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A Comprehensive Guide To:

Choosing
A Modern
DAM
TIFF

AI
DOC
—Introduction

Consumers are digesting more content than


ever before. According to the IDC, the amount
of digital content created and replicated in
SVG the world will grow to almost 35 zettabytes by
2020. On top of that, consumers expect this
content to be increasingly personalized — from
the device and channel they’re accessing it on
to their unique personal preferences and where
they are in the customer lifecycle.
PSD

So, how do you keep track of this massive


amount of content and customer data that
will help your company build the highly
personalized digital experiences that
consumers now expect? You leverage the
power of a modern digital asset management
(DAM) solution.

Choosing a Modern DAM | brandfolder.com 1


Modern DAMs are meant for more than just
file storage. In order to keep up with customer
expectations, DAMs must provide a scalable
solution that empowers marketers and
creatives to create flexible, personalized and
dynamic content.

In this eBook, we’ll give you some background


about the current digital landscape, show how
DAMs help boost revenue and create a holistic
customer experience, share five criteria of
modern DAM solutions and provide resources
to help you make a business case for DAM
within your organization.

Let’s get started!

2 Introduction
According to the IDC, the amount of digital content created
and replicated in the world will grow to almost

35 zettabytes
By 2020

Terabyte

Zettabyte
1 Billion Terabytes

IDC, “The Digital Universe


Decade—Are You Ready?,”
May 2010

Choosing a Modern DAM | brandfolder.com 3


—The future of
Extracted color palette
DAM is here
#CDA762 #C1C4AA #4999B5 #013A70 #A7B001

What’s changed about the digital


approved landscape
013A70

marketing
Believe it or not, DAM-like systems have
Landscape Cloud
been around since the 80’s — think FTPs
photos
Caribbean Water Island (File Transfer Protocols), zip drives, local

Palm Tree Sand


Sea Sky
storage and more recently, cloud storage.
While marketers and creatives can still find
Tropics Sea Beach
workarounds to a modern DAM system by
using these dated methods, they’ll find that it’s
Create Share Link for 982 assets
Share
Expire Link becoming increasingly difficult — especially
considering the explosion of personalized
content creation that consumers are
KT ME
demanding today. In addition, utilizing outdated
Commented on by Commented on by
kate.taylor@sonata.com mark.edison@sonata.com methods of storing and sharing digital assets
“Photos are ready” “These look great!” leads to wasted time, wasted energy and lost
Modern DAM SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 SEPTEMBER 13, 2019
profits for your business.
platforms include
innovative features
designed to meet Now, DAM platforms address the specific
the centralized needs of marketers and creatives, as well as the
content demands needs of the larger team and external partners.
of today’s consumer.

4 The future of DAM


Here are some of the new features
contemporary DAM platforms offer:

An intuitive, easy-to-use UI Workflow tools including approval


that caters to marketers and processes, permissions and expiration
non-technical employees. that is customizable for each asset.

Automated data entry, where the Analytics to help your team understand
system instantly captures metadata how your content is being used.
when an asset is uploaded.
Powerful integrations with other
A flexible system for organizing files, software your team uses on a daily basis.
including a visual asset hierarchy,
intelligent search and tagging. Methods to quickly and securely
distribute content inside and outside of
Editing tools that allow users to your organization.
resize, reformat, and manipulate
images and videos without creating
duplicate assets.

Choosing a Modern DAM | brandfolder.com 5


—The new It’s common knowledge that a centralized DAM platform helps
teams save time and money, but in today’s digital age, DAMs also

use case for DAM:


unify marketing teams and omni-channels, streamline processes,
and track metrics that matter. In other words, they’re the
foundation for a holistic consumer experience, which helps boost
Revenue growth and your overall revenue growth.

your customer A lot has changed over the last decade. Both the number of
marketing channels and the volume of assets needed to support
experience strategy these channels have multiplied. Digital assets must now be
personalized and support the entire customer lifecycle, from
awareness and consideration, to purchase and advocacy.
Companies also collaborate with more people across time zones
and languages. Lastly, approval processes have become more
complex, involving internal and external stakeholders, and more
complicated compliance regulations.

