM with pre-existing tools can help companies move to the distribution phase seamlessly once content is internally approved. Some other ? but no less important ? benefits of DAM include:
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Seamless and secure content accessibility: DAM software stores all assets in one place, where role-based permissions allow the right people to access the assets they need.
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Improved asset searchability: Intelligent metadata and tags organize assets and make them easier to find within the system.
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Operational efficiency: Employees can reference assets faster in everyday operations, and creative teams can use AI content coaching to discover new ideas quickly.
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Enhanced branding consistency: DAM software stores the most up-to-date branding guidelines in an easy-to-find place.
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Better communication: Teams can comment, review, and revise directly in the asset file and rely on workflows to remind other departments when it’s their turn to review or work on an asset.
Overcoming Challenges in the Intersection
When implementing a new DAM platform in content operations, as with any new system, companies may struggle with rolling out the new processes and ensuring that all personnel consistently understand and follow them. That’s why it’s important to create a thorough training program that addresses all departments? concerns regarding their pre-existing workflows. Doing so can ensure everyone is on the same page regarding how to use the new software.
Another set of challenges companies face when adding DAM software to their tech stack: mitigating initial investment concerns with all stakeholders and finding ways to ensure and measure return on investment (ROI). Measuring content time-to-market before and after DAM software implementation is a great way to prove ROI to stakeholders. It will show how DAM software speeds up the time it takes to create, edit, and get content out to the public, known as ‘time-to-market.?
Best Practices for Successful DAM and Content Operations
After purchasing a new DAM system, businesses can follow these best practices to implement the software and improve content operations:
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Organize and categorize digital assets: The organization system within the DAM should mirror a company’s structure and existing workflows regarding content creation, approval, and distribution.
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Set metadata and tagging strategies: Companies should create tags that make intuitive, logical sense to the personnel who need to access content.
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Be receptive to system optimization ideas: No one knows the pain points of content processes better than the employees who work with content daily. Leaders and managers should motivate team members to develop innovative ideas for using the DAM to its fullest potential.
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Manage version control: Many DAM systems allow users to upload new versions of existing files under the same name. In these cases, the DAM will store all older versions of the file for reference while outwardly displaying the newest version. Companies can use this feature to keep collaborators on the same page.
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Protect digital rights: The DAM system enables companies to track who approved which assets for use and where. By keeping close records of this information, businesses can more easily prove when (or if) someone uses their copyrighted digital assets illegally.
