How to Create and Manage Digital Assets: 7 Tips & Examples
Strategic Asset Creation: Digital assets include images, videos, documents, and more. They are crucial for engaging your audience, conveying brand identity, and driving sales across digital channels.
Common Challenges: Businesses face challenges with asset management, like overwhelming growth, inconsistent branding, and inefficient collaboration. Overcoming these helps maintain a cohesive brand and streamlined workflows.
Planning Is Key: A strategic approach to creating and managing digital assets, supported by the right digital asset management (DAM) software, is needed to enhance their value and effectiveness.
Asset Types: Familiarize yourself with different digital assets to maximize their impact. Each type, like images, videos, and documents, has unique benefits and best-use scenarios.
DAM Software to The Rescue: Using the right DAM software can help tackle the challenges of managing digital assets, including improving organization, brand consistency, and team collaboration.
These days, no matter your role, you’re expected to be an expert at creating and managing digital assets. From visuals to videos to documents, these assets are essential for connecting with your audience and driving your business forward. But with so much at stake, how can you make sure they stand out and are easily managed across your organization?
That’s where a strategic approach to digital asset creation, supported by the right digital asset management (DAM) software, comes into play. In this article, I’ll share tips on creating and managing digital assets effectively and introduce tools to boost your company’s digital asset value across all channels.
What Are Digital Assets, And Why Are They Important?
Digital assets are any form of content or media that exists in a digital format. This can include a wide range of items, such as images, videos, documents, audio files, graphics, website pages, and social media posts.
Think of digital assets as the essential building blocks that your team needs to help engage with your target audience, convey your brand identity, and drive sales across various digital channels.
Common Challenges In Creating And Managing Digital Assets
If your business is looking to expand its digital footprint, keeping up with the demands of your company’s digital asset management (DAM) efforts means addressing these key challenges:
- Overwhelming growth of digital assets. This makes maintaining a clear overview of your assets difficult, leading to version control issues, duplicates, and a lack of centralized organization.
- Inconsistent branding and messaging across digital channels. Maintaining a cohesive brand identity is hard when digital assets are scattered across different platforms, devices, and team members. This results in a disjointed user experience and a dilution of your brand's visual and messaging elements.
- Inefficient collaboration and workflow management. This can pose significant hurdles like the inability to seamlessly share, review, and approve digital assets, especially as teams work remotely and across various time zones.
Getting a handle on the different types of digital assets, adopting a solid creation and management strategy, and using the right DAM software can help your team and company tackle these challenges effectively.
7 Types Of Digital Assets
Understanding the different types of digital assets at your fingertips can help you maximize their impact and make sure they serve your goals effectively. Each type comes with its own set of benefits and best-use scenarios, so it's important to know when and how to leverage them. Let’s explore seven of the most commonly created digital assets, along with insights on how to use them strategically.
1. Images
Images are one of the most versatile and widely used digital assets, serving as visual representations of your products, services, or brand.
Pros:
- Attention-grabbing
- Can easily convey information
- Enhances the overall aesthetic of your digital content
Where to use images:
- Web pages
- Emails
- Brochures
- Reports
- Ebooks
- White papers
- Social media posts
- User guides
Best practices:
- Ensure images are visually appealing and aligned with your brand's visual identity.
- Optimize image file sizes for faster load times and better website performance.
- Use descriptive file names and metadata to improve search engine optimization (SEO).
- Use a consistent style, color palette, and tone across all image assets.
2. Videos
Videos have become powerful tools for engaging with your audience and conveying complex information in a more dynamic and immersive format. However, videos are more resource-intensive and require specialized skills and tools to create them.
Pros:
- Leverages the power of visual and audio
- Significantly enhances the user experience
- Drives higher levels of engagement
When to use videos:
- Demonstrations of digital products
- Explainer content
- Branded storytelling
- Online courses
Best practices:
- Because video can be time-consuming to create, make sure to fully consider if video is the best format for the information you’re trying to convey.
