Reasons to use DAM
What is the purpose of DAM? Digital Asset Management (DAM) is the discipline of managing digital assets (images, videos, documents, logos, and audio files) that hold a value to companies in their internal and external communications. DAM consists of management tasks and decisions surrounding the ingestion, annotation, cataloguing, storage, retrieval and distribution of digital assets. In short, DAM functions as a content hub for every file ever produced, available in one version only. Everything is stored in a centralized location that serves as a single source. A DAM system works like a digital engine that enables companies to execute digital strategies. It helps manage the complete lifecycle of digital assets, including content creation, management, distribution, archiving and reuse of digital assets. Through automated workflows, DAM optimizes time-consuming tasks such as search and distribution of content between different types of users inside and outside organizations. Anyone with access to the DAM system can get a quick overview of approved and available material anywhere and from any device. It s the only way to prevent costly errors of sharing the wrong content. Why do organizations invest in DAM? DAM is driven by the growing complexity in the numbers of images, videos and documents that need to be served to end-users in specific formats and qualities across channels, optimized for many types of devices. This requires a strong engine that can automate these often manual processes for the user to experience the highest quality in images and videos, and at the same time only get exactly what the user needs. Let s take a look at 5 reasons why DAM is a must-have in every organization. 2
Operational efficiency When it comes to the daily use and management of digital assets, you may run into some obstacles that take their toll on your efficiency: You try to send a large attachment by email, but it bounces back because the file size is too large. Your colleague made a new PowerPoint presentation before going on vacation, it s stored on his desktop and you need it now. You keep getting emails asking where to find the updated corporate logo. You re not sure either. Usually, when people are looking for files: 71% of employees search the corporate server 60% send an email requesting to have it sent 35% call someone Think about how many hands each image or video passes through before it s published. From production to distribution, you involve external as well as internal resources when transcoding and rendering large files. If you use external resources for these processes from outside of the company, e.g. an advertising or media agency, you will remove these costs by using a strong engine like Digizuite DAM. Essentially, DAM replaces manual processes with automated and optimized processes, and you avoid having to pay large sums to external parties. DAM also comes with strong rights management, where you are in control. You can allow access to specific content based on each user s rights. The users will always get a high quality user experience regardless of the device they are using or their geographical location. The point of utilizing a DAM system is to increase productivity, which leads to increased revenues. You will get more time for value-adding activities, a shorter time-to-market, time-saving workflows, while avoiding bulk sending by email. 3
Break down digital silos Throughout your company s lifetime, your employees produce and accumulate a remarkable amount of digital files for internal and external use. As different people get their hands on organizing these files, you will, over time, end up with fragmented masses of digital content in different image banks, CMS platforms, hard drives, corporate networks and stand-alone cloud services. Eventually, losing track of your valued marketing material. This removes the ability to repurpose existing assets, resulting in increased time spend on having to re-produce the same files all over again. Integration between software systems is key As a global DAM vendor, we know many companies who have succeeded in connecting key software systems to remove silos across the organization. One of Denmark s leading retail chains have integrated their Digizuite DAM with their product information system, webshop, app and customer club. Their time-to-market has decreased significantly due to an automatic ingestion of all images. I.e. images and product information are automatically connected, and after approval, this information is visible on all external channels in the format that fits each channel. All through automatic workflows. With the help of a strong engine like Digizuite that supports their digital strategy, the retailer is able to quickly show new product images, they save time in image processing and distribution, and their customers are happy because they are able to search and find products in a matter of seconds. When the company invested in Digizuite DAM, it was one of the most visionary efforts in Danish e-business. Today, the company is a proud winner of several e-business awards due to their ability of being one step ahead of competitors. Their success is caused by their approach of interconnecting key software systems to ignite intelligent data sharing, and thereby removing digital silos. They have succeeded in understanding the necessity of a cross-organizational approach to digital. 4
Brand compliance all the way If you are a marketer who spends hours each week ensuring your brand is presented in the right way to the right people on selected channels, DAM is your new best friend. In your daily activities, you are utilizing different software tools for different purposes. Whether it s for your website, social media channels or e-mail marketing, you log into a new system each time. For each of these channels, you need rich media content to support your messages, however, sometimes it may be complicated to keep track of your digital content and stay on-brand across channels. You are probably familiar with one of these scenarios: Your sales team keeps using old product brochures because the new ones you sent got lost in the inbox. You work at your company s headquarters and are responsible for distributing brand materials to local subsidiaries in different markets. You scale all images and graphics into different formats and sizes manually and then attach them in multiple emails. Your art director made new graphic images for your marketing campaign, but forgot to tell you the source for these files. Your corporate brand is threatened by the digital mess that keeps growing each day, and it s your responsibility to find a way to stay afloat in a digital sea of content. Full control of your brand Using Digizuite DAM system, you can quickly share content from one place on several channels at once. Through seamless integration with other software systems, you will be able to execute your marketing strategy efficiently. Digizuite DAM makes it easy to maintain brand compliance in an ever-growing digital landscape. You will ensure that each marketing executive has exactly what he/she needs to effectively manage your brand in multiple markets and update all channels. Your sales team, board of directors and other stakeholders will be empowered to find the newest marketing material in a matter of seconds, on the go, using their smartphone or tablet. 5
Smooth and efficient video experience In 2014, Cisco Systems predicted that video would account for between 80% and 90% of all global consumer internet traffic by 2018. ComScore research indicates that visitors stay approximately two minutes longer on websites with video. Video can be used in everything from product demonstration, documentation, instructional videos, reports, information from management, to creative branding videos, and video blogs and so on. A unified approach to video management While getting onboard with video communication might be easy, managing and distributing literally hundreds and thousands of video assets can seem overwhelming without a strategic mindset and a software solution that supports your needs. Digizuite DAM system makes it easy to find and share videos internally and externally, giving you a video content hub with your own branding environment. Video can be a complex file format, but don t worry. Digizuite DAM solves the challenge of poor quality when streaming video in areas with slow internet. Digizuite DAM automatically optimizes the quality of your video playback using adaptive bitrate for the ultimate user experience. This adapts streaming to the speed of the internet connection so your video has great playback even on slower connections. Manage your video content easily With Digizuite DAM, you have full control of how you can show your videos. From a single source you can share videos on social media, distribute videos through open or closed channels, comment on videos, draw and annotate within videos, and define access rights for users. 6
End-to-end customer experience delivery With the increasing importance of presenting personalized experiences, brand managers and marketers are focusing on utilizing rich media content that will engage end-users in the right moment. Customers are in control - they are empowered to find information about products and services on their own, long before deciding on the right choice. They watch videos, look at images and zoom in from different devices, they read whitepapers, reviews and blogposts. Share real-time content at every step of the journey Digital Asset Management allows you to produce, upload, manage and share content on the go, delivering unique content to each user at every touchpoint in their journey of discovering, engaging and purchasing. Therefore, each digital asset must present your company s brand in the best possible way. A blurry or broken image on a website is a way of saying to your visitors that you are not prioritizing them. As a result, they will head to your competitor s website. By uniting Digizuite DAM with other key marketing platforms, you will be empowered to present your rich media content in a way that meets your customers expectations, while ensuring your images or video can be viewed in a format that fits whatever device they are currently using. All in real time. Discover Engage Purchase Brand advocacy 7
We make digital collaboration easy - Digizuite For more inspiration on how you can optimize your digital processes, feel free to explore our other whitepapers, infographics and blogposts on digizuite.com If you have any questions, please reach out to Digizuite. Write to us at info@digizuite.com 8