Your digital assets are one of the most important parts of your company. Ill-managing them can negatively affect your company in many ways. There are some general tips you can follow to make sure your assets are in place and are well managed for the duration of your company’s lifetime.
Using Digital Access Management (DAM) Software
Digital asset management software has many benefits that can make you a successful business owner. They allow you to streamline your workflows, eliminate duplicate assets, share brand assets, and keep all your assets organized.
All of these are crucial for growing your company and making your life easier. Research your software options and compare the various characteristics before taking the plunge.
Manage workflows
A DAM can let you customize permissions and security settings. This lets you mainstream several business structures and lets you manage your employee’s workflow much easier.
This is a much better solution than local storage because employees can often access all files on local storage. This, not a good idea for privacy reasons and for time management.
Setting different permissions will make sure that assets remain organized and updated. Putting approval requirements on content can make sure that assets do not get overloaded and that everything is supervised before it can be put into the system.
You can also group people into user settings and give them permissions based on the user categories. This will ensure that people have access to what they need.
Group your assets
Grouping assets by projects or reference can help keep all your assets managed in highly specific categories.
This will help your business run more smoothly because resources and files can be found much easier than if they were on local storage.
Use keyword searches
This lets your employees find assets easier and able to finish work much quicker. Make sure to test keywords so that you know they work efficiently. Using synonyms is also helpful in case someone does not use the exact keyword.
Make sure all team members can use the keywords and know how to use them to find projects and references.
Create training features
Everyone should be properly trained on how to use the assets and the software that you use. Keeping your employees up to date can minimize problems and workflow problems.
Try to choose a DAM that already has built-in training features and resources so that you are not left on your own to create them.
Set guidelines
This goes with training. Everyone that works for you should know all guidelines clearly before they begin working or using any of the digital assets.
Make sure all the employees know how to update tags and search. Try not to give access or permission to change data until you are fully sure that an employee can do it accurately.
Measure outcomes
Once you have implemented a DAM, you want to make sure it is successful and that the company is benefiting from it. A good way to do this is to track the number of uploads, downloads, and the time users spend searching for keywords.
If you notice no change or only a small change since using your DAM, try changing some of the systems in place or look for new software.
Plan everything ahead of time
Warn your employees and users about the change coming up. No one likes to be blindsided. Promote the change and explain how it will make everyone’s jobs easier.
Encourage everyone to test the software and let them know they can report any problems as soon as they happen.
