If you want to get somewhere in the quickest way possible, you map your course. The same is true for navigating your digital asset management (DAM) system.

Metadata powers search within a digital asset management (DAM) system. Without it, your assets become unfindable and, ultimately, unusable. But we know entering metadata can be time-consuming. So how do you ensure you’re entering metadata in the quickest way possible? Metadata mapping. 

Dashboard messages are a feature in Widen DAM that welcome users as they enter your digital asset management (DAM) system. You can use them to guide new users, highlight timely content, or notify users of changes. That’s why we’ve made it easy to create dashboard messages with no HTML or coding required.

Your brand’s next big marketing campaign is on the horizon, and your team isn’t prepared at all. You still need to ideate the campaign vision, create all the assets, finalize the designs, and get approval from the necessary parties. The sheer amount of work yet to be done is paralyzing, and your team is really feeling the pressure. And worse, you know that as soon as you’ve finished this project, it will all start again with the next one.  Does this sound familiar?

With omnichannel marketing becoming common practice, the need for all kinds of content is on the rise. There’s photography, graphics, videos, white papers, sell sheets — not to mention emerging content types like 360-degree images and interactive content like room builders. Let’s just say there’s a lot of content. 

Depending on the maturity of your brand and your content efforts, you may already feel the weight of these demands within your own organization. And as you know, content creation requires significant time, money, and resources, which are lost if you don’t have a plan for maintaining, improving, and storing your valuable assets. 

When it comes to managing your content, it really depends on what stage it falls into in the content lifecycle. For instance, your interaction with assets that are in high demand, like images from a recent photoshoot, is likely to be quite different than with low-demand assets, like last season’s digital ads. That’s why having a solid understanding of the digital content lifecycle will help you keep track of your content and ensure you get the most out of your investment.

In today’s content-centric world, many organizations are practically drowning in digital media assets. From video files, graphical elements, and other bits of rich multimedia content, the sheer volume of media being generated by enterprises large and small can feel overwhelming. Far too often, the search for the perfect asset through this sea of content can become a drain on time, productivity, and a team’s ability to hit deadlines. 

That’s where a media asset management (MAM) software solution can come into play – and often, be a lifesaver. But what exactly is media asset management? The term is often used interchangeably with digital asset management (DAM), but while the terms sound nearly identical, there are some important differences between these two concepts.

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.

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.

Keeping a digital asset management (DAM) system running smoothly requires continual maintenance. And gathering user feedback on what’s working, and what’s not, is an important part of any DAM maintenance strategy. One way to gather feedback is a user survey, which offers quick responses and an easy way to review and organize data. Another option is a focus group, which provides a more conversational opportunity for feedback. Either way, soliciting feedback from your users is a crucial part of DAM governance. 

Although all teams that produce brand and marketing content use content operations, not everyone does it strategically. While it can be intimidating to create and implement a content operations workflow, doing so pays dividends. The right workflow can streamline processes, save significant amounts of time and money, and deliver higher-quality content for a better customer experience.