6 Challenges Of Digital Asset Management (DAM)

We live in a time where content and data rule our everyday lives. More than ever, people turn to digital platforms and channels to consume content, whether videos on YouTube, photos on Instagram, blogs on various websites, etc. People use content for various purposes, from personal consumption to professional processes. 

But the bigger questions we should ask in this day and age where data and content come in abundance are: Where do all these assets get stored, and how do we manage them better?

These queries become more pressing for companies struggling to keep up with the influx of content their operations need to keep moving seamlessly. That’s where digital asset management comes in.

Digital asset management is the process of storing files, images, videos, and other pieces of content that are relevant to an organization. These content pieces could include promotional media, videos, logos, annual reports and so on. 

The demand for digital asset management software continues to grow as the world continues to digitalize. According to Verified Market Research, the digital asset management system market will grow to about $13.94 Billion by 2028. 

Accordingly, people look to content management software to store their files and documents. Many examples of DAM software are available for you to choose from based on your needs and requirements.

Hundreds of services can do digital asset management, but not all of them solve a company’s pain points. The first step any company should take before deciding what digital asset management software to use is to map out what problems they want to solve first and find the solution that serves their content management needs best. 

So, let us look at the most common digital asset management challenges that companies today face and how a DAM system can help solve them. 

1) Lost documents

How often do companies lose images, video files, and other digital assets nowadays? When that happens, employees can face a whole barrage of problems. They might lose deals, customers, and opportunities for growth. The worry with lost documents isn’t so much the document itself but the contents of that digital asset. 

The solution is to use a DAM system with access management and permissions. That way, the assigned personnel can access files, store them properly, and protect and secure them from getting lost or deleted if need be. Utilizing a digital asset management system to store files better is one of the many reasons why digitalization is making businesses more efficient.

2) High volume

A company can deal with thousands to hundreds of thousands of files at any given point. There’s also the added issue of having multiple revisions of the same document or asset. With all that volume, it’s easy to lose time, energy, and resources looking for the one you need most. 

With digital asset management solutions, people can have a Single Source of Truth (SSOT) to ensure consistency and eliminate silos in an organization. The best digital asset management software to solve this pain point is one that will label or curate varying versions of the same document. A search function in your system should also be necessary if you want to solve this issue.

3) Poor workflow management

In some cases, the issue with digital asset management isn’t in the documents themselves or the system, but in the workflows of the company. Digital assets can get really messy when there isn’t an efficient way to store, manage, and sort content according to certain parameters. Additionally, some content ends up not being used and can only take up space and resources without any real value to the organization.

When managing large amounts of digital assets, we can use digital asset management solutions to organize content better through better workflow management. Some of this process falls on company policy. Also, features of digital asset management software such as automations, approval and revision, comments, and so on can help with better workflow management.

4) Miscommunication and lack of consistency

The back and forth caused by miscommunication can slow down team operations. Project managers, for instance, have to deal with a large influx of digital assets without any context to them. The lack of context will only cause more miscommunication in projects, which could result in potholes in the final product.

With content management systems in place, everyone can now have equal access to assets, eliminating he-said, and she-said, and avoiding miscommunication. Company and team members can use digital asset management systems to provide context to files by adding descriptions, collaborators, or connections to certain projects so that everyone understands which asset goes where.

It also helps to integrate your existing systems with the best customer support software that matches your processes most. A customer support tool helps you improve support and boost customer loyalty and retention.

5) High-security risks

As the world shifts to virtual operations, cybersecurity risks become a more pressing concern. Companies must avoid digital asset leaks, especially content with sensitive information like financials, strategies, prospect contacts, etc.

DAM solutions can help with security issues and threats by giving tiered access to confidential files. Adding authentication measures to DAM systems will also avoid any break-ins to company files, assets, and other content. 

6) Poor distribution strategy

Files might go in one place, but how do we get them to the right people? A cloud-based media asset management system should not only provide a database for all digital assets, but also find its way into the hands of the right departments or individuals. 

Digital asset management solutions can help with distributing content to the right person, device or channel by means of owner tagging. In a service with this capability, employees can tag people to certain files that relate to their work, so it’s easier for them to find them. 

Businesses don’t always share the same pain points and, therefore, might need different solutions. That’s why it’s good to know all the available solutions out there that solve them best. Of the list given above, determine the content management problems that your company might have and find the software that offers the best solution.

If you’re looking for a web CMS to unify your digital experience, check out Scrivito. It’s easy to integrate with other systems via API and implement into your workflows.

Try and demo a few options before landing on the one solution that answers the biggest issues for your digital asset management woes. You’ll find the system that will help you save time and resources while maintaining a streamlined way of managing your company’s most important digital content.