Have you ever been stuck on what to post on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter? That’s a fairly common experience.
On the other hand, you have someone who has just what to post for every given situation. From memes to images and videos that resonate with what is being discussed.
Social media asset management is a way of organizing your digital content including images, videos, infographic materials, etc. in a way that makes it easier for you to use them on the fly when you need to.
You might be wondering how managing your social media assets can benefit you.
Individually, that can help you stay more relevant and influential on social media.
Also, in this age where businesses and brands get a lot of market shares from the internet and social media, digital asset management is by far one of the best things you can do for your online brand today.
Social media assets are any content that forms your social media presence, from the images and videos you post, to memes and text content that your company is tagged in. Examples of social media assets include the following:
- Infographics
- Written articles
- Podcast recordings
- Photos
- Videos
- Polls, etc
Social media assets are “assets” as the name implies. Before you post them, you optimize them to preach about your brand and improve your social media presence. Assets!
After posting them, they do not stop being assets. You can analyze their impact on your audience, as well as use them as an avenue to collect more related digital assets for your future campaigns from the pool of content posted by other users in posts you are tagged in.
For example, Coca-Cola in the “Share a Coke” campaign encouraged people to share images where they are sharing a bottle of “named” Coke with a friend. This was in line with their strategy to customize people’s names on the bottles.
This campaign resulted in Coca-Cola gaining roughly 25 million new Facebook followers and 500,000 new image assets shared using the hashtag #ShareACoke in the first year.
Social Media Assets Management
Social media asset management is the process or procedures that brands use to organize and label their online content.
Social media asset management helps you to organize and plan your content for your social media platforms. This can boost your online reach and social media engagements.
Social media assets management also helps you to keep track of every content revolving around your brand so as to use this knowledge to study trends, growth, challenges, and strengths in your online business brand, as well as acquire new content and content ideas for your next campaign.
Not only is using the right social assets key to optimizing your online presence, but it also boosts your performance in terms of leads and sales if you are involved in sales.
You can organize your social media assets using a spreadsheet, content calendar, or cloud drives. There are also software suites designed for that purpose. These software are collectively known as DAM – Digital Asset Management Software.
Social Media Asset Management Tools and Strategies
Social media asset management tools can be classified into traditional tools and DAM software.
Traditional asset management tools involve the manual use of content calendars, spreadsheets, cloud drives, proper labeling, and manually organizing your files into folders. This can be a tedious process compared to the use of DAM software which automates the process and can even be used to schedule content on a regular basis.
To be highly successful in manually organizing your content, the following tips will be helpful.
1. Use templates
Using a template makes the process of creating new content easier. It allows you to mix and match images and text so that you can keep up with your posting cycles and rates.
Some social media platforms have a predetermined template, while others allow you the freedom to create your own. For example, regular users on X are only allowed 280 characters and 4 images.
If you plan to post across platforms, ensure your content is consistent while also adhering to their predetermined templates for each.
To get template ideas, look for existing social media accounts related to what you want your online brand to look like. Fameswap is a great resource for finding existing social media accounts that you can use to inspire you as you get started
2. Centralize your storage
For effective social media marketing campaigns, consider storing your digital assets in a central location where everyone can access them. This makes it easier for someone in your team to access them when they need to without wasting precious time looking for who knows where they are saved or on whose device.
Storing in a central location is important for creating timely content on your social media timelines. You don’t want to post content your audience considers stale based on your business-related trends.
A central storage location for your social media assets also allows you to save money because it allows you to reuse your shared content when appropriate without a struggle to find the device from which it was originally posted.
Using DAM software allows you to keep track of your social media assets to catalog them for easy use and reuse.
3. Use labels
Labels make articles, images, and videos easier to search for on social media. This can be in the form of hashtags, and other mentions.
It is a good idea to include your keywords in the metadata for your social media graphic content. This includes your alt text, description, and brand name copyright if you claim original ownership of the content.
Not only does a detailed and well-organized labeling system make it easier, more time and money-saving to find what you need, but it also does the same for other users who search for your content or content related to you.
DAM software makes the entire process easier. They can automatically create labels and metadata for your digital content to allow you to search for and reuse it when necessary.
4. Organize right away
Waiting till you have uploaded a handful of digital assets before you organize them can be an overwhelming challenge. It is best to organize your digital assets on the go, and don’t procrastinate.
It is a good idea to add new items to your storage as soon as you get them. Store them in a folder that matches their description so that you can easily fetch them when you need to use them.
Also, when you need to post an image on social media, the last thing you want is to have to search through a folder full of images with random names like IMG_2389, IMG_2390, and so on. You should get organized from the start by renaming your files accordingly to make them searchable when you need them.
DAM software can also help you organize your files this way with minimal stress.
5. Download the right asset specifications
As stated earlier, different social media platforms have different specifications for their content. This can be in the form of storage size in Kilobytes allowable or file dimensions.
Since you would download most of your digital assets from the internet, it is important to download the right sizes that will be allowed by most of the social media platforms you post your content.
If the specification disparity is so marked, you can further categorize your storage space for the different social media platforms. Again, while this process can be very tedious, digital asset management (DAM) software can simplify it for you.
6. Use Digital Asset Management (DAM) Software
The role of DAM has constantly been emphasized throughout this post because that is what it is about. DAM software makes the entire process of organizing your social media assets easier, and you should consider integrating its use into your digital campaigns.
Digital asset management software is particularly useful if you have a large database of content needed for your social media campaigns. These digital tools are designed to make the process of organizing your digital assets easier and faster.
Examples of DAM software
There are a lot of digital asset management software available as at the time of writing this post. You are at liberty to choose from the following list based on your specific needs and capabilities.
- Cloudinary
- MediaValet
- Image Relay
- Acquia
- Extensis
- Bright
- Bynder
- Brandfolder
- Adobe Experience Manager
- Panopto
- Daminion
- Aprimo DAM
- MerlinOne
- IntelligenceBank
- Cumulus
- ResourceSpace
- Workfront
- Ampifi
- Pics.io
- PhraseaNet, etc
Follow this link to learn more about the digital asset management software listed above. Most of them are paid but there are some free-to-use and freemium software in the list above.
Other Benefits of Using DAM Software
Aside from making it easier for you to organize your digital assets for social media campaigns, here are other benefits of using DAM software for your online brand.
1. Platform Integration
It is possible to connect your social media assets with your asset management software, which you can in turn connect to your social media platforms making it easier to use them across all your platforms instead of having to download them each when you need them.
2. Flexibility
Saving time means saving money. Using DAM software can make it easier for you to search for an image or post when you need to reuse it in your new content. Flexibility is all about being able to use your assets multiple times across multiple platforms, as explained above.
3. External credit
While user-generated content is vital for your marketing campaigns, there is often a need to properly give credit to whom it is due. This, in some cases, can result in copyright infringement and litigation.
This is another benefit you can get from using DAM software as these can help you reduce the risk of using content without proper credit without having to create brand-new content all the time.
This can be ascertained by ensuring that you acquire credible content from social