The Ultimate Guide to Digital Asset Management Workflows

Katie Walsh
November 8, 2023

If your business manages a plethora of digital content, a digital asset management (DAM) system is one of the most beneficial software solutions you can have. A DAM is where all your organization’s digital content lives — including images, fonts, videos, presentations, documents, and other creative files. It’s not only a place to store your content; features within a DAM solution can help with things like organizing your assets as they relate to your brand standards, setting up user access to control who has access to what content, collaborating with other team members, and measuring the performance of your brand assets.

Within these many features, you can also set up digital asset management workflows, which are essential for streamlining content production and ensuring your team upholds brand standards. Below, we’ll cover what a DAM workflow is, the benefits of implementing DAM workflows, and a few essential tips on how you can improve your organization’s DAM workflow.

What Is a Digital Asset Management Workflow?

A digital asset management workflow is a set of tasks that move an asset through the entire project lifecycle. Think of the last time you worked on a project — once you create the asset, the project doesn’t stop there. You may need to go through multiple rounds of edits and approvals before the final product reaches the finish line. DAM workflows help streamline that process so you never miss a beat.

DAM workflows typically follow an asset lifecycle that involves the following steps:

Creation: This is the start of the process, when the asset is created. It includes ideation, draft creation and approvals, and other necessary tasks associated with content production.
Organization: This phase involves organizing the asset into the appropriate folders and categories within your DAM.
Storage: This involves the actions you must take to properly store the asset within the DAM so team members can easily find it. For example, this could mean using relevant tags and metadata.
Retrieval: This phase addresses how users can access the assets they need. Within the DAM, users can search for a piece of content using information like the asset’s metadata, tags, and keywords.
Distribution: From there, you can start distributing the assets to the appropriate team members — whether internal or external — and other online channels.
Archiving: The final phase of DAM workflows involves archiving projects once the entire lifecycle has been completed.

6 Types of DAM Workflows

Now that you understand how the digital asset lifecycle works, let’s dive into the different types of DAM workflows your organization might utilize. Different types of workflows may be beneficial depending on the project, type of asset, or where you are in the content lifecycle.

Project-Based Workflows: Focus on the creation and management of a project or campaign.
Asset-Based Workflows: Focus on tasks needed to manage and organize the asset itself.
Collaborative Workflows: Involves multiple team members working on the same asset.
Approval Workflows: Involves all approval processes before an asset is distributed.
Transactional Workflows: Used when managing the sale of digital assets, involving licensing and usage rights.
Archival Workflows: Involves storing and preserving digital assets that are no longer being used.

Components of a DAM Workflow

When managing your digital asset management system, setting up workflows can help improve your team's processes. Here are some components that will make it successful:

Media Library

A media library within your DAM is essential. It should be the single source of truth for all digital assets.

Metadata

DAM metadata is important for asset searchability. It includes information like the file name, file format, creation date, and important keywords.

Asset Approval

Most content will need to go through an approval process. Set up permissions for who is responsible for reviewing and approving content within your DAM.

DAM Software System

Choosing the best DAM software according to your business needs is crucial. Consider features that will help improve organization, productivity, and collaboration.

Benefits of DAM Workflows

Implementing digital asset management workflows has many benefits that can make managing digital assets easier for your team. DAM workflows can help:

Improve Organization

By giving you a centralized location to store all your assets, allowing easy access and distribution.

Promote Collaboration

Enhancing communication among team members throughout the production process.

Boost Productivity

Keeping everyone on the same page and making it easier to manage tasks and projects.

Maintain Brand Consistency

Using up-to-date assets that align with your brand standards.

Increase Security

Protecting sensitive information with authorized access and security features.

5 Tips for Improving Your DAM Workflow

Following digital asset management best practices is key to maximizing efficiency and collaboration. Here are five tips:

1. Create a Detailed Asset Classification System

Develop a comprehensive taxonomy and metadata structure to categorize and tag assets for easier retrieval and organization.

2. Implement Version Control

This helps track changes and ensure the most up-to-date assets are used, preventing confusion.

3. Automate Repetitive Tasks

Using automation to streamline tasks such as metadata tagging and file conversions can save time and reduce errors.

4. Enable Collaboration Features and Tools

Features like comments and approval workflows facilitate communication and streamline the management process.

5. Integrate With Other Tools

Integrate your DAM system with other software to streamline workflows and improve efficiency.