At Widen, we know that consumers expect accurate, coordinated, and compelling product content across every channel and touchpoint. And our customers agree:

Being organized is important because the retailers have spoken: strong product assets are no longer a luxury, they are an expectation.

Martin Hill, Director of Digital Sales at PRADCO Outdoor Brands

But bringing a unified and compelling experience to life is a complicated endeavor — especially as e-commerce continues to expand. It requires a clear strategy, cross-team collaboration…and the right technology. 

In our new guide, How to Prepare for Product Launches with DAM, we outline how Widen, our digital asset management (DAM) and product information management (PIM) solution, can help teams scale their product content workflows to keep pace with digital business — and accelerate time to market.  

One important reason that organizations invest in Software as a Service (SaaS) tools is that they are regularly updated. At Widen, we’re always working hard to deliver value-driven changes to our software solutions.

Sometimes these changes are obvious — like when we launch a new product, or make a visual change to the user interface (UI). Other times, changes are more subtle, like when we optimize the back end to support expanding customer utilization — which currently includes over 500 thousand downloads and 85 million embed code views per day. 

Because we value transparency, we want to share how we make software at Widen and are always working to provide you with the best solution.

Businesses need a lot (and we mean a lot) of digital content. Product images, sell sheets, videos, branded graphics, and more — there’s no shortage of content types organizations rely on to power their online and offline efforts. There’s a problem though. Managing all of these files, plus the workflows to support them, is tough without the help of digital asset management (DAM). 

Today we’ll discuss what DAM entails and how it’s helping a wide range of organizations, industries, and roles harness the true power of their content to build stronger brands and deliver superior customer experiences.

There’s a lot that goes into the decision to invest in new software. Who will use it? What do you need it to do? How much will it cost? How long will it take to set up? And so much more. In fact, the average Software as a Service (SaaS) sales cycle typically ranges between three to six months — and that doesn’t include a company’s initial internal research and discovery phase. In addition, the way teams buy software has changed. 

Today, savvy consumers don’t want to be sold to. They do more research up front — before they even speak to someone at a software company. But you know that. That’s what you’re doing now. You’re on a quest to find the best digital asset management (DAM) software out there. That’s why we’ve created this guide to help you with your search for the best DAM solution. 

Since all software is not created equal, this guide covers five things to look for in order to find the best DAM solution for your organization. So let’s get started.

Regular maintenance is an important part of keeping your digital asset management (DAM)  system operating efficiently and driving user satisfaction. Unfortunately, most DAM admins need to manage these duties on top of other roles and responsibilities — which makes finding time for regular maintenance a challenge. But with a little planning and guidance from our experts, you can keep your DAM system in top shape. 

If you’ve thought to yourself, “how often should I update …?” then keep reading.

Identifying the metadata fields you’ll use to organize the content in your digital asset management (DAM) system is an important part of the DAM setup process and ongoing maintenance. But we know that getting started can be a bit daunting.

You might wonder, how do I describe this asset? What will people search for? What type of metadata field should I use? 

Despite all those valid questions, getting started with metadata can actually be pretty simple. Just enlist your users to help. All you need are some Post-it Notes, printouts of assets, and cookies for this metadata brainstorm exercise.

Getting files organized in your digital asset management (DAM) system is the first step towards more efficient workflows and coordinated customer experiences. With complete and accurate asset metadata, teams can quickly find exactly what they need.

Like keeping your home clean, keeping your DAM system organized requires good habits. The asset uploader is designed to do just that – by helping your teams quickly and easily add files with the right information.

Getting people to know and trust your brand requires more than a great logo. You need a focused brand strategy that defines what your brand believes in, who your customers are, and how you plan to engage with the world.

Once you’ve developed a strategy, you have to infuse your brand in all your marketing collateral, distribute it across every channel, and ensure it creates a consistent brand experience. Sound intimidating? It can be but it’s also entirely possible to design and execute a successful brand strategy when you break it down into manageable parts.

Whether you’re a new organization looking to make a mark or an established company going through a brand relaunch, many of the same principles and steps to a successful brand strategy apply. This guide includes the most important components of brand strategy and tips on how to get started.

Purchasing new software can be a big investment. And no matter how many bells and whistles a tool has, it will only be helpful if people use it. Fortunately, there are many ways to encourage the adoption of a new system, as well as long-term user engagement. From giving your system a meaningful name to collecting user feedback that informs optimization efforts.

Email is another great way to nurture and build user engagement. And when it comes to maintaining a digital asset management (DAM) system, email allows you to notify users of new content, reinforce standards, introduce features, or elicit feedback. It also fosters the relationship between the DAM admin and users by providing an easy way for users to reach out for help.