Having an online-shop running on Drupal seems a good solution already for managing workflows associated with content editing and delivery. Yes, it still takes quite a lot of time to adjust all the information to your requests, but really, why should you need an additional asset to your CMS? Well, if you produce volumes of marketing content and deliver it across different channels and platforms, each with its own set of requirements, you’d better know why Digital Asset Management (DAM) system can be the helping hand you are subconsciously looking for.
What is DAM?
Here is the description given to DAM by Liz McClellan, Chief Marketing Officer at the Northplains company, providing DAM-solutions: ’Digital asset management is the organization, the management and the ability to leverage all of your assets within one central repository’.[i] Here digital files, such as photos, videos, 3D models, podcasts and other pieces of multimedia content are seen as assets because a company has invested its resources into their production and/or acquisition. This is part of the consumer-facing content, together with product description, feature bullets and logistics information – and a precious part. According to the stats, the ‘rule of three’ applies when a consumer is deciding whether to buy a product: he wants to see at least three photos when shopping for the item.[ii] With a rapidly growing importance of video content for e-commerce[iii], the so-called digital assets become crucial in online retail marketing: more than 92% of respondents call visuals the top influential factor in making a purchase.[iv] Admitting the importance of digital assets for e-commerce, it is unfair not to admit the complexity of its management. The retailer’s direct-to-consumer website has its own set of specifications, in accordance with which the product’s images and other visuals are adjusted. But file maintenance and updating is a constant process, which is rather time-consuming for the e-commerce business employees. Besides, for effective e-commerce usually not one retail channel is involved, that’s why the retailer turns to multiple media channels to place the product content and, as a result, to deliver it to as many targeted customers as possible. A wise decision indeed: retailers who are selling on two online marketplaces instead of just one (plus their website) average 190% more sales revenue than single-marketplace retailers.[v]
So here we can find that in addition to the fact that high-quality content is required, its adjustment to each platform where it is placed and keeping it updated is another must for online business – and a new set of tasks to solve:
First of all, how to streamline workflows in the updating and maintenance of the content in which a retailer has invested (and now is expecting returns on his investment) and which is so useful for his business? Second, how to reduce costs for these processes? These questions become as urgent as the quantity of digital assets is growing, with some e-Commerce websites containing thousands of images. Digital Asset Management solution can be the answer you need. How does DAM work with a Drupal shop? Despite all the importance of media content for an E-commerce website, implementing a digital asset software solution is an investment for the company which has to pay, first, software licensing fees; second, other up-front expenses, including storage servers, IP support and staff training expenses. The first question which may arise is the reasonableness of DAM integration into a site developed by Drupal web developers, which is strong already at managing content. The truth is, these two systems are not intended to compete or serve as a replacement, as they work their best in collaboration with each other. While Drupal is a powerful Content Management System capable of effectively publishing content, DAM is strong at media management. Together, they add to a stronger realization of the content-rich website and help organizations with high volumes of digital assets to integrate their collections across both DAM and Drupal. With DAM integrated by a software development firm into a Drupal website, media files are stored in a repository allowing its users to get the necessary information on the files easily when doing the research. The simplification of the search depends on the metadata, i.e. a set of data that describes and gives info about the files, used in the DAM solution. Its role is critical: metadata determines the search in the repository and presents all the information needed by the user: type of the asset (whether it is a photo, a video, an audio file, etc.); information on its license (until when the file can be used, i.e. what is the license term); scope of its use (print, online and/or broadcast; the territory on which it can be used); name of the author, etc. In fact, these data make a piece of information a true asset. That’s why metadata must be as full and comprehensive as possible: it will make the search easy and the value of the asset explicit to the user. As put by Richard Levesque, ESM at Northplains, ‘Metadata is important because it’s going to save you, the end user, time. It’s going to help you find that asset quicker. In the end, that’s what you’re really looking for’.[vi] Along with contextual information, the user gets the technical details such as image size, resolution and color depth. As DAM is used not just for storage, but for media content distribution to online platforms as well, it uses the system of static and dynamic links. With static linking, the specialist of the company specifies which photos should be displayed in the store. The correct photos are then delivered from the DAM to the store via asset ID. This way only selected and controlled photos get to the website. With dynamic linking, it is the DAM itself which delivers all relevant product files (videos, photos, etc.) to the online store, selecting them on the basis of the metadata in the DAM. The allocation between image and product is the product ID, which is reflected in the asset metadata in the DAM. This variant becomes especially useful if a huge amount of files are exploited in the company. In case of digital asset management integration, its work with Drupal is synchronized: if a file cannot be used anymore due to the expiration of rights, or if a file cannot be presented on a certain territory, it will become automatically unavailable. Also, in case of changes to the file, it will be reflected on the website. Another big point of the DAM software is the adjustment it provides for the file. Many DAM solutions can distribute multiple versions of the image making it adjusted for different sets of rules of different websites, within the context of a responsive design or within various user interfaces (be it thumbnails or full width interface). This can hugely save time of the team preparing numerous versions and resolutions of the same file for multiple platforms – and, as a result, it cuts down the company owner’s expenses. Conclusion Along with the evident benefits of the DAM software solution using, like an improved search for information, support of more rapid files updating and improved rights management when it comes to licenses, an effective digital asset management system can bring about an array of additional benefits, such as: reduction of the costs arising from lost or inaccessible information; economizing on the working hours of those specialists which have to resize or redo media files each time they are used; promotion of accessibility and, finally, sustainability of the digital outputs within the company. If the amount of work involved in the effective file storage and maintenance has become excessive, a DAM solution can simplify the life of the e-commerce business and make it more effective and more controlled.
[1]http://www.northplains.com/what-is-digital-asset-management/ [2]https://www.salsify.com/content/ebook-2017-consumer-research-report-cracking-the-code [3]https://blog.goodvid.io/benefits-of-video-ecommerce/ [4]https://www.vouchercloud.com/blog/consumer-psychology-the-e-commerce-checkout/ [5]https://www.sdcexec.com/warehousing/news/12091222/stitch-labs-reports-multichannel-is-a-win-for-retailers [6]http://www.northplains.com/why-is-metadata-critical-to-dam/
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