4 steps to kick off your DAM project

DAM solutions play an important part in today’s toolkit of digital marketers - they have earned their spot next to Social Media Management, CMS and Marketing Automation tools.

You are dissatisfied with the way marketing resources are handled in your company. Tired of losing time and money searching for your digital assets. That’s why you decided to implement a DAM solution. Great news! The implementation of such a solution will allow you to securely manage and organize all your digital assets in one central platform. It will help you quickly find your assets and easily share them. The entire MarCom experience will be improved thanks to this Single Source of Truth. But wait, the solution is not implemented yet.

To help you successfully achieve your DAM project, we have defined 4 steps to kick-off.

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1. Properly define your needs and project objectives

Realizing that your company needs a DAM system and the decision to implement one is  already the first achievement. In order to make the implementation a success, it is now important to properly define what you want to do with it and which functionalities you need. You should ask yourself questions like: What’s our purpose for the solution? Which challenges do we want to tackle with the solution? Do we have a DAM strategy? Which features are must-haves? How many and which kind of assets do we possess?

This list is not exhaustive, there are probably more questions you should define. Once you have answered all these questions, it is essential to write a clear RFI that covers all your needs and goals.

Not sure how to write your RFI for DAM project? Download our free template

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2. Choose a good project team

Define the people that will be involved in this project. Don’t forget to clearly define each person’s role and responsibilities. Remember who the decision makers and most influential stakeholders are. Ensure that you know all the stakeholders involved and that you inform them regularly. Also make sure to underline and communicate the benefits of the DAM solution to get stakeholders and users on board as soon as possible. A clear project plan with milestones for all project members can help to achieve your DAM project in time.  

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3. Find the right DAM tool

Once you know what your needs are and which people will be involved in the project, it is time to choose the right solution. Make sure the solution fits the needs you defined in step 1. Analysts regularly list the best DAM solutions. These lists can give a good overview about the different providers on the DAM market.  

It is essential to see demos of the Digital Asset Management solutions before you make your choice.

Make sure to have these demonstrations adapted as much as possible to your future uses by the selected providers. This is what we call, in business jargon, a POC (Proof of Concept). It is a guarantee of the solution's real ability to adapt - a demonstration of its flexibility.

Take into consideration that the solution provider will also be your partner in crime when it comes to implementation. Choose someone you will be able to work well with, a DAM specialist with broad experience and a partner you can trust.  

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4. Implement a DAM solution that fits your needs

Before the actual implementation verify that you have clearly defined the different categories for your assets and determined the metadata, so users can easily search for assets. Also think about which rights you want to grant to which user group. Rights Management is a powerful functionality of DAM solutions, so make sure you properly benefit from it.  

It is also important to think about and anticipate possible integrations of your DAM with other applications. Common tools that DAM systems are integrated with can be CRM, CMS, PIM, and many more.  

Concerning the implementation itself, most of the time a phased roll-out is recommended instead of rolling out everything at once - to avoid complexity and ensure a smoother integration, it is preferable to implement a DAM in sequential phases.

If you have completed these 4 steps you have most likely successfully started your DAM adventure. Finally, to continue a successful project, don’t forget to train users and make them adopt the tool. There are different ways to train users and you have to identify the best way for you company - it can be online trainings, seminars, written guides, tutorials or whatever comes to your mind on how to train your DAM users best.