The Digital Asset Management System: What It Is and Which One To Use
A digital asset management (DAM) system allows organizations to organize and categorize digital assets like videos, images, audio, and more. By using this system, an organization can ensure all its teams use the most up-to-date versions of its assets. DAM also ensures only people who have the proper permissions use specific assets, that they’re used consistently, and always used in a way that matches their brand.
What is a digital asset?
A digital asset is a digital file your organization uses in internal communications, marketing channels, websites, products, and more. These files might include product snapshots in .jpeg format, a white paper as a PDF, a background music track in .mp3 format, or even a whole webpage. Any file that your organization uses qualifies as a digital asset.
What is digital asset management?
Digital asset management (DAM) is a system organizations use to keep track of the digital assets they produce and use. This is typically done with one or more software platforms — a digital asset management system. Digital asset management ensures that only people who should be using a specific digital asset have access to it, that it’s used in a consistent way, and that it’s only used in the appropriate channels.
Digital asset management can help lighten the load for other platforms (like your content management system) by preventing the duplication of larger assets. It can improve the utilization of assets you’ve already created, saving you budget on creating new assets. It also ensures every use of an asset is on-brand and matches its intended use.
What is a digital asset management system?
A digital asset management system is a platform used to manage digital assets, whether that’s white papers, images, audio, or other files. Some of these platforms are built specifically for this purpose, like Adobe Experience Manager Assets. However, others, like Airtable or Google Drive, are used as ad-hoc digital asset management systems, requiring some setup and upkeep to work correctly.
No matter which system you use, they’ll share a few essential elements.
Essential elements of a digital asset management system
Every digital asset management system should be able to handle the following elements of digital asset management:
- Asset creation: While you might use different tools for creating some assets (like Figma for design assets), a digital asset management system can supply users with templates and guidelines for creating them consistently.
- Encoding and indexing: Your digital asset management system will serve as a database that employees can search for the assets they need. That means it needs to be properly coded through characteristics like asset type, version, media type, or the platforms used to create it. So a file that might just be called Executive Decision-Making White Paper in Google Drive, with no extra information, might be indexed as a new white paper, written by marketing, last updated in 2024, used for high-value prospects.
- Automations: Digital asset management shouldn’t just make it easier to find and organize the assets your organization produces, it should also automate the managing of those assets. That could mean automatically adding new assets to your database, categorizing them, or even using AI to create summaries and keywords to organize them. For example, Loom, a screen recorder that also allows teams to organize the videos they record, automatically generates titles and summaries for videos.
- Version control: Without a digital asset management system in place, your teams will struggle to find the best version of an asset. You might have multiple copies of the same asset, all named some version of “Final_Copy1” making it difficult to use the right one. With the right system, users are always accessing the most up-to-date version of an asset.
- Governance through permissions: Not every team should have access to every asset. A digital asset management system that allows administrators to restrict permissions for specific assets can ensure they’re used appropriately.
- Auditing: Many organizations need to regularly audit their internal tools and processes to comply with regulations and certifications. Your DAM system should have measures in place to get you prepared for these audits without requiring significant manual work from your IT team.
5 examples of digital asset management systems
There are plenty of DAM systems on the market that you can deploy immediately and start loading with your data. Here are just a few of the most popular examples:
You might need some IT resources to properly deploy some of these platforms, but they’ll give you the quickest route to establishing a DAM process.
Can you build your own digital asset management system?
Whether you don’t want to spend your budget on dedicated digital asset management software or existing solutions don’t suit your needs, it’s possible to build your own. You’ll usually need the following to do so:
- A databasing tool, even if it’s just a spreadsheet, that can serve as a repository for records representing each asset.
- A server or hosting tool, if the database you use can’t support the actual files representing your assets.
- An integration or automation platform that can seamlessly sync assets between platforms so your teams always have access to the latest versions.
Building your own digital asset management system can take time, but it’ll give you a platform you can tailor to your needs as they change.
FAQ: Digital asset management systems
What is the best DAM software?
Finding the digital asset management software for your needs can take some trial and error, but here are some of the most popular options:
- Adobe Experience Manager Assets
- MediaValet
- Brandfolder
- Air
- Bynder
Is Google Drive a DAM platform?
Google Drive is technically a file-sharing platform. That said, it can be used as a rudimentary alternative to dedicated digital asset management software, though this can create some issues:
- No versioning, meaning users may have to spend more time finding the latest version of an asset.
- Permission control and governance are handled manually, creating significant administrative work to maintain.
- Categorizing assets is done manually, meaning most organizations abandon this altogether.
What is the difference between DAM and PIM?
Digital asset management (DAM) allows organizations to properly categorize and organize assets like images, video, audio content, and white papers. In contrast, product information management (PIM), is the organization and management of product-specific information. That information can include product descriptions, specifications, and digital assets. This means there is some overlap between DAM and PIM, but DAM is specific to assets while PIM covers all product information.