Managing assets and associated documents digitally is rapidly becoming the norm. However, there is much about digital asset management (DAM) that can go wrong if the processes and protocols are not managed correctly.
Many businesses are not prepared for the creative and holistic nature of DAM. Widespread mistakes can be made, resulting in lost revenue, suppressed projects, or overall brand disfigurement. Figuring out the best DAM practices is essential.
We are here to help you understand what they are. Read on to learn the top 5 digital asset management best practices to help you prepare for the world of DAM.
1. Identify Your Digital Assets
Knowing what digital assets you possess, as well as organizing, evaluating, and categorizing them, helps to ensure you are managing and protecting them properly. Establishing an inventory system of digital assets can assist in tracking and locating digital assets faster and more efficiently.
Understanding the lifetime of your digital assets is also essential for strategic asset management. Knowing when an asset was created, where it came from, how it is used, and when the asset is no longer needed can help you decide when and how it should be archived or disposed of.
2. Establish Digital Asset Management Governance
Establish criteria to evaluate the value of digital assets and how to preserve them over time. Create and apply policies for every phase of the digital asset management lifecycle, including acquisition, storage, and sharing. Create procedures that define authorization levels, storage, data backups, and more.
Assign ownership of digital assets, and ensure that workers understand their accountability. Train staff on how to find, store, and use digital assets properly. This ensures that all of their digital assets are managed, used, and stored correctly.
3. Utilize Automation
Automation can reduce time spent manually completing tasks. It creates new efficiencies and improves the speed and accuracy of data management. It can be used for tasks such as:
- item tracking
- file location
- importing and updating metadata
- transforming files to other formats
It can also help speed up processes like uploading files or automatically creating project folders with rules. It can be used to customize the way digital assets are stored or named and to automate workflows.
4. Scalable Access to Assets
A scalable system should be able to manage different-sized files, as well as the growth and integration of new devices and formats. This ensures assets are hitched-free for customers. It also ensures rights management is maintained properly and all necessary information is tracked and logged accurately for customers.
Utilizing a single centralized asset library system for all of your asset management systems is also key to making sure all assets are securely stored in one system.
5. Define Your Metadata Structure
Metadata provides a single source of truth for your assets and helps make them easily searchable and sorted. Every organization should begin by creating a comprehensive list of keywords and categories which align with their organizational language and specific needs. Doing this also helps create a set of consistent fields used for tagging your assets and allows for more efficient searches.
Review these categories regularly to keep up with your organization’s changing needs. Additionally, having a set of required entry fields and a system to check metadata for accuracy is also essential.
Follow These Digital Asset Management Best Practices Today
Following these digital asset management best practices will help ensure your DAM system is beneficial to your business. DAM will improve productivity, reduce costs, enhance customer satisfaction, and maintain compliance.
Start now and get the most out of DAM today!
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