How to Select the Right DAM Service for Your Company
Is your company ready to invest in a professional digital asset management (DAM) service? If so, you’ve probably started researching the different options. There are quite a few of them! How do you select the right DAM when there are so many choices?
Well, we’ve actually developed a four step process to help you choose the perfect tool for your marketing team. The one that will increase productivity and reduce the hassle inherent in managing a large media library. Intrigued? Let’s get started!
Select the Right DAM in 4 Easy Steps
When used correctly, DAMs prove to be a real powerhouse marketing tool! Let’s outline the four steps you should follow to select the right DAM service for your company.
1: What Does Your Company Need?
Every company has unique needs and workflows. To select the right DAM for your business, you need to identify what yours are. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you assess this question:
Your Users
Who in your company will have access to the DAM and use it on a regular basis? Make sure you get their input and invest in an option that will meet every users needs.
Once you understand exactly how the DAM will be used, you can start to list and prioritize specific features.
For example, perhaps both your content marketing and digital advertising teams use company graphics daily. In this scenario, you would want to ensure that your DAM allows for multiple team members to quickly search the database, find what they’re after, and easily download their chosen files.
Mode of Deployment
Does your company prefer to work with on-premise software solutions, or cloud-based SaaS tools?
While a fair amount of businesses in the financial and government industries have historically preferred on-premise DAMs, cloud-based softwares provide many more conveniences and are much more widely used.
Ease of Use
The reason your company is looking to invest in digital asset management is because of the service’s promise to increase team productivity and efficiency, right? Well then ease of use should be a top priority when attempting to select the right DAM.
There are many available softwares that provide users with every feature imaginable. But many of them also require advanced training and experience to use properly.
If you’re company is ready to invest the money and resources necessary to accommodate this kind of tool, by all means, go for it. If not, it will be best to look at another option.
Storage Size
Every DAM offers different storage options — both for the total amount of assets a client can store, and the size of each individual file. Often times, the more storage your company requires, the more expensive the service will be.
We’ll discuss pricing and budget a bit later in this post. But for now, make sure that the DAM you’re considering can accommodate your entire media library without breaking the bank.
Customer Service
No business wants to be known for poor customer service. But some providers take this aspect of their organization extremely seriously and work hard to provide the best possible experience to all their clients.
So, is the DAM provider you’re considering known for the way it takes care of its customers?
While the hope is to never need extensive attention or guidance around specific issues, knowing that your challenges will be handled promptly and respectfully is definitely a benefit and should be considered before deciding on a DAM.
2: How Will You Measure DAM Impact?
It’s hard — nearly impossible really — to judge how effective a DAM service is without measuring it against specific goals. And if you’ll need to be measuring objectives anyway, doesn’t it make sense to define them before you invest in a new software tool? We think so!
There are many ways to calculate DAM impact including an increase in productivity, reduced costs, and elevated production rates. Choose which objectives matter most to your company and how you’ll define success once a DAM has been chosen and implemented.
3: What is Your Company’s Budget for DAM?
Successfully managing your company’s marketing department requires smart investments — investments in people, tools ideas, etc. When selecting the right DAM for your team, this is also true. The key is finding the best balance between what your company needs and what it can afford.
So set a budget and stick to it. Commit to only paying for features that will truly provide value to your company and make managing digital asset libraries more convenient.
4: Analyze and Select the Right DAM
Using the three steps we just mentioned, you should be able to narrow the field of potential DAMs down quite a bit. Do you require an on-premise or cloud-based service? Your answer will automatically reduce the number of candidates.
What about your list of prioritized features and the budget you’ve set? Again, not every DAM will fit these parameters and your pool of options will continue to shrink.
When your list is down to just a few different providers, do your best to rank them and choose the one you feel will best fit your company’s unique needs and workflow. But don’t pay for anything yet!
Most DAMs will offer you a free trial period. Take advantage of this. Try the software out and make sure it does what you need it to and your team enjoys using it. If a free trial isn’t offered, at the very least, ask for an in-depth tour of the product.
Wrapping Up
Once you select the right DAM service and implement it, you’ll see your company’s productivity rise and once tedious tasks will become a breeze. But the wrong choice can quickly lead to wasted funds and frustration.
Fortunately, the four step process outlined in this blog was designed to help you make the right choice, the first time. As long as you assess and prioritize your company’s needs, define how DAM impact will be measured, and stick within your budget, we’re sure you’ll land on the perfect tool for your organization.
Speaking of the perfect tool, why not try CleanPix for free today? Our DAM service is fully featured, affordable, and well-established — we’ve been in business since 2001!
We also pride ourselves on ease of use. In fact, most new clients are up and running with the CleanPix system in 60 minutes or less. Our interface is that intuitive. So go ahead and start your free trial. If you have any questions, we’re happy to answer them.
– Jacob Thomas