What Is Digital Asset Management (DAM) Software?

Digital asset management (DAM) software is a platform used to store, organize, and manage digital assets.

Organizations can use a DAM system to keep all digital assets in one place, tag them to make them easy to find, and facilitate file sharing. DAM systems also streamline permissions management, which makes governance easier, and allow for version control and auditing.

DAM systems deliver all the technical capabilities brands need to be able to access and use digital assets at scale. They support essential capabilities like storage, governance, and file sharing, only falling short of the final steps needed to syndicate digital assets.

In the simplest terms, a digital asset is any piece of digital content. In the context of ecommerce, it refers to digital files created to add rich content to a product page in order to promote and provide more information about the product.

Types of digital assets frequently used for ecommerce include:

• Images
• Videos
• Infographics and other illustrations
• Interactive media
• Audio files
• Graphics, such as logos or sales banners
• Gifs
• User-generated content (UGC), including social content

Essentially, any distinct piece of content that’s made digitally to be consumed digitally is considered a digital asset.

As can be seen from this non-exhaustive list, “digital asset” is a broad category. With so much inherent variation between each digital asset, organizations may struggle to manage them all without a streamlined, comprehensive platform built for the task.

While every DAM system has a slightly different set of features, generally speaking, DAM systems help organizations do the following:

• Standardize asset storage: All digital assets get stored in a DAM according to a uniform taxonomy. Custom metadata can simplify tagging and indexing.
• House asset templates: Organizations can often store templates in a DAM and use those templates for more efficient asset creation.
• Promote version control: DAM systems usually have version control protocols that ensure all edit history is saved, but only the most up-to-date version of an asset is being worked on.
• Maintain governance: DAM systems enable strong governance through permissions management that guarantees that only the appropriate people can view or edit an asset.
• Facilitate auditing: With their standardized storage protocols and governance features, DAM systems make auditing and reporting faster and easier.

The benefits of DAM software are extensive, especially if your organization works with digital assets at scale.

For one, a DAM keeps all digital assets in the same place, so they’re always easy to find. There’s no chance of losing them in disorganized folders or uncoordinated emails.

A DAM also supports governance and reporting by making it easier for organizations to do things like maintain strict access control, create reports, and conduct audits.

When a DAM has been implemented well, and everyone knows how to use it, it makes users' lives easier, workflows more efficient, and instances of bad data less frequent.

As a result, assets get created and published faster and with less stress. Time and resources are saved because mistakes that would have been made if the organization muddled along without a DAM are avoided.

Despite their many benefits, DAM systems can’t do everything.

Like any other type of enterprise software, they require a lot of careful planning before and during implementation. Organizations need to know how a DAM will impact their processes, what kind of metadata they need to use, how much storage space they need, and more before deploying a DAM. Otherwise, they risk creating new problems by adopting DAM software.  

DAM systems also raise concerns around integration with and syndication to other platforms. While some DAM systems do integrate with various common enterprise software, it’s rare that one integrates with all the other platforms in an organization’s ecommerce tech stack.

Perhaps most significantly, DAM systems aren’t built to syndicate content to retailers. Once digital assets are finalized and ready to go live, they have to be sent to another platform for syndication. In the best case, this is a hassle; in the worst, it can lead to confusion and missed deadlines.

A DAM solution is tailored to a very narrow purpose — storing and managing digital assets — so weaving it into the complex workflows that culminate in engaging product pages can be challenging. If your goal is just to store digital assets, a DAM is fine. However, if your goal is to use those digital assets to connect with shoppers and grow sales, something more is needed.

Product experience management (PXM) is a newer type of ecommerce software that strives to give organizations a centralized platform for managing every aspect of their product pages. This means storing and managing digital assets as well as governing product data, managing retailer requirements, and more.

Not only that, but PXM platforms also have the power to syndicate content and data. They often integrate directly with major ecommerce platforms, so product pages can be pushed live right from the software. Great PXM solutions will even flag content that doesn’t meet retailers’ specifications for you.

PXM platforms build on the benefits of narrow tools like DAM systems. They bring their many features into a powerful platform that also facilitates many other processes related to product page creation. They give organizations all the benefits of DAM systems while leaving their limitations far behind.  

The capabilities of a DAM are essential for any organization handling large amounts of digital assets. To avoid errors and inefficiencies, there needs to be a centralized platform where all of these digital assets can be created, stored, and managed. DAM software provides that.

For many organizations, that’s all that’s needed. But for brands and manufacturers looking to expand or improve their ecommerce presence, those capabilities don’t scratch the surface of what they need.

To truly simplify digital asset management for ecommerce, brands need to be able to synchronize digital asset-related processes with product data management and product content syndication.

A PXM solution does all of these tasks and more. By using a PXM solution in place of a DAM, you can get all the benefits of a DAM without any of the limitations.