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Stay organized: 10 best practices for digital asset management

How often do you find yourself searching endlessly through digital assets, unable to find that one file because you can’t remember the exact file name or extension?

If you’re reading this, it’s probably more often than you would like. Research indicates that since the pandemic, the amount of time people spend looking for information at work has increased, with a majority spending between half a day and one full day each week looking for files. 

Poor digital asset management can lead to lost time spent hunting down elusive files, inconsistent visual branding, frustrated clients…and one very grumpy graphic design team

If that sounds familiar, read on. This blog will walk you through ten digital asset management best practices to boost your productivity and save you time. 

1. Choose the right digital asset management (DAM) platform for your needs

First things first, you need a system that fits your needs. Perhaps Google Drive has worked until now, but just doesn’t quite cut it anymore.

If that’s the case, it’s time to consider a digital asset management (DAM) platform that’s up to the task and adapted to your needs. 

However, not all DAMs are created equal. Some are budget-friendly, some cater to enterprise-level needs, and others are designed for specific use cases (like Playbook, which is designed for designers, creatives, and marketing teams).

To choose the right DAM for you, you’ll need to think about each of the following factors and which are most important for your business:

  • Cost: Does the DAM solution fit your budget?
  • Searchability: Does the platform make it easy to find files through features such as visual browsing?
  • Automations: Does the system offer workflow automations like auto-tagging, metadata, and de-duplications?
  • Supported file types: Many creatives use file types that are not supported by all platforms. Photographers and videographers, for example, may struggle with slow load times or loss of quality with some platforms. 
  • Collaboration features: If you work with multiple teams or clients, collaboration features like commenting and tagging are non-negotiables. Videographers should look for a platform that allows timestamped commenting (like Playbook).
  • Integrations: Make sure your DAM integrates with the tools and platforms you already use — bonus points if it integrates with AI platforms like Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, Midjourney, and ChatGPT.

Reporting: Look for a solution that provides data and analysis on how your files are being used.

Some of the most popular DAM platforms include:

Name

Users like…

Users dislike…

Bynder

User-friendly

Reporting features could be better

Brandfolder

Searchability

Tag and folder structure could be improved

Google Photos

Easy to use

Can’t download videos

Dropbox

Storage space

Slow customer support

MediaValet

Search functionality

Collaboration features

Google Drive

Works on desktop and mobile

Search functionality

Some users love these platforms, others not so much. It all depends on what your needs are, but many creative professionals have found the ideal home for their digital assets on Playbook. 

Created by designers with creative teams and freelancers in mind, Playbook offers ample storage, intuitive visual browsing, accessible pricing, and collaboration and sharing features. 

It also supports large files and the more unusual file types that may not be supported on other platforms, like .3FR for photographers, .MXF for videographers, or .FLA for animators. 

2. Audit your assets

Once you’ve chosen your DAM platform, it’s time to migrate your assets and audit them. This step is essential for bringing an end to the chaos and setting yourself up for a new, well-organized storage system that makes finding digital assets a breeze. 

Start by cataloging all of your assets, including the number and type of assets you have and their file/folder structure. 

Then, categorize your assets, for example, by project type, file format, or usage context. In Playbook, one way to do this would be to create separate boards for each category. 

As part of the categorization process, you’ll need to make sure metadata is consistent and complete across all files — Playbook’s auto-tagging and metadata features can help with this process.

Then, you’ll want to remove any redundancies by deleting any duplicates (Playbook does this automatically to save you time) and use data reports to assess file usage. 

As part of this step, you should also review user access and security settings. With Playbook, administrators can set granular permissions for different users to ensure the right people have access to the right assets, enhancing security and compliance during the audit process.

3. Establish DAM governance

“DAM governance” is basically a fancy way of saying a structured framework you use to manage, organize, and control digital assets effectively.

As you design your DAM governance system, you’ll need to think about the policies and procedures to implement, such as:

  • Asset creation and ingestion
  • Metadata and taxonomy
  • Version control 
  • Retention and deletion
  • User roles
  • Security 

Once you’ve established governance, you’ll also need to appoint a team member to oversee the DAM and make sure that everyone adheres to the governance rules you’ve set. That’s where the DAM manager comes in.

4. Choose a DAM manager

A DAM manager is someone who oversees the organization and storage of digital assets to make sure they adhere to the norms set out in your DAM governance structure. They also manage user access and permissions so that everyone has access to everything they need while keeping sensitive information secure. 

In larger organizations, the DAM manager might be responsible for coordinating between departments and helping them integrate the DAM system with the tools they already use. 

When nominating a DAM manager, look for someone who:

  • Has strong organizational skills
  • Pays close attention to detail
  • Has the required technical skills
  • Is an effective communicator
  • Has a strategic mindset
  • Understands security and compliance

5. Set up your brand

Maintaining a consistent brand can feel like an uphill battle, but a DAM solution can help — in fact, 75% of companies reported improved brand consistency after implementing a DAM system.