6 Revenue growth
Does your technology support this rapid
advance of the digital world? At its core,
modern DAM platforms create a centralized
and efficient way for teams to store, share and
manipulate creative assets. They empower
teams to deliver the right assets to the
appropriate channel, at the optimal time and in
a compliant way. The right DAM platform will
help you manage all of these new use-cases,
leading to a strong brand experience for all of
your customers and stronger revenue growth.
Phew! That’s a lot to handle, but the evolution
of DAM has certainly come a long way.

Choosing a Modern DAM | brandfolder.com 7


—Five Criteria for Ease of use:

Evaluating Modern DAMs What good is implementing new software


if your team doesn’t actually use it? When
choosing a DAM platform, ensure the
software is easy to use and doesn’t require
So far, we’ve covered why today’s digital landscape and consumer extensive training. You want everyone
expectations require more robust DAM platforms, and how revenue (external partners and non-technical people
growth is a new benefit of implementing a modern DAM solution. included) to be able to access your platform
How do you actually evaluate DAMs to choose which option is and easily search, discover, edit and
right for your company? Let’s look at five key areas that your DAM download assets.
should cater to:
Check out software review sites like
G2 Crowd to see what the experts have to
say on time to adoption and ease of use. Also,
be sure to schedule a demonstration or tour
of the software to see if the functionality is
usable firsthand.

Brandfolder has the #1 lowest implementation


G2 Crowd Review time, the fastest ROI of any top-tier DAM and
Top-rated

When choosing a DAM platform, ensure the #1 in customer satisfaction. Not bad, huh?
software is easy to use and doesn’t require
extensive training. Learn more about our G2 Crowd report here.

G2 Crowd Review
Ease of Use

Check out software review sites like G2Crowd


to see what the experts have to say on time to
adoption and ease of use.

8 Evaluating a modern DAM


Automation:

Automating processes so your team works


smarter and faster is one of the most common
use-cases for implementing a DAM platform —
especially in today’s world, where consumers
demand a high volume of personalized creative.
Resize images
You’ll want to choose a DAM that allows
Upload an image to resize at a designated width and height.
marketers to easily crop, resize, format and
edit an original image or video. A modern DAM
should also have templating, which will allow Drag file(s) here or click to browse

your team to create customized versions of


assets quickly and easily. Lastly, your DAM
should integrate with tools like Adobe InDesign Width (px) Height (px)

Convert file formats


to help your creatives work more efficiently.
Upload an image to resize at a designated width and height.

Brandfolder integrates with the Adobe Creative Download

Cloud, enabling creatives to view, search,


Drag file(s) here or click to browse
and utilize their Brandfolder assets without
having to leave Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and
Photoshop. Learn more about Brandfolder’s JPG PNG

integrations here.

Download

Choosing a Modern DAM | brandfolder.com 9


Asset Reuse and Mobile first - Can your DAM easily resize and create
Personalization: assets for mobile sites and applications?

According to Forrester, companies


Real-time conversations - Can your DAM streamline and
that create personalized experiences
see an estimated 19% uplift in sales. automate your processes so you can deliver constant
Unfortunately, most companies today interaction to your consumers?
aren’t set up for success in delivering
exceptional, customer-centric
Rich media experiences - Can your DAM enable your
experiences. To close the gap between
what people want and what brands can
team to produce multiple creative pieces from a single
deliver, companies must ensure their DAM asset, empowering your brand to create innovative
supports easy customization of creative content that includes video, animation and audio?
assets. When choosing a DAM platform,
consider the following consumer trends:
Forrester Research, “The CMO and CIO Must Accelerate on Their Path to Better
Collaboration,” October 2013.

Hi Sarah, finding everything okay?

Yes, thank you! Yes, thank you!

Sarah

10 Digital rights management


Digital Rights Management
and Compliance

ng
di
n
Companies typically manage licensed

Pe
assets that all have unique expiration
dates, usage rules and copyright laws.
For enterprise companies, this can mean
thousands or even millions of licensed Sonata Logotype Black 4
assets, each with a different set of
permissions — and remembering all of Require asset approval from any administrator
this manually is virtually impossible. When
looking for a DAM, ensure the platform
offers workflow capabilities such as
Require asset approval from each of the following selected administrators
permissioning, expiration and approval
features to mitigate risks and avoid any fees
Sonia Wilson Todd Castillo
associated with misuse of an asset.
Ryan Tran Marta Fletcher

Brandfolder has a suite of rights


management and permissioning features,
including asset availability, collection Require asset approval from only the following administrator

expiration, asset approvals, request access


capabilities, and customizable permissions Sonia Wilson
for each Brandfolder collection.

