Everything you need to know about Digital Asset Management : features, benefits, resources and day-to-day management of your photo, media or video library.
What is a DAM?
By definition, a DAM solution centralizes, organizes and distributes all the multimedia productions of a department or organization. Digital Asset Management solutions are also known by other names, such as photo library, media library or media center. A DAM makes it easy to find and consult media from a large volume of images, videos and documents of all kinds.
Today, these photo/media library solutions are often enriched with more advanced functionalities. DAMs offer integration with other tools , such as eCommerce sites or PIMs. They also offer image retouching, video sequencing and collaborative working functions, for example.
Who uses DAM solutions?
A DAM solution is needed in a company or institution as soon as it starts producing or using a large number of media. The need to organize photos, videos and other media is often the starting point for a DAM project.
These are usually the marketing and communications departmentswhich are major media consumers, who need to organize their media. They need to be able to find them easily and share them with their service providers, subsidiaries and customers. All kinds of organizations use them. DAMs can be found in numerous associations, major institutions, andcompanies of all sizes and in all sectors. Similarly, local authorities and international organizations generally have a DAM.
Who manages the DAM in an organization?
DAM managers are often documentaliststoday also known as media managers. Communications managers can also carry out this mission, often in addition to their main duties.
An important part of a DAM manager's job is toidentify the sources that produce media. Then it's a matter of collecting them, along with all the information that may be useful (rights in particular), andorganizing this content. One of the essential tasks is the indexing phase. This involvesadding the right information so that users can immediately find the media they need by typing in one or a few words.
These profiles often require some knowledge of copyright and image rights.INA and INTD (CNAM) offer professional licenses for these types of positions.
What's the point of a DAM?
Implementing a Digital Asset Management solution in your organization can address the following issues:
Basic issues
- Centralize all media in one place, so that people who need them can access them without wasting time looking for them.
- Share media internally and externally with the right people, generating formats adapted to each use.
- Describe media so you can credit authors, give context, specify restrictions on use, add keywords or the names of people depicted. This makes it easy to find and use media.
- Track and control media use (rights management: selective distribution to identified user groups, automatic archiving of media whose rights have expired, contract management).
Advanced issues
- Provide statistical data on media (number of views, downloads, shares, engagement statistics).
- Offer processing functions for the media themselves (blurring, cropping, sequencing, etc.).
- Be available as amobile application to enable people in the field to send photos or videos in real time.
Expert issues
- integrate a brand center with all brand image resources (logos, graphic charters, document templates, pictograms, etc.).
-integrate with other solutions: PIM, websites, eCommerce, Web to Print solutions, etc.
- offer media in other applications as plug-ins (Microsoft Office, Google Suite, Adobe software, CMS, YouTube, etc.).
What can you put in a DAM?
A DAM can contain and, above all, organize all types of media:
Images
Product photos, corporate or internal event photos, illustrations or infographics: any image produced by or for your organization can be integrated into the platform.
Videos
Advertising productions, videos for the press or social networks, webinars, interviews, filmed events, and so on. The DAM lets you consult videos directly within the tool, eliminating the problem of sharing these voluminous files.
Audio files
Podcasts, interviews, sound signatures, radio spots: these files often need to be accompanied by metadata to be found.
Press ads and posters can be integrated into a DAM as pdf files. You can also integrate sources (InDesign or others), to be downloaded and adapted (declination by language or country, updating, etc.) or linked to your Web to print tools. Documents
Office documents can also be included. Press releases, press kits, in-house magazines, flyers, white papers and more can be stored and distributed. The DAM generally enables full-text search to easily find and read PDFs or Microsoft Word or Powerpoint documents.
Digital
All digital content can also be integrated: banners, emailings, mini-sites, 3D configurators, content for social networks. All these media can be brought together and distributed from the DAM to digital channels.
Branding content
Logos, charters, document templates, pictograms, signatures, etc.: the DAM can also integrate a brand center to ensure that your brand is respected.
How much does a DAM cost, and how do you get management on board?
Are you convinced of the benefits of equipping yourself with a DAM? We've got the facts and figures to help you sell it internally. We'll give you all the language you need to use with your decision-makers here, including on the subject of costs and profitability.
How much time or resources are needed to manage a DAM effectively?
The amount of time required is based on the volume of media you produce or collect. As a result, a structure that produces little content will only need a few days a month to manage its DAM. On the other hand, structures that produce a lot of content will have several people dedicated full-time to indexing, publishing media and managing users.
Management that must adapt to peaks in activity
Time spent on the DAM can also be highly variable. For example, there may be very little content for weeks on end, and then suddenly a product launch campaign or key event can generate a very heavy workload. This is why many organizations choose to delegate these tasks to service providers. There are specialized companies offering indexing services. Their documentalists can work remotely or on-site, depending on requirements. The major DAM vendors also offer this kind of service. Keepeek, for example, employs a team of five documentalists. They administer our customers' solutions, and provide temporary or regular back-up for coaching, redesign, recovery or support missions.
Can I test a DAM for free to get a better idea?
Nothing beats practice! Keepeek can provide you with a test area in just a few minutes, so you can see for yourself how our solution works.
And if you'd prefer a guided tour, our sales team will be happy to demonstrate the Keepeek DAM for you!
