With the rapid proliferation of online channels, mobile experience and social media, marketing is getting tougher all the time. For the marketer, the competition is very much on – not just the conventional head-to-head with business rivals but also in terms of attracting and retaining the consumer’s attention.
That’s why the quality and consistency of content is so crucial. And therein lies the challenge for marketing and brand managers who need to protect their brand and to ensure a unified message across all channels and all markets.
The quantity of content needed to engage with consumers through all these different channels often throws up tricky marketing production and management issues, not least because managing the different types of content for different channels in multiple languages is so complex. No surprise, then, that so many businesses are turning to digital asset management software to help manage this marketing complexity.
Digital asset management, or DAM, centralises marketing materials and assets such as logos, images, brand guidelines and positioning documents. It streamlines processes, increasing team efficiency and dramatically diminishing the risk of error. A DAM system also reduces problems caused by disjointed file management, as well as cutting out the manual search and distribution of marketing assets. Interestingly, Glenster researchers reckon that a marketer working without DAM technology will be spending an average of 35 per cent of his/her time searching for assets. Whilst it is not a digital asset manager job description as such, this article pulls together the skills you should be looking for in your ideal candidate.
The human factor
In our experience a digital asset management system is at its most effective and delivers best when driven by a dedicated DAM manager who is focused on the efficient operation and maintenance of the system.
Most vendors call this person the ‘super admin’ – the person who receives the in-depth training on the system from the vendor and gets to be as proficient as possible in using it. Incidentally, there’s a good article called ‘How to be a DAM Champion’ on the DAM Foundation’s website that explains the DAM manager’s role in the procurement process.
Naturally, you’ll want to get the best from digital asset management by appointing the right person to be your DAM manager. Here’s an overview that sets out some of the key attributes of an ideal candidate for the job:
The tech-savvy ‘conductor’
Jeff Bulas puts it well when he says the digital marketer is like an orchestral conductor – with lots of loud noisy instruments to coordinate. It’s the same for the DAM manager at the content hub of the marketing ecosystem. He or she must be capable of coordinating all the brand’s digital assets as a cohesive whole from the management podium. The brand and marketing materials are the orchestral instruments; and the DAM manager’s role is to be the tech-savvy conductor, with a thorough understanding of how and where each digital asset is to be used.
The strategic thinker
The DAM manager is charged with making sure that content, people and technology all work together productively – and that requires strategic capability. Strategy is also at the heart of keeping the system running smoothly and scaling it in line with company growth, as well as strategic maintenance of the digital asset management site. The DAM manager has to know when particular assets are set to expire, in addition to overseeing or approving uploaded assets, setting up permission groups and approving new users.
He or she must also have a comprehensive picture of the company’s marketing strategy in order to keep the DAM platform up and functioning for all users, while meeting the company’s changing business needs and managing the integration of the system with other marketing platforms.
The good communicator
The digital asset manager is the natural point of contact between the system vendor and its users. He or she must be able to communicate with the vendor, whether for specific support, sourcing additional modules or integrating the platform with other marketing software. And of course he/she must have the skills to deliver effective system training for the end users.
The analytical type
Analytical skills are key. The DAM manager will have to monitor and analyse the usage and other reports in the system as well as understanding how to analyse and measure the ROI. It’s also part of the job to look at the system and the users to ensure that the business is getting as much out of the system it possibly can.
With a DAM manager in position with those attributes, there’s no doubt that digital asset management system will start to perform at its optimum efficiency. To learn more about the benefits of a digital asset management system, get in touch with us at Brandworkz.
To learn more about digital asset management visit our DAM features page.
This article was originally published on The Drum.
