Gear Up For Growth, with DAM

What is the hardest thing about managing a growing business? After all, it must be a nice problem to have. More customers, more product lines, more opportunity – more revenue. But also, more work, and a need for better organization and a more formalized approach.

When a business is experiencing rapid growth or change – as many have during the pandemic – it can sometimes feel like you’re trying to lay the runway while the airplane is in the middle of take-off.

It can be tempting to simply focus on the ‘business end’ of the operation – making the sale, getting product out of the door – but failing to pay attention to how your business is keeping up with its potential customers as well as existing sales is storing up problems for the future.

Why It Must Be Real-Time All The Time

An extreme example of how on the ball companies need to be today is the supply chain issues that came to dominate the pandemic. Most notably, perhaps, the supply of 2020’s hot new console, the PlayStation 5. Many retailers planned to stock it but distribution issues meant availability was fitful at best. Delivery dates changed continually, different versions of the console were available at different times, customers could buy in one gaming bundle but not another.

Updates would be delivered minute by minute by retailers and industry observers across social channels. Time and again, consumers would rush to a website that claimed to have it in stock, go through a long checkout process only to discover it was not in stock at all. By the time they rushed to another site purported to have stock, the console was sold out there too. Never has real-time information online been so important.

The upshot was a sense of mass disappointment in the retailers and a lingering mistrust. Even though the supply issues were beyond their control, it felt like the supply of information wasn’t. In fact, keeping up with that amount of dynamic market activity would have been a herculean task for even the most sophisticated retailer, but it does show just how high customer expectations have risen.

Such a heavy reliance on digital channels means that accurate and dynamic data is more important than ever. The ever-growing channel landscape, where transactions can happen across social, websites, mobile, connected TV (CTV), instore digital, and more, means the flow of digital assets must be seamless. For businesses with traditionally siloed assets and information, this can prove nearly impossible to achieve – and certainly not at the speed today’s customer demands.

All Your Assets, All In One Place

For many companies, the solution lies in implementing a Digital Asset Management system, or DAM. Even for those not selling in a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ marketplace, the ability to update information, add or remove products to catalogues both on and offline, create blogs, share assets with partners and agencies and benefit from automation is critical.

The DAM does what it says on the tin. It centralizes and categorizes all a business’s digital assets so executives who need to access them can do so easily. It can also manage workflows and permissions, so those who have the authority to alter an image or product description can do so without waiting for a chain of approvals. A DAM also allows for automation by tagging assets so other systems, a customer relationship management (CRM) system or content management system (CMS) can automatically integrate the asset – for an email or social media campaign for example.

It is easy to see then, how a DAM system can undoubtedly improve the company’s efficiency when it comes to getting information in front of customers, but it’s also a vital part of the business’s protective armor. By automatically managing information – removing out of date assets, for example – companies can avoid compliance breaches and licensing disputes, both of which are a severe drain on both time and money.

While the DAM is only a piece of software, its impact is much further reaching. A DAM system essentially breaks down the information siloes within the business. But, for it to reach its full potential, the human siloes also need to evolve. Companies need to adopt a culture of closer collaboration, both internally and with their partners, to make the most of what the platform has to offer.

When it is all hands to the pump, the idea of looking at an internal reorganization can seem like an unnecessary distraction. But to function effectively in a modern ecommerce environment, centralized and automated digital assets are essential. The good news is that DAM systems are designed to grow and evolve with your business, supporting it as you make the necessary changes.

To learn more about how a DAM system can support your business as it grows, and the steps you should be taking to prepare your business for one, download this comprehensive Martech Buyers Guide for Digital Asset Management.