For the past few years, the art of decluttering has gained a cultish following, and with good reason. Being organized and selective with your possessions helps clear the mind and, supposedly, opens up your capacity to get more done.
While this is generally a practice applied to your clothes, books, and home accents, when you translate the magic of decluttering to your digital assets, the same positive benefits apply to your marketing efforts.
Think about it – when you’re juggling social media campaigns, budgets, print campaigns, giveaways, email campaigns, radio campaigns, website content, provider profiles, SEO, brand reputation, and more, keeping track of the appropriate and approved images, logos, video files, etc. for each piece could feel like searching for a missing sock among the piles at the bottom of your closet.
You Need Digital Asset Management
Digital Asset Management (DAM) solutions allow your marketing team to keep brand consistency across platforms and channels. Your consumers expect your campaigns, apps, and websites to look and feel like they came from the same place. With the rising focus on creating incredible consumer experiences for your healthcare consumers, you need the organization a DAM can provide if you’re going to create competitive, seamless, personalized digital experiences.
By streamlining and simplifying how you manage your digital assets, allowing you to store key images, videos, and more in a secure, central location that stakeholders across your organization can access, a DAM becomes your single source of truth. Eliminate confusion, protect your brand, and offer that relevant, engaging, and consistent experience your consumers are looking for without spending all day hunting down the right version of that video file you need for your mobile app.
There are a lot of options for digital asset management out there, some standalone and some integrated with your other marketing software. Whichever route you choose to pursue, there are a few features you absolutely need if you’re going to invest in a DAM.
8 Essential DAM Features
- Tracking – know when and where an asset is used, every time
- Tagging – you should be able to tag by file type, campaign usage, collection, or metadata for the most robust organization
- Search – to go with tagging, you need a search tool that lets you search by all those categories and more plus the ability to filter, so you can get to what you need quickly and easily
- Editing – the best DAM systems will allow you to crop, resize, layer, and otherwise edit your assets right inside the tool
- Publishing – once you have your files organized, the ability to publish or pull images, videos, etc. from the tool will make your life even easier
- Compliance – one of the biggest issues with multiple team members handling and dealing with web assets is insuring the most current and approved file is the one sent out for publishing, not to mention protecting how and when certain brand assets are used. You need a DAM with a robust rules and permissions system to feel confident and secure no matter who’s handling your assets.
- Configuration – it is essential that those rules and permissions are configurable for your organization’s specific needs
- Integration – if you can find a DAM system that is integrated with your CMS, you’ll be eliminating one more headache and most likely save yourself some budget
When you’re ready to get to that zen state of healthcare marketing, the place where your workload and responsibilities all flow together in a way that makes sense, start looking for a DAM or tools, like CMS, that include a DAM, and the organization and peace of mind one can offer.
By Emily Brown | Posted April 4, 2017
Digital Engagement Taskforce Member
Content Marketing Manager
Influence Health
Birmingham, AL
205-989-5471
Emily.brown@influencehealth.com