Creative Operations, Marketing Workflow, Marketing Project Managment

As companies have more options for SaaS based solutions, it becomes more important that they evaluate these options and how they will be accessed. In order to stay competitive, businesses must select the right solution.

In the past several years, digital asset management (DAM) software has dramatically increased in popularity. Much of this rise is thanks to efforts by tech juggernauts such as Google and Amazon, which are encouraging Internet users to consume content in as many ways, and via as many channels, as possible. To keep running with the big dogs, marketers need to meet users’ new expectations that content will be instantaneous, relevant, and delivered right to their phones. This demand can often put a strain on many organizations as they are tasked to not only develop more content, but also find effective ways to manage, share, and leverage these digital assets both internally and across all marketing channels.

The massive growth in digital marketing has created many new opportunities for businesses, but also new challenges. Marketers have more distribution channels and more file formats and types to deal with, all the while trying to stay on-brand and consistent.

Understanding why accurate metadata is essential to your organization can make the difference between success and failure. One of the most basic functions of a proper metadata structure is to directly help with the searching and finding of assets quickly and easily, it sounds simple, but you wouldn’t believe how many organizations struggle with this very fundamental issue. Also, making sure you are entering correct metadata is crucial, one simple mistake can effectively render hundreds of assets to be inaccurate. An example would be that you or your client are merely embarrassed by using an incorrect image. Imagine you have a campaign with multiple professional athletes, and in an ad that references Kyrie Irving, there is a photo of Kevin Durant. Not the end of the world, but a definite knock on your credibility to accurately use the correct image. But there can also be much more severe and costly consequences as we get into rights management and having the proper license to use a specific photograph or image. Running a national advertisement without rights to a particular image could cost your company serious $$$$ in fines and legal fees!

The world of marketing moves fast and so its important that the technology behind it is able to keep up with the times. Attempting to stay current can be expensive for businesses. Research recently found that 28% of marketing executives are now spending more than $100,000 per year on marketing technology, while 54% plan to increase their spending in 2018. This can be a large expense for any business, especially if the money is being paid in single installments. Is it really necessary to spend more money on these investments to get the most out of their technology? A business should be thinking about what they actually need rather than what they want.