What is digital asset management?
Digital asset management (DAM) enables organizations to store, organize, share, and manage their digital content in one central system. By consolidating all digital assets in one place—organized according a company’s specific needs—employees, clients, contractors, and other key stakeholders have controlled access to find and use the files they need quickly, easily, and securely.
Looking for a more detailed definition of DAM, along with its key functionality and benefits? Check out our page: What is digital asset management?
What is product information management?
Product information management (PIM) refers to the process of managing any given organization’s product information, which is typically used to support their various e-commerce and marketing channels. With PIM software, organizations have a central hub to store, enrich, and share this product information, simplifying the process of creating, maintaining, and distributing product descriptions and specifications.
This makes it much easier to deliver a consistent, high-quality, and omnichannel product experience across all market channels.
DAM vs PIM: What are the key differences and similarities?
DAM vs PIM: What are the key differences?
Put simply, DAM is about managing digital content such as images, videos, and documents. PIM is about managing product information, and ensuring it’s accurately and consistently published throughout the product lifecycle.
While both share similar benefits in helping to improve operational efficiency and ensure a much more streamlined customer journey, they serve different purposes, and whether or not an organization needs one or the other (or both) depends on their unique needs. As a general rule of thumb, a PIM system is most beneficial when you need to centralize the storage and distribution of product information. If you’re more in need of a system to centralize, organize, and manage digital assets owned by your organization, digital asset management is the way to go.
PIM vs DAM: What are the key similarities?
Given that many digital assets require accurate, up-to-date product information, there is an inevitable overlap between PIM and DAM software, and they often go hand-in-hand in supporting an organization’s multiple e-commerce and marketing channels. World-renowned research specialists, Forrester, describes their mutually beneficial relationship well: “Product information management (PIM) users can turn to digital asset management (DAM) to win the digital shelf, and DAM users can accelerate the shift to omnichannel with PIM.”
Both act as a centralized, secure repository for information that enables a consistent brand and customer experience. Each system helps to facilitate collaboration between both employees and external partners, and are highly configurable to an organization’s unique needs. When implemented and managed correctly, both systems can save companies a significant amount of time and money by speeding up time-to-market and automating the distribution of digital and product assets.
When should I use a DAM system?
Digital assets stored in multiple locations with no real structure? Can’t find files fast enough? Struggling to ensure brand consistency? Need better control and visibility regarding who has access to what? Need a ‘one-stop-shop’ to collaborate and distribute marketing assets, as well as integrating with other marketing tech tools? Then DAM fits the bill in solving all these issues.
Want some more in-depth information on the ins and outs of DAM? Check out The definitive guide to digital asset management.
When should I use a PIM system?
PIM software is great for organizations who need to manage large amounts of product-related collateral. Think e-commerce retailers, manufacturers, and other companies who need to centralize and source product information from multiple channels.
PIM libraries allow users to aggregate and collate product descriptions or related information and make sure the correct data is consistently published across all their marketing and sales channels. Maintaining a good PIM library helps mitigate the risk of embarrassing errors or inconsistencies in your product information, which can inevitably have a detrimental effect on your brand. Also, if your business needs to store and manage stock keeping units (SKUs), PIM systems can be really useful.
What are the key benefits of integrating DAM and PIM?
In today’s crowded digital-first marketplace, it's essential for companies to ensure their content not only stands out creatively and consistently, but that the related product information is also up-to-date and accurate. By connecting DAM and PIM, businesses can integrate all product information with all their digital assets.
DAM also helps to improve product categorization in the PIM system as it optimizes the storage and searchability of the asset library. Product owners can assign tags or product IDs to images, videos, or any other digital content and make sure the whole archive is fully searchable and shareable with stakeholders. This helps get products to market quicker, streamlines communication and customer service, and fosters better collaboration.
DAM and PIM, in other words, are mutual force-multipliers: a compelling DAM system makes your PIM more powerful, and an effective PIM makes your DAM more valuable. By integrating DAM and PIM together, companies are able to create an effective digital experience to stand out in an increasingly crowded, complex, and fragmented marketplace.
Learn more about the benefits of a DAM x PIM integration by checking out our article: Unlock best-in-class results with PIM and DAM.
Frequently asked questions about DAM and PIM
How do you integrate PIM and DAM together?
When you integrate your PIM and DAM systems, you get all the advantages of your PIM—a highly organized and optimized repository of product information—with the added capabilities of a DAM system. Your product data is linked automatically to your digital assets, meaning you can ensure consistency in your content, messaging, and branding. This, in turn, helps to mitigate human error and provides full control over product information and its related market channels.
Many DAM vendors like Bynder have readily available integrations with PIM solutions. To learn more about the possibilities of integration, get in touch with us today.
How do I choose the right DAM or PIM for my business?
Curious to find the right DAM or PIM software for your needs, and can’t figure out whether you would benefit from some combination of the two? Inevitably this takes a bit of research and planning.
If you need a better understanding of the key features and benefits of each respective system, it’s a good idea to talk to an expert to discuss your organization’s specific use case, requirements, and end goals. To ensure it’s a productive meeting, consider the following: What are you looking to achieve with DAM and/or PIM? What challenges are you currently facing? What processes do you think need improving?
Also consider relevant stakeholders in your analysis and planning; what will they need from the system, and are there any obstacles that may need to be overcome regarding training or data protection requirements? An effective consultant will be able to guide you through the process, from selecting the right software vendor right up to implementation and training.
What are the key requirements for a DAM or PIM system?
Your requirements will be specific to your unique needs, and will depend on your findings from the aforementioned analysis. Make sure you consider long-term goals and plans into account too, as you inevitably want the solution to be future-proof that offers lasting value.
Want to chat to an expert? Get in touch with us today, and one of our consultants can listen to your requirements and offer solutions to meet your exact needs.