TikToks, Instagram reels, Youtube Shorts, and what more?

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When your creative team is making images, videos, documents, and plenty more digital assets, managing them effectively can become daunting. 

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Every branding and marketing team produces high volume video content for different platforms, but the question really is – how do you manage, store, and organize them all? 

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Whatever content you create, you ultimately store it in an asset management system. The kind of asset management system depends on your team’s needs and their workflows. You can either choose a digital asset management system or a media asset management system.

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Let’s take a look at what media asset management is and how you can choose the right one for your team. 

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What is media asset management? 

On average, a single designer produces about “35” creatives and a video editor produces “40” minutes of video content every month, say Pragati and Abhishek from Artwork Flow.

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So, what does this mean? 

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Organizing, storing, and retrieving can become a nightmare if the right asset management isn’t in place. 

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For images, graphics, and other creative assets, it’s best to store them in a digital asset management system like Artwork Flow. Media assets or files like video and audio are best stored in a media asset management system. 

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So think of a media asset management system like a cabinet to store and organize all your media assets by making them more accessible and tidy. A media asset management software can help you catalog, search, and manage media files in a structured and organized manner. 

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Let us suppose that you work as the lead video editor for a clothing brand. Your team has to produce a whole lot of videos for social channels, your products, promotion, and other branding material. 

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Without a proper media asset management system in place, finding that specific video amongst the thousands in your collection is going to be cumbersome. This is where a media asset management system can come to your rescue. 

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With a media asset management system, you can store all your media files using smart tags, metadata, and other features which makes retrieval more efficient. With a MAM tool, you can search for the name of the file using the data and display all relevant files, making you get what you want in a smart and efficient way. 

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Why does media asset management matter for brand and creative teams? 

Here’s how a media asset management system can aid your brand and creative team. 

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1. Adds consistency to your branding 

Adds consistency to your branding: For any brand, it is essential to keep your branding uniform and relevant. It is essential to maintain consistency across all marketing mediums, both online and offline. With a media asset management system in place, it ensures that all your team members have access to the latest brand assets, such as logo, color palette, typography, and brand guidelines, using the Brand Compliance tool.

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In this way, you can ensure that all your media assets are uniform and thereby can build recognition and trust. Imagine your team needs to create a new social media ad campaign for your clothing brand. By using the MAM system, you can easily access approved media assets, ensuring that your campaign aligns perfectly with your brand's identity.

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2. Brings efficient collaboration to your team 

Most often brand and creative teams consist of multiple individuals working on different aspects of the project. With a centralized MAM system, you can bring your entire team on the same page. You can instantly share, annotate, review, and collaborate on media files, which can otherwise be difficult to navigate. 

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For example, if your company functions out of your office in Los Angeles and you hired a freelance video editor who works remotely from New York. A media asset management system can help your in-house video producer and your remote video editor to work on the same project and edit the necessary content in real time. 

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This way your internal and external stakeholders can facilitate seamless collaboration and create an efficient and effective work environment. 

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3. Build flexible workflows with your team 

Every creative project runs on a specific timeline and ensuring the brand team works and delivers projects on time is key. When you have implemented a media asset management system, you can significantly speed up your workflows by simplifying communications between teams. With a well-defined workflow, you can simplify your feedback process, reduce duplication, and meet deadlines faster. 

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Imagine your clothing brand wants to run a flash sale and you need to create marketing materials quickly, with a media asset management tool, you can build a flexible workflow, assign tasks, review media files, and save time while working around a tight deadline. 

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4. Secures your assets 

Most media assets come with a set of usage guidelines and restrictions. There might be a specific logo typeface that must be used for socials, while you need to maintain a black typeface for all legal documents. 

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Manually going over these rights can be complex. Since different assets have different applications, a MAM tool can help you track and manage your asset rights. It can ensure that your team remains compliant with rights and agreements. 

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In case your legal team wants to access your brand video for creating an onboarding email, a media asset management tool can help you determine whether they have the necessary rights to access the file and avoid any legal issues. 

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What are the features of media asset management? 

To effectively manage your digital assets, a media asset management system should have the following key features.

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1. Asset storing 

MAM systems allow you to create detailed files for your media assets. This includes metadata such as file names, descriptions, keywords, and even usage rights. This storage pattern makes it easy to search and locate specific assets quickly.

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2. Version control

Creative teams often work on multiple iterations of the same asset. With the version control feature in media asset management systems, you can not only track changes but also ensure that the latest version of the asset is always available for use. 

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Let’s say your creative team is making a new product video for your brand and various editors are working on different drafts. With version control, you can easily compare and select the final video that needs to go live.

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3. Access control

Not everyone on your team needs access to all assets. Media asset management systems allow you to set permissions and access controls, ensuring that only authorized individuals can view, edit, and access specific assets.

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4. Search and retrieval

One of the most critical features of a media asset management tool is its search and retrieval capabilities. Pick a MAM tool that provides a user-friendly interface for searching assets using keywords, tags, and other metadata.

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In case you need to find a specific audio file for a radio advertisement for Christmas. Using the search function, you can simply enter keywords like "upbeat" and "jingle" to quickly locate the audio file.

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5. Integration with other creative tools

To ensure maximum efficiency in your creative process, choose a media asset management tool that lets your media team integrate seamlessly with other creative software tools like  Adobe Creative Cloud, Final Cut Pro, and other such tools that might be used regularly. This can help your video editor access video clips directly from the MAM system within their editing software, eliminating the need to download and re-upload assets.

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6. Scales to your needs

Any kind of asset management tool but be able to scale accordingly to accommodate the growing needs of your team. Ensure that your MAM tool is able to accommodate, store, and manage the increased volume of content. 

How to choose the right media asset management tool for your organization? 

Here are some factors to consider when making your choice: 

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1. User-friendly interface

The system should be intuitive and user-friendly, allowing team members to quickly adapt to its features without extensive training. Your marketing, creative, and media team must start using the MAM system immediately, without the need for a lengthy onboarding process.

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2. Scalability

Ensure that the media asset management system can grow with your brand's needs. Your brand's media library must expand as you introduce new offerings or create marketing material and must be able to handle the load effortlessly.

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3. Integration capabilities

You should also check if the media asset management system seamlessly integrates with the creative tools and software your team uses daily.

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4. 24/7 support and updates

Choose a media asset management tool that offers reliable customer support and regular updates to keep the software current and secure, minimizing overall downtime. 

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Why is media asset management different from digital asset management?

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Finding what’s the best asset management tool for your team. 

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While you continue your search for the best asset management tool, it is vital to understand that a digital asset management tool and media asset management are vital for creative teams. If you are looking for asset management that helps you maintain consistency, improves collaboration, streamlines workflows, and simplifies creative operations – check out Artwork Flow. Book a free demo and see how you can create a more organized workspace for all your digital assets. 

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