Your guide to video digital asset management

93% of marketers say video delivers a solid ROI. In other words, it directly impacts the bottom line. 💸

But to see those results, you need to create a lot of content and juggle multiple video platforms (think TikTok, Instagram Stories, YouTube, and more).

That’s why managing your video content efficiently is a must. And the best way to do that? A digital asset management (DAM) system. It keeps all your videos in one place, making it easier to organise, repurpose, and maximize the impact of your video campaigns. 🚀

What’s a video digital asset management solution?

Video asset management (also known as VAM) is a specific type of DAM. And 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 digital marketing assets. That includes images, videos, audio files, graphics, and brand guidelines. 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 are 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 visual content your business is creating and the type of work you want to support. If you’re a media company and mostly create 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 files), alongside other file types like photographs, design graphics and audio assets. 

Storing all your creative files together in a single system makes it easier for teams across the business to find the content they need.

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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.

It's 2025 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 retail partners and agencies 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.

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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.

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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.

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Collect video content from your creators 

For many DTC brands, they rely on creators to help them produce video content. That includes customers who film product reviews and testimonials - also known as user-generated content. 

A video digital asset management tool like Dash has a guest upload feature, making it easy for influencers and creators to send in content without needing a Dash login. 

All you need to do is create a unique guest link, pick what folders the final assets will live in, and send it over to your creators. You’ll then be able to reject and approve content that gets sent in. 

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.

What other types of DAMs are there?

Digital asset management (DAM) systems are not just for video. Here are other types of DAMs that can help your business (spoiler—Dash can help you in all these areas ✨):

Social media asset management

Social media DAM is about organising and distributing content for social media. It helps you push posts and campaigns out faster. 

If you use Dash, you can resize content from preset social media crops so your content is always the correct requirements for the channel you’re using. You can then integrate with social media tools like Hootsuite and drop images and videos into your posts. 

Emmy London uses Dash’s DAM to get inspiration for the next marketing and social media campaigns. 

👉 Learn more about social media asset management

Brand asset management

Brand asset management systems are for maintaining and strengthening brand consistency across all your marketing materials. This type of DAM helps you store and organise brand assets like logos, color palettes, typography and brand guidelines. When all employees and external stakeholders have access to the latest brand assets, it reduces the risk of outdated or inconsistent branding. This is something that’s vital for the nail brand, Kinetics. They use Dash and Corebook to keep their brand guidelines up to date and ensure their partners are using the correct branding. 

👉 Learn more about brand asset management. 

Design asset management

Design asset management helps creative teams work on their graphic design projects and collaborate with the marketing team. Not only will it give your teams access to the most up-to-date creative files, but you can use it to give feedback on new graphics and streamline your approval workflows. If you use Dash, your designers can integrate with Adobe Creative Suite to easily update design files without endless back and forth between hard drives. 

The Graphic Designer Manager for dog food brand, Forthgade, says it’s saved the design team loads of time because colleagues aren’t constantly hassling them for the latest files. 

👉 Learn more about design asset management.

How to pick the best video asset management software

So you’re ready to say goodbye to video content chaos, right? Now it’s time to look at the different VAM options. Here are some tips for choosing the right tool for your brand:

Price and budget: One of the first things to consider is your budget. Video asset management systems come in all shapes and sizes, so you need to know how much your company is willing to spend. Look for a solution that has the features you need at a price that fits your budget. You don’t necessarily need to go for the most expensive option - affordable solutions like Dash offer all the DAM features like search, sharing and organising video content from just £79/$109 per month. 

Use case and features: Dig into why you need a video digital asset management solution? Are you looking to manage your company’s entire video library or do you need advanced features like professional grade playback tools or integration with existing tools like Adobe Creative Cloud? Make sure the system you choose is designed for your specific needs and has the right tools for your team.

Company type and size: What type and size of company are you? A smaller business might need a simpler, more affordable solution that can grow with the brand. An established company might need complex and bespoke features to manage multiple workflows across different countries. 

Dash, for example, is built for ecommerce brands. That means it’s designed to help DTC businesses organise and share product images, videos and brand assets to agencies and retail partners. 

Ease of use: Your VAM system should be easy to use and intuitive so that everyone in your team is able to use it. Bear in mind, however, if you choose a more expensive and complex system there will be a bigger learning curve.  

Dash has been consistently voted as the easiest to use digital asset management system on G2 (a software comparison site). And, many customers say how easy it is to get started and to onboard their team members. Just check out how easy it was for COAT paints to get started with Dash. 

If you want to try Dash for your video asset management needs, you can start a 14-day trial, no credit card required.