Social Media and DAM: Tips for Social Media Asset Management

Trends come and go, but content has remained a top priority among marketers and there is no indication that this will change anytime soon. To add to this, creating one type of content is no longer enough. Articles are necessary for search engine optimization while photos and videos rule the world of social media. To organize the growing volume of content, marketers must rely on solid social media asset management strategies and tools.

What is Social Media Asset Management?

Social media asset management refers to the procedures marketing managers follow to properly label and organize their libraries of content. The items in these libraries are known as social media assets. These are the most common types of digital assets for social media:

• Recordings for podcasts
• Written pieces for articles
• Infographics for Pinterest
• Photos for Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social outlets
• Videos for YouTube
• Polls for Twitter

There are a few options to meet the ever-growing need to organize these files. You can add social media assets to a content calendar, use spreadsheet tracking, cloud drives – or best of all, using specific software for it, like a DAM system. No matter what you use, good organization helps managers be more intentional about how they use social media and the content they post. Let’s dive into some tips to help organize and manage social media assets.

What are Some Tips for Managing Social Media Assets?

Social media management is one of the most creative aspects of marketing. Some might argue it is also one of the most incredibly complex because human behavior can be difficult to predict. These are some of the many ways marketers can improve the process.

1. Create Templates

Depending on the structure and size of the company, several social media marketers may come together to work on one account. This makes it possible for marketing agencies to continually produce content at a rate that keeps up with short posting cycles and fast consumption rates. Creating a template ensures everyone is on the same page while also creating cohesiveness in the design. Here are some template examples you can use for different types of assets:

• Facebook Ad Templates
• Display Advertising Templates
• Company Document Templates
• Brochure Templates
• E-book Templates

2. Centralize Storage

Everyone who needs access to social media assets should have easy access. Keeping all files in one central location makes this possible. The ability to easily share these assets further ensures everyone is on the same page while reducing content creation costs by making it easier to repurpose existing content. The same DAM software used to track everyday marketing collateral can be used to keep track of social media assets. This will have a profound impact on your ability to quickly and easily catalog large volumes of files.

3. Label Everything

Finding written documents and spreadsheets is fairly easy because they contain a lot of text that search systems can identify. To improve the searchability of photos and videos, it’s important to label everything and add metadata whenever possible. At the bare minimum, name the files in a detailed and organized matter.

4. Don’t Procrastinate

When you acquire a large volume of photos, videos, and copy to be used for social media, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the organization process. Instead of grabbing all of the files and uploading them all in bulk without thinking about it. Be mindful of what you are uploading, and organize them on the front end, so it’s easier to find later. When you compile assets to be used for social media, be sure you create specific folders. You can organize the finished product in these folders to be sorted as the topic, campaign type, or by the quarter it was published in. As for the raw assets, you might want to organize them by asset type (ex. videos and photos) or by characteristics in the assets (ex. assets that incorporate nature).

How DAM Software Improves Social Media Management and Strategy

When you add DAM software to your social media management arsenal, the results are beneficial to productivity. You save a lot of time and effort that you can spend on creativity instead of menial tasks. This added value includes:

1. Platform Integration

Connecting your social media accounts with your digital asset management software makes it easy to publish directly from the original platform. It can also make it easier to access the DAM storage when posting from the social media page. This can reduce the need to constantly download files and move between platforms.

2. Flexibility

The ability to schedule posts with the help of a DAM makes it easier to plan ahead as a team. DAM software assists in social media posting by giving your team a platform that can easily retrieve images/assets in a matter of seconds with advanced search. This leads to a more cohesive strategy across platforms. Cohesiveness is especially important when posting promotional content.

3. External Credit

Smart marketers understand the value of user-generated content and seek it out whenever possible. This can significantly reduce the pressure to create new content. However, failure to credit the right person can lead to copyright claims and other issues. Proper organization via DAM software significantly helps to reduce this risk.

4. Collaboration

Good content creation requires teamwork. For example, the person who writes an article shouldn’t be the one to complete the final edits. Similarly, the person who records video footage might not be the person who puts it all together and produces the polished product for publishing. DAM software makes collaboration easier via shared files that all team members can access. With a DAM, there’s no need to go and buy new stock photos because you can no longer find the original in your cloud storage system. Simply search for the assets in your DAM to find the right one.

The Bottom Line

Social media asset management takes a team to accomplish. Teams work better together when they have branded DAM systems that streamline the entire content creation, storage, and organization process. This is why marketers around the world rely on Marcom for their digital asset management needs. Experience a DAM solution for free.