It’s a tough time to oversee the marketing function of a global business – the macroeconomic environment is precarious, competition is fiercer than ever, and consumer demands are always rising. When it comes to marketing, you may be willing to invest in your tech stack, but only if the platform can be quickly onboarded and make your organisation demonstrably more productive and profitable. 

Faced with a baffling array of software solutions, how can you understand which platform  is right for your organisation? In this simple guide, we’ll walk you through what a DAM platform is, why it matters, and how it can benefit your business.

What is DAM?

DAM stands for digital asset management, which is a type of software platform that enables organisations to store, centralise, manage, and distribute all their digital content, from photos and videos to files and brochures. Using an AI-powered DAM platform like Canto can also help organisations develop and implement their AI strategy in a low-risk way as it doesn't train AI on customer data. 

Let’s explore three benefits which a DAM platform can unlock for your organisation.

1. Transformed workflow

Your marketing team is likely wasting days searching for assets, tagging and resizing content, and emailing files to-and-fro. But with a DAM solution, that inefficient workflow is transformed – content can be shared and approved directly in the platform and edited via integrations with more than 40 applications, from the Adobe suite to monday.com. 

And it isn’t only images and video which can be managed more efficiently – business functions like e-commerce and organising product information can be improved by consolidating product data, IDs, descriptions, SKUs, and images all in one place.

Transforming those workflows means your organisation can go-to-market faster, and marketing efforts can be smoothly scaled as your business grows and content demand increases.

2. Brand compliance 

DAM platforms provide a single source of truth for your organisation’s content – so every employee across every office and market, as well as your partners and suppliers, have the right content at hand when they need it.

Besides speeding up workflows, a DAM platform can also help minimise risks and protect your brand reputation, through sophisticated version controls and digital rights management (DRM). With customisable content permission levels it becomes near-impossible for agents, partners, suppliers and franchisees to access the wrong files or out-of-date content. 

DAM platforms also offer tools to ensure your content is always on brand regardless of where it shows up. Canto’s Media Delivery Cloud, for example, helps reduce opportunities for human error by instantly resizing and publishing assets from Canto to your sites, stores, and platforms.

3. High-impact ROI

DAM platforms don’t just affect mundane day-to-day tasks but also have a powerful impact on ROI. Producing content requires a large  amount of resources and most organisations don’t realise the full value of their content – it gets used once then superseded or forgotten. 

A DAM platform helps multiply the ROI of your content. Images and videos are instantly discoverable from anywhere in your Canto library thanks to metadata and AI Visual Search. Detailed analytics show which content and campaigns are performing best. Editing and video clipping is expedited, and launching campaigns becomes faster, giving your organisation the competitive edge wherever you operate.

In short, a DAM platform could be one of the most effective tools for your organisation to realise efficiencies, win customers, and gain the competitive advantage – meaning you can move onto the next challenge.

Canto is the industry leader in digital asset management (DAM) helping more than 4,000 organisations worldwide improve their content lifecycle. To book a free demo, visit www.canto.com