The small business guide to video digital asset management

Take a minute to think about the last bit of content you engaged with on your phone. Chances are it was a video. Am I right? If not then… let's move on and never speak of this again.

My point is that video has taken over. From endless TikToks, slick Instagram Stories, or YouTubes - video content is everywhere.

If you're reading this article, you already know what this means for your brand. If you want eyes on your ads and content, then you'll need to invest in video. After all, 96% of marketers say video is an essential part of their strategy.

But before you dive into creating tons of videos and digital content, take a pause. An important, but overlooked, part of video strategies should be deciding how to store, organise and share what you're creating. The best way to do that? Use digital asset management (DAM) software as the central location for your videos. It's an essential marketing tool: keep reading to find out why.

What’s a video digital asset management solution?

VAM is a specific type of DAM. Confused? Us too. Let's break it down.

DAM, short for digital asset management software, is the family of tools that VAM is a part of. A digital asset management system lets brands create a single source of truth for their creative assets, both images and videos. When everything's in one place, it's much easier to give different teams access to assets they need. You can upload your digital assets and tag them so they're easy to find. Then you can share these with your team or external partners, or resize and download them to use in your campaigns.

Video asset management systems, shortened to VAM, is a type of DAM which focuses specifically on (you guessed it) video content. A VAM will have features specific to video creation and distribution workflows, like built-in video editing and modification tools.

DAM vs VAM - which should I pick?

So now you're wondering: do you need a DAM or a VAM?

That depends on the digital content your business is creating and the type of work you want to support. If you're a media company and mostly creating video files, then you should look for video asset management software. Similarly, if you'd like to support specific workflows which most DAMs don't offer (like automatically archiving live streams) you'll need a more specialised video asset management system.

However, most marketing and creative teams don't just produce videos. If that's the case for your company too, steer clear of a specific video asset management solution and pick a more general digital asset management tool. This lets you keep different video formats (like MOV or AVI file types), alongside other visual content like photographs, design graphics and audio files. Storing all your creative files together in a single system makes it easier for teams across the business to find the content they need.

What are the benefits of video digital asset management software?

Using a video content management system can save you and your team a lot of time. Many of the marketers, creatives and video producers signing up to Dash (our own VAM) want to make their work more efficient. Their Google Drive or Dropbox is creaking at the hinges and nobody can find the videos or images they need. Here's some of the reasons they turn to Dash.

A single source of truth for video content

Almost all Dash customers come from Google Drive or Dropbox. They're fed up with creating video content which nobody in the company can find or use. They spend hours hunting for video or image files for colleagues instead of doing important work—like growing their brand.

Dash is one of the best ways to build a central location for all your digital files. Use Dash's custom fields to make your videos easy to find and search for. Then hover over the video with your cursor and it'll play a preview clip so you can make sure it's the file you want before downloading.

With everything kept in an online video library, your marketing team can grab videos they need for social media platforms and your sales team can download files on-the-road. All without having to pester you. You can also store a wide range of types of assets in Dash - not just videos.

Simple, fast uploading and downloading

Uploading videos into Dash is simple and straightforward. Click ‘upload' or drag it from your desktop onto your Dash. It won't take long to complete. Once done, add a description, place it in as many of your Dash folders as you like (without duplicating it) and tag with relevant custom fields.

Downloading a video file from Dash is easy, too. Select the video you want, pick the file format, then hit ‘download'. This works for single video assets or groups of them. If you pick a group, Dash downloads them as a handy zip file for you.

Share video files

It's 2023 but here we are, still trying to email a video attachment only to face the dreaded “Your file is larger than 25 MB. It will be sent as a Google Drive link.”

Or maybe you're using a free version of WeTransfer instead. You send your teammate a file sharing URL - only for the link to expire before they download it. And what happens when you're sending more than one video file? Or if the videos you've sent need updating? Don't even.

Good digital asset management software, like Dash, makes sharing large video files quick and simple. Here's some of the options you have:

• Select the video, click share by URL or email, and off you go.
• Group into a ‘collection’ of videos and add your fellow Dash users. This is good for working on projects with your teammates - like your ‘Summer 2023’ campaign.
• Create a public ‘portal’. This is useful if you’re working with different external stakeholders who need access to your digital video content. Your advertising agency might want those videos you made. Or your resellers may need access to product videos. Create password-protected portals with Dash. Then manage which folders in your Dash should be accessible through which portal. That’s all without setting up your external partners with a Dash user account.

And what's more, if you ever need to upload an updated version of a video, Dash sends a notification to anyone who downloaded that file.

Manage video content approvals

Working with video creators, like videographers or influencers, can take time and patience. Without digital asset management software that can mean lots of expired email links or chunky zip files clogging up your desktop.

Instead, use Dash to streamline the content creation and approval process. Ask video content creators to upload files straight to your Dash, then approve or reject them.

During the approval process in Dash, you can add comments (including a time-stamp link) for the video creator to work through. They'll be sent an email with your feedback and you'll be notified when there's a new version to approve.

Search for video files by transcripts

Dash's custom fields make your content easy to find. To get the best use out of them, it's helpful to think how your colleagues might want to search for content.

One clever way we've seen custom fields used is pasting video scripts or transcripts into a ‘text area' field. That means if someone searches for a word mentioned in a video file, the asset will pop up in Dash's search results.

Integrate DAM with your video creation software

This is one for all your video producers out there. Using Dash's CI HUB connector, you can sync your Dash up with Adobe Creative Cloud. That means when you're working on projects in Premiere Pro, you can drop video clips stored in Dash directly into the project you're working on without ever leaving the application.

How to pick the best video asset management software

After reading the above, you're ready to bid farewell to your video content chaos right? Now the hard part begins - you need to pick the video asset management tool best suited for your brand.

If you're a massive global company, then you'll have the budget for an expensive digital asset management platform like Bynder. But if you're a growing business, I've got good news: you don't have to opt for an enterprise digital asset management software solution. Save money, without sacrificing quality, and try Dash instead. You can start a no-strings free trial and see how you get on. If you need help moving your digital video assets from Drive or Dropbox, let us know and we'll do it all for you!