Why does brand consistency matter? In short, because it can make you more money. 

In one survey, the majority of businesses (68%) reported that maintaining a consistent brand identity had contributed to between 10 and 20 percent of their revenue growth

No matter which DAM solution you choose, you’ll need to set up your brand assets in a way that makes them easy to find for all users in your company or team. 

Creating a new home for your brand assets is easy with Playbook — simply create a new playbook and add as many boards as you need, just like in the example below. 

6. Set up user access

Once your DAM system is up and running, it’s time to set up user access. The three most common types of users are:

  • Admin
  • Internal 
  • External

The admins may include the DAM manager and a small number of senior team members, and will have access to controls such as user permissions and adding or removing users. 

Internal users are the team members who will have access to the files in the DAM but will need to ask administrators if they want to make any changes in the system. The administrators may give different permissions to different internal team members depending on their roles. 

External users are individuals outside the organization, such as clients or vendors. They may be granted permission to access specific files, with the level of access varying from view-only to comment or edit capabilities, depending on their role and needs.

Playbook allows you to share digital assets or even entire boards in one click, and the publish feature helps you present your assets in beautiful displays that will wow your clients — like this portfolio page by Maison London:

7. Integrate your DAM system

By integrating your DAM system with the rest of the tools you and your team already use, your digital assets will be easily accessible, manageable, and deployable across various platforms without the need for redundant tasks like downloading and re-uploading files.

It also centralizes your content, streamlines processes, and enhances collaboration by allowing team members to access and use digital assets directly within their familiar environments. 

Some of Playbook’s most popular integrations include:

  • Adobe Creative Cloud
  • CMS systems like WordPress
  • Project management tools like Trello and Asana
  • CRMs like Salesforce
  • Product information management (PIM) systems
  • Gen-AI platforms like Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, Midjourney, and ChatGPT

8. Analyze how your files are used

Understanding how your digital assets are being used helps you improve your asset management by identifying which assets are most effective and uncovering usage patterns. 

These insights allow you to make data-driven decisions about your strategic and creative efforts. Some of the metrics to consider analyzing include:

  • Asset popularity and performance
  • User engagement
  • Return on investment (ROI)
  • Lifecycle management

9. Optimize your workflow

For designers and creative teams, it’s easy to get bogged down in tedious manual tasks like tagging, de-duplication, version control, and file conversion and optimization, taking away precious time from creative work. 

Fortunately, many DAM platforms offer automation features designed to save you time and let you focus on what you do best. They include:

  • Automated tagging and metadata management: For example, Playbook’s AI-powered tagging system automatically categorizes and tags uploaded assets for consistent organization. This makes assets easily searchable, saving you the time and effort of manual tagging.
  • Integrations: Look for integrations with the platforms you already use, such as Adobe Creative Cloud, which eliminates the need to switch constantly between multiple platforms. 
  • Automated workflows: For instance, approval processes can be automated, along with the use of notifications that let users know when something is approved or comments have been added. 
  • Version management: A platform that automatically updates asset versions can save you tons of time, reduce confusion, and guarantee that the team is working with the most current files.
  • File conversion and optimization: Look for automated file conversion features that ensure assets are always in the correct format for each platform. This can reduce the manual work of converting and resizing files. 

10. Establish a single source of truth

A single source of truth is a centralized repository that ensures that everyone — designers, teams, and clients — has access to the most up-to-date and approved versions of assets, reducing confusion and improving collaboration.

Here’s why that matters:

  • Accuracy: It eliminates the risk of using outdated or incorrect assets, ensuring that all materials reflect the latest branding and information.
  • Efficiency: Reduces the time spent searching for files across multiple platforms or repositories, streamlining workflows and speeding up project completion.
  • Collaboration: Enhances collaboration by providing a central location where team members can easily find, share, and update assets, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
  • Compliance: Helps maintain compliance with brand guidelines and regulatory requirements by controlling access to approved and legally compliant assets.

By establishing a single source of truth for digital assets, you can boost workflow efficiency, ensure consistency across all projects, and save valuable time that would otherwise be spent searching for files. It also enhances collaboration and communication, leading to higher quality outputs and more successful projects.

Take control of your digital assets with Playbook

So, there you have it — 10 best practices that will save you and your team tons of time on searching for files and carrying out repetitive manual tasks.

If you’re a creative looking to get your digital files back under control, you’ll love Playbook’s intuitive interface and AI-powered visual browsing system that make managing your assets a breeze.

Sign up for a free Playbook account today, and we’ll give you lifetime access to 4TB of storage so that you’ll never run out of space again!

What are you waiting for?