Choosing a Modern DAM | brandfolder.com 11


Analytics and Insights: Your DAM platform should show you who is using what
assets and at what frequency (and alternatively, which
Lastly, your DAM should also provide
assets aren’t being used and need to be updated).
insights to close the loop on your marketing
cycle, and let your team know if the work
they’re producing is actually delivering DAMs should also integrate with other customer
on its intended value. Does your DAM engagement tools to help you gather insights on
report on insights that can be translated engagement rates, best times & channels to post on and
into tangible action items? Here are a few
impact on company sales.
requirements to consider when choosing a
modern DAM:
Your DAM should show this data in a way that is easily
digestible, allowing your team to optimize future creative
and learn about what drives conversion.

Forrester Research, “The CMO and CIO Must Accelerate on Their Path to Better
Collaboration,” October 2013.

12 Analytics and insights


—How to sell DAM within
Shared

your organization Drive

In this last section, we’ll provide resources and checklists to help


you sell DAM to the rest of your organization. To start, let’s look at
the difference between shared drives, online storage, and DAM — a
common question those who are unfamiliar with DAMs often have.

Online
Storage
—Shared drives vs. Online storage vs. DAMs

The chart below shows the different functionalities each of these


modalities offer. As you can see, one-dimensional shared drives and
online storage offer file storage and collaboration, but not much more
than that. Only DAMs designed for marketers and creatives deliver
strategic value that extends to every stage of the digital asset lifecycle
— from iterations to final creative, to production and archival.

DAM

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Hard Drives Enterprise digital
Functionality Online storage
& Shared Drives asset management

File storage

Enterprise search

Folder hierarchy

Collaboration

Version control

Security

Rich media

Custom tags

Custom integration

Large file sharing

Metadata management

Rights management

Workflow & approval

Asset utilization

14 DAM question checklist


—DAM question checklist

Need help convincing your colleagues that your organization needs a DAM platform? Here are a few questions and
considerations for making a business case to your organization:

Storing Marketing Efficiency

• Do you struggle to locate assets, even when it’s • Can your marketing team easily create new versions of assets to
centralized on a shared drive? support different platforms and devices?
• Can your entire organization and external partners • Are your marketing campaigns executed on time, and can you keep
easily access and use finished assets? up with consumer demand?
• Do you capture metadata that makes it easy to • Can you dynamically adjust creative or copy in real-time when
find assets? customers interact with your content?

Collaboration & Workflow Analytics and Beyond

• Do you have streamlined review and approval • Do you measure asset utilization by internal stakeholders, internal
processes that create a historical record of assets? teams and external partners?
• Do you struggle with managing version control on • Do you measure your asset engagement by channel?
creative assets? • Have you violated a creative license in the last 12 months because
an asset was accidentally available on a production drive?

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—How to articulate the —Conclusion
value of DAM
DAM platforms are no longer just
about file storage. They’ve evolved
Finally, we’ll leave you with this chart that illustrates the four areas into robust platforms that support the
where DAM will benefit the organization the most. entire marketing lifecycle, and helps
teams deliver on the personalized, high-
quality content that consumers crave.
Time Savings • Larger average order value By enhancing marketing processes like
or deal size asset creation, team collaboration and
• Saved employee time and effort
• Increased number of repeat integration with other creative tools,
• Faster time to market
purchases from brand loyalists modern DAMs enable marketers and
• Increased upselling and teams to do their jobs better. To put it
Cost Savings
cross-selling revenue simply, DAMs are the strategic foundation
• Optimized employee salary of modern brand experiences that are
• Reduced legal fees Insights & Visibility required for brands to succeed today.
• Reduced storage fees
• Clear denotation of campaign
• Reduced regulatory fines and To learn more, contact us:
and creative status
licensing rights violations
• Visibility into asset utilization
and performance (720) 744-0300 | hello@brandfolder.com
Revenue Growth www.brandfolder.com
• Higher quality strategic decisions
• Increased sales from
personalized, dynamic content
• Increased number of
campaigns delivered across
channels and devices

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