Whether you’ve been using the Widen Collective^® for months or years, you might wonder: How are we doing?

These days, you can do some pretty impressive things with content. However, you’re not the only one using content to win the attention and mindshare of consumers. Thanks to the success that content marketing has seen over the years, there’s a lot (and we mean a lot) of competition out there.

To break through the noise, you need to add some horsepower to your content marketing efforts by incorporating visual content. But, to do this effectively, you need to understand what visual content marketing is and how to create a winning strategy. 

In today’s modern workplace content creation is almost constant. New files like contracts, presentations, photography, and creative files are being added daily.

When these files are created, inherently, so is their metadata — or data about data. Metadata includes things like the document name, date, size, and creator. 

As a result, companies are awash with content and its related metadata. They need a system for keeping it all organized. That’s where metadata management comes in. 

Editor's note: This post was originally posted on May 13, 2011, and updated on October 26, 2018.

Back in 2011, referencing “the cloud” still felt fresh and cutting edge. At this point, the cloud seems to the be standard for collaboration, communication, project management, and many other business solutions. Digital asset management (DAM) is no exception.

When it comes to digital asset management (DAM), there’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Your business has different needs, workflows, priorities, budgets, and resources than your neighbor, so finding the best solution comes down to what is right for your organization.

Before getting too far in the evaluation process, take some time to understand what you need out of a DAM solution. Only then can you figure out which DAM delivery model will best help you achieve your goals.

Media asset management (MAM) is sometimes used interchangeably with digital asset management (DAM). They both help manage assets, but are they really the same thing? Sort of…

The names of people, places, and things help us understand and navigate the world. The same holds true in digital environments, where descriptive names allow files to be easily understood, located, and retrieved.

Everything from file folder directories to collaborative work tools are more effective if their digital files have thoughtful and appropriate names. So it should come as no surprise that strong filenaming conventions also help maximize the power and efficiency of a digital asset management (DAM) platform.

Simpson Strong-Tie is one of the world's largest suppliers of structural building products. Their products include everything from fastening systems and structural connectors to software, and their Marketing department creates promotional material for all of them — both in print and online.

Producing and managing all of this imagery is an enormous job! Just ask Mark Hausler, who is one of their senior graphic designers. However, the recent addition of a digital asset management (DAM) platform with two powerful integrations — Adobe Creative Cloud and Hybris — has dramatically improved the speed and accuracy of their creative workflows.

The Marketing Communications unit at the University of Georgia is responsible for capturing photographs that highlight what’s going on across campus. Their team of four photographers produce a lot of images, from student features to campus scenes. These photos are used in various channels and repurposed by many of the schools and colleges.

Photographers shoot and deliver images for a specific job. For example, an environmental portrait of a professor for a specific story. And as part of this job, they might capture other scenes — like the professor doing research or interacting with a graduate student. While some of these additional shots get used, Rick O’Quinn, Operations Manager at the University of Georgia, says “a lot of good images were kind of falling through the cracks.”

Compelling images move people. Marketers and creatives have known this for a long time and rely on strong visuals as a foundational element of brand storytelling. They also rely on dependable, easy-to-access tools, so they can spend more time crafting the story itself and less on a cumbersome process.

If you’ve ever managed digital photos you already know many of the challenges. Like how organizing hundreds or thousands of photos can quickly get out of control. How time-consuming it is to search endlessly for the right photo. Or how risky it can be to use a photo that you may or may not still have permission to use. The bottom line is ⏤ if you want to make your brand story more effective, you can’t afford to compromise on managing your assets. You need a robust photo management software solution.