- Optimize video file sizes and formats for seamless playback across various devices and platforms.
- Incorporate relevant keywords, titles, and descriptions to improve discoverability.
- Include closed captions or subtitles to enhance accessibility and engagement.
3. Audio Files
Audio assets can provide a unique and intimate way to connect with your audience. However, audio files may have a more limited reach than visual assets and may require specialized equipment and skills for production.
Pros:
- Flexibility for consumption on the go
- Ability to be repurposed across various platforms
- Can be paired with static images to create video
When to use audio files:
- Audio books
- Podcasts
- Interviews
- Audio guides
- Online courses
Best practices:
- Produce high-quality audio recordings with clear sound and professional-grade production.
- Optimize audio file sizes and formats for efficient streaming and download.
- Consider adding transcripts or captions to enhance accessibility and engagement.
4. Digital Documents
Digital content can be a valuable source of in-depth information, thought leadership, and support for many brands and their customers. This type of digital asset can be used to educate, inform, and position your brand as an industry expert. However, digital documents may require more careful curation and organization to ensure they are easily discoverable and accessible to your target audience.
Pros:
- Reaches a wide range of audiences
- Good for referencing and linking
- Helps improve SEO and discoverability
When to use digital documents:
- Whitepapers
- eBooks
- Presentations
- Reports
- Online courses
Best practices:
- Create well-structured, informative, and visually appealing documents.
- Ensure consistent branding, formatting, and tone throughout the document.
- Optimize document file sizes and formats for easy sharing and accessibility.
- Leverage metadata, such as titles, descriptions, and tags, to improve searchability.
5. Web Pages and Blog Posts
Your website and individual web pages are digital assets that serve as the foundation of your online presence. Effective management of these assets in platforms like WordPress involves ensuring consistent branding, optimizing for search engines, and regularly updating content to keep it fresh and relevant.
Pros:
- Easily accessible to your target audience
- Quickly updatable in real-time
- Mobile-friendly
- Remotely accessible
- Integration of other forms of digital assets (images, video, audio)
When to use web pages and blog posts:
- Showcasing your brand
- Engaging with your target audience
- Increasing product and service sales
- Enabling online stores or e-commerce
- Providing chat and other customer support
Best practices:
- Develop a cohesive and visually appealing website design that reflects your brand identity.
- Ensure your website is mobile-responsive and optimized for fast load times.
- Optimize web page content for search engine visibility, including titles, meta descriptions, and headers.
- Regularly update and refresh website content to keep it relevant and engaging.
6. Social Media Content
Careful curation and optimization of social media digital assets like images, videos, audio, posts, and other digital assets help you maximize their impact and reach across your social media channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and others.
Pros:
- Building brand awareness
- Updating your target audience about news
- Fostering engagement
- Getting real-time feedback
- Driving conversions
When to use social media content:
- To update your audience on your company, products, and services
- Engage directly with your audience in real time
Best practices:
- Create visually compelling and engaging social media posts that align with your brand's tone and personality.
- Leverage each social platform's unique features and formats (e.g., Instagram Stories, LinkedIn carousel posts).
- Utilize relevant hashtags, geotags, and mentions to improve discoverability and reach.
- Encourage user-generated content and motivate your audience to share and interact with your assets.
7. Graphic Design Assets
Logos, icons, illustrations, GIFs, and infographics all fall into the category of graphic design elements. These assets must be carefully managed to ensure consistent usage and to maintain the integrity of your brand's visual identity across all digital touchpoints.
Pros:
- Establishes a cohesive and visually appealing brand identity
- Incorporates a wider range of digital assets to improve user experience
- Creates a more immersive experience
- Invokes emotion and engagement
When to use graphic design assets:
- Web content
- Blog posts
- Social media posts
- Emails
Best practices:
- Establish and maintain a consistent brand identity through logos, color palettes, typography, and other design elements.
- Ensure all graphic design assets are high-quality, scalable, and optimized for various digital applications.
- Implement version control and asset management processes to ensure consistent usage across all digital touchpoints.
- Create design guidelines and templates to streamline the creation and implementation of graphic design assets.
How To Create Digital Assets
So, you understand the importance of creating digital assets for building a strong online presence and connecting with your potential customers. You also understand the different assets available to you. But developing images, videos, documents, web pages, and more requires a structured approach. Follow these eight steps to get the most out of your digital content:
1. Define your goals and strategy
Before starting to create any digital asset, you must clearly define your objectives and the intended purpose of that asset. Make sure to consider these factors:
- The target audience
- Desired action or outcome
- How to fit the asset into your marketing and communication strategy
Don’t forget to involve stakeholders from different functional areas to brainstorm and add input about which assets are working or not and what needs to change.
Example: Nike
Nike’s digital assets are all designed to support its overarching brand vision and marketing strategy. The company's digital assets are focused on inspiring and empowering its audience, showcasing its innovative products, and fostering a strong community of loyal customers.
2. Conduct research and gather inspiration
Explore your industry, competitors, and target audience to identify best practices and gather inspiration for your digital asset creation. This research can help you:
- Understand the types of content that resonate with your audience
- Inform your assets' design, tone, and messaging
Conducting competitor research can help you see what your company or team is doing right and where you could improve. Often, other companies in your niche have done similar research already, or there is research based on surveys that can provide key insight.
Example: The New York Times
The Times' digital assets, including its website, mobile app, and multimedia content, are the result of extensive research into the reading habits, content preferences, and sharing behaviors of its diverse audience. By gathering insights from user data and industry trends, the Times has been able to create digital assets that captivate readers and drive engagement across multiple platforms.
3. Develop a clear creative vision
Establish a clear, creative vision for your digital asset based on your goals and research. This may involve mapping out ideas, creating journey boards, and defining the overall aesthetic and style you want to achieve.
This is also a great time to get preliminary feedback from customers, suppliers, and marketing and design professionals about your current digital assets (colors, styles, and fonts).
It can also be worthwhile to examine the psychology of color. Your brand’s current colors and messaging may need to be adjusted to better align with your intended goals.
Example: Airbnb
Airbnb’s website, mobile app, and social media content all share a consistent visual aesthetic, featuring high-quality imagery, clean typography, and a warm, inviting color palette. This cohesive, creative vision helps to reinforce Airbnb's brand identity as a platform that offers unique and immersive travel experiences.
4. Create the asset
Depending on the type of digital asset you’ve decided to create based on your research, this step will involve various tasks, such as:
- Photography
- Videography
- Graphic design
- Copywriting
- Web development
Ensure you involve creative experts from each area so that your creation process adheres to best practices for each specific type of asset. Throughout the process, also make sure that the asset continues to align with your creative vision.
Example: Apple
Tech giant Apple has excelled in creating high-quality digital assets. Its product videos, which showcase the features and design of its devices, are renowned for their cinematic quality, seamless editing, and captivating storytelling. Apple's digital asset creation process likely involves a team of skilled videographers, animators, and sound engineers who work collaboratively to produce these visually stunning and highly engaging assets.
5. Review and refine
Once you've created the initial version of your digital asset, review it critically.
- Gather feedback from your team
- Test the asset with your target audience
- Make necessary adjustments to ensure it meets your quality standards and achieves your desired goals
This step may need to be repeated a few times to achieve a completed digital asset. It can be helpful ahead of time to agree with stakeholders on a number of revisions the asset will go through before completion. This helps prevent it from getting stuck in the review phase for too long or from slipping into a cycle of endless perfectionism.
