Sludge. Is this how your creative approval process feels?

The creative engine behind your brand is likely suffering from a slow buildup of inefficient and confusing processes. The source … email. That wonderfully easy and flexible go-to form of communication. You can message multiple people at once, attach files, and embed funny animated GIFs of goats. What’s not to love?

It can do all those amazing things and everyone’s already using it, so why isn’t it working for the review and approval process? The reason: creative operations teams are growing. Requests are coming in from more teams. Deadlines are tight. The flexibility and ease of use of email creates inefficiencies. So how can we improve this process and become less reliant on email for creative approvals?

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. 

It seems like every interaction is an opportunity for marketing today. From bus banners to digital ads and everything in between, marketing is all around us. So much so, that it can often feel like noise. So how do brands really stand out from the crowd?

In 2022, it’s not enough to just have a marketing presence across channels, brands need to ensure their messaging is consistent, compelling, and connected. This distinction is the key difference between multichannel and omnichannel marketing. While these concepts can occasionally be confused, neither of them are particularly new. What is new and evolving is the marketer’s ability to execute their ideas. 

The stories that customers tell about your company have more impact on brand perception than most ad campaigns ever will. That’s a big reason why brands are investing $15 billion into influencer marketing in 2022. But it’s important to remember that paying for influencer posts isn’t the only way to get valuable user-generated content (UGC).

Billions of pieces of social content are published every day. And some of that UGC is valuable information about your brand that you can harness by using a digital asset management (DAM) system to collect, organize, and publish the positive stories your customers tell. You can even spin the negative, one-star customer reviews in your favor. 

This is a beginner’s guide to the benefits of UGC and how it works with a DAM system. Let’s start by defining UGC. 

A digital asset management (DAM) system is a powerful tool on its own. Acting as the foundation for content, teams rely on their DAM solution to centralize assets, collaborate across teams, provide secure access to collateral, and so much more. So there’s no doubt that the business case for DAM is there. But many teams are extending this value even further through digital asset management integrations. 

These days, there’s no lack of data. Teams have metrics coming at them from everywhere, all day long. But figuring out how to take meaningful action with the data you receive is a different story. 

Google Analytics provides insights into website traffic, navigation, and conversions. Social media tools give you engagement and share data. But how are you tracking the individual assets that make up your content to ensure you’re getting the most out of everything you create?

Quality content is a powerful market differentiator. It can help organizations resonate with consumers, strengthen their brand perception, and ultimately drive revenue. It’s no wonder that demand for outstanding creative work — from photography and graphics to copy and video — is at an all-time high. Organizations seeking to bring velocity to their creative workflows are increasingly turning to digital asset management (DAM) solutions, to store, organize, and manage their content.

DAM technology benefits are often based on different use cases — you can read about how Widen customers are using their DAM system in our case studies.  But across the wide range of ways that DAM systems are used, we've found these nine benefits to be universal.

Change. You can run from it. You can dodge it, fight it, deny it, or sprint headfirst into it. Whatever the case — love it or hate it — it’s coming. It is, as they say, inevitable.

But, you know that. You’ve been through it a thousand times. And the assumption, at least in business, is that change is inherently “good.” It’s that shift in strategic direction that finally gets you where you need to be. It’s new leadership that comes in and blows the dust off things. It’s the introduction of a new technology that’s sure to absolutely, positively make life easier. 

However, what people don’t always realize is that change is hard even when it’s for the better. And not for the obvious reasons. The actual implementation of it — the software rollout or the project management of it all— isn’t usually where teams get tripped up. It’s the people side of change where the struggle tends to happen. And the reason? Organizations too often neglect what’s called change management.

Staring at the analytics section of an application wondering “What do I do with this?” can be anxiety-inducing. Leaders and teammates often want to know “What does the data tell us so we can make informed decisions?” But it’s not always that simple. So let’s take a step back and explore how to gain actionable insights from your data.  

All true digital asset management (DAM) systems have great features and functionality. Capabilities like robust searching, AI-metadata support, version control, digital rights management (DRM), workflow automation, content analytics, and more. More sophisticated DAM solutions meet the complex needs of enterprise organizations with granular governance controls, scalability, security, and enterprise platform integrations with creative tools, product information management (PIM) systems, agile content management systems (CMS), and others. The Widen Collective^® does this and more.