In a growing visual economy, brands find themselves grappling with significant hurdles in digital asset management (DAM). A recent survey commissioned by Cloudinary revealed that while most organizations utilize multiple DAM systems, many face problems integrating these platforms and effectively managing workflow and collaboration processes. This predicament underscores a critical need for improved solutions in an area that is becoming increasingly vital for marketing strategies.
The survey showcases a rising reliance on visual content, identifying that 64% of brands utilize images and videos primarily to build trust with consumers. Furthermore, 62% emphasize the role of visual assets in enhancing product credibility, while 59% leverage them to boost market awareness. With the sheer volume of digital assets on the rise, the findings reveal that 25% of companies now store over 50,000 digital assets. Despite this growth, there remain significant challenges in managing these resources effectively.
Text-based assets—documents, PDFs, and presentations—dominate the landscape, comprising around 85% of stored assets. However, the increasing demand for visual formats is evident, with expectations of heightened usage across images (65%), short-form videos (64%), and 3D content (41%). Managing such a significant quantity of visual content efficiently poses considerable operational challenges, particularly as brands strive to maintain their competitive edge.
The survey highlights bottlenecks that arise during critical workflow and collaboration stages. A notable percentage of respondents, 51%, indicated that the availability of management resources complicates the deployment of visual content. Additionally, 48% reported difficulties associated with creating asset variations tailored to different channels and devices. When it comes to collaborative efforts, 44% pointed to the management of requests and feedback as the most significant hurdle, closely followed by challenges in timely deployment and handling late feedback (39%).
The quality of assets and support for multiple formats remains another area of concern, with 50% of brands citing these issues as repetitive challenges encountered with creative partners. These findings reveal an urgent need for brands to reassess their current DAM initiatives, seeking solutions that both address existing pain points and anticipate future demands.
Wanda Cadigan, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Cloudinary, commented on the survey’s findings, stating that they reflect a prevalent issue in the industry. She noted, “Customers continue to rely on us to manage and automate the visual content lifecycle on an epic scale. Legacy DAMs were simply not built with today’s visual-first experiences in mind.” This critique of traditional DAM systems emphasizes the necessity for digital asset strategies to evolve in response to changing user expectations.
To bridge these gaps, automation and generative AI have emerged as promising solutions. Survey participants identified key tasks ideal for automation, including personalized asset composition (53%), channel and device variations (49%), and brand guideline enforcement (43%). The integration of generative AI could enhance asset management processes with capabilities such as automatic image and video editing (54%), image and video management (52%), and content personalization (47%). These technologies offer the promise of improved efficiency, enabling brands to respond to their marketing needs with increased agility.
The Global DAM Survey, conducted by Researchscape International which involved 420 DAM users from various sectors of marketing, IT, and executive roles across 14 countries, paints a comprehensive picture of the current DAM landscape. As brands navigate these complexities, technological adaptation will become essential for effective digital asset management.
In conclusion, brands must not only address the obstacles identified in the survey but also consider the potential benefits of refining their approaches to digital asset management. By prioritizing integration, workflow enhancement, and leveraging advanced technologies like AI, organizations can enhance their marketing capabilities, improve collaboration, and ultimately drive better outcomes in an increasingly visual environment.