Example: Spotify
Spotify has nailed the art of refining its digital assets by constantly gathering feedback and tweaking things based on what they learn. They don’t just guess what users might like—they actively collect insights from their audience and use data to fine-tune everything from playlists to app features. Spotify runs a lot of A/B tests to see what works best, making small adjustments along the way to keep improving the experience. This ongoing loop of feedback, testing, and refining is what helps Spotify stay on top, delivering a user experience that feels personal and always spot on.
6. Optimize for performance and discoverability
Once your asset has been completed, it’s important to optimize it for factors such as file size, load time, and search engine visibility. This may involve techniques like:
- Image compression
- Video encoding
- Metadata optimization
- Website optimization
Example: Airbnb
Once again, Airbnb excels at optimizing their digital content. Airbnb’s website and mobile app are examples of assets designed with a mobile-first approach that ensures the user experience is seamless and engaging regardless of the device being used. Airbnb also leverages geolocation data and personalization algorithms to surface the most relevant content and listings for each user, further enhancing the discoverability and performance of its digital assets.
7. Distribute and promote
Your digital assets won’t help you reach your goals if you don’t have a plan to get them out into the world. Develop a plan to distribute and promote your digital assets across the appropriate channels, such as:
- Your website
- Social media platforms
- Email campaigns
- Other relevant outlets
You should leverage strategies like search engine optimization (SEO), paid advertising, and influencer marketing to increase the visibility and reach of your content.
Example: Red Bull
Red Bull has built a robust content marketing strategy that includes a wide range of digital assets, from action-packed videos to informative blog posts and social media content. Red Bull strategically distributes and promotes these assets across its owned channels and through partnerships with influencers and media outlets, ensuring maximum visibility and engagement with its target audience.
8. Measure and analyze
Once your asset has been distributed, its journey is not over. You must continuously monitor their performance, tracking metrics such as engagement, conversion rates, and user feedback. Use these insights to refine your creation and distribution strategies. That way, your digital content will continue to resonate with your target audience and drive meaningful results for your business.
Example: Netflix
Netflix constantly monitors how their content is consumed, tracking metrics like viewer engagement, watch time, and user ratings. They use this data to refine their content strategy so they can make sure their shows and movies resonate with their audience. This data-driven approach helps Netflix continually optimize its content offerings, tailoring recommendations and developing new content that aligns with viewer preferences. This ultimately drives user satisfaction and retention.
How To Manage Digital Assets With DAM Software
Creating outstanding digital assets is just the beginning. Without effective management, these assets can quickly become lost, overlooked, or misused. Issues like version control and inconsistent branding often arise when assets aren’t easily accessible or organized.
That’s where centralized, user-friendly digital asset management systems make all the difference. DAM solutions offer more than just file storage—they provide the structure and tools needed to keep your assets organized, consistent, and readily available.
If you’re looking for a DAM solution, check out our list of the top software on the market:
Important DAM system features
When selecting a digital asset management (DAM) system, it can also be helpful to create a DAM request for proposal to understand your options. Here are some features and functionalities to look out for when considering different solutions:
- Centralized asset repository. A centralized, cloud-based repository that serves as a single source of truth for all your digital assets, enabling easy access and organization.
- Intuitive search and filtering. Advanced search capabilities, including metadata-driven filters, to help users quickly locate the specific assets they need.
- Version control. Comprehensive version history and tracking, allowing you to monitor changes, revert to previous versions, and maintain a clear audit trail.
- Automated metadata tagging. Automated tagging of assets with relevant metadata, such as file names, descriptions, keywords, and custom attributes, to enhance discoverability.
- Approval workflows. Customizable approval processes that ensure digital assets are reviewed and approved before publication or distribution.
- Collaborative editing. Tools that enable multiple users to simultaneously review, annotate, and make changes to digital assets, fostering seamless collaboration.
- Asset previews. Ability to preview assets, such as images, videos, and documents, directly within the DAM system without the need to download them.
- Digital rights management. Robust security features that allow you to set role-based security to maintain quality assurance and consistency.
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