Editorial
Dear Santa,
I think I finally finished the digital asset management (DAM) system.
I cataloged all of our assets, filled out the metadata fields with complete accuracy, increased our system adoption to 100 percent and cut down on the time it takes to create and publish marketing content.
Just kidding! We all know that DAM is never truly done.
But we did work really hard this year on our DAM implementation which has saved my company money and endless hours searching through email chains for attachments.
I do hope I’ve made the nice list. Just in case I did, I made a short list of things that I would love for Christmas.
1. Increased Awareness About DAM Administrator Salaries
Simply knowing what is equitable to pay your DAM Administrator is a big step for the industry as a whole. A lot of the pay discrepancy could be attributed to a lack of awareness of what to pay DAM administrators, or not knowing where to find the data.
For my first gift, I’d like everyone who works in the field to fill out the annual DAM salary survey which lets professionals in the field anonymously contribute their data for the betterment of the field.
2. Bigger, Dedicated Budget for DAM
Sometimes sharing is not caring, especially when it’s sharing budget.
Santa, did you know that some companies give DAM its own dedicated budget and not just a slice of the entire marketing department’s budget? How fabulous!
Could you share this list of tips with my boss in the hopes we'll increase the budget?
3. More Storage Space
Even with a proper archiving schedule and scope, we are still filling up all the space in the DAM. Digital content is exploding at an exponential rate and storage space has really come down in price to the point it is almost absurdly cheap, so it would be really sweet to get more room for our growing digital asset collection.
4. A DAM Champion
Santa, have you seen the movie Elf? Buddy is a true Christmas champion, sharing the joy and magic of it with everyone he meets.
I need someone like Buddy, but for DAM, who will evangelize the DAM message in our company.
Learning Opportunities
Webinar
Jun
6
The Future of Social Media: Emerging Trends and How to Stay Ahead of the Curve
The impact of emerging technologies like AI on social media
Webinar
Jun
7
The Building Blocks of Personalization
This webinar will explore how personalization can create powerful ecommerce shopping experience.
Webinar
Jun
8
Attracting—and Keeping—Your High-Net-Worth Investors
Join PwC to dissect their recent survey findings on a specific customer subset — high-net-worth investors.
Webinar
Jun
13
The Future of Contact Centers with AI at the Helm
Learn how to balance human intuition and interaction with the potential uses of AI to create delightful and lasting CX
Webinar
Jun
13
Learn How to Deliver Dynamic Video Experiences at Scale
Learn how to convert existing assets into video experiences in near real-time.
Webinar
Jun
20
3 Steps to Unlock Your Customer Data and Drive Revenue
Discover how Twilio Segment’s #1 Customer Data Platform helps implement data-driven strategies.
5. Metadata Automation Tools, Taxonomy Software or Books on DAM
Some people might think asking for tools and books is boring, but I say how can you go wrong? One can never have too many tools and companies release new gadgets to play with all the time.
Amazon has some fabulous listings for DAM books that you can check out here.
6. A Trip to Taxonomy Bootcamp or Henry Stewart DAM
What I would really like to find in my stocking this year is a plane ticket to London, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City or the District of Columbia. Aside from being fabulous cities for sightseeing, they also host several important DAM conferences throughout the year, like the Henry Stewart DAM conferences or the Taxonomy Bootcamp.
7. More Staff
Santa, can you imagine spending a quarter of a million dollars on supplies for toy-building this year, and not allocating any of that budget towards hiring more elves? Me neither!
8. Executive Sponsorship
The one gift I’d love the most is for the VP or CEO to notice, buy in and support a vision for the importance of DAM in the business world. To communicate the importance of DAM effectively and gain buy-in, it helps if you have a good understanding of your CEO.
9. Recognition at a Company-Wide Event
It would be amazing if someone gave the DAM a shout-out at the holiday party. Talk about a marketing opportunity!
Or even better, give me a chance to present an award to the most active team in the DAM onstage in front of the whole company.
10. Required Vacation
Sometimes we need someone to tell us to take a break.
With so much busy work and so much strategic planning in DAM, and projects that span multiple years, mandating a few weeks off here and there to refresh and regroup would be the gift that keeps on giving, especially in the U.S., where we are awful about using our vacation.
That's why making it a required minimum would truly be a gift!
Learn how you can join our contributor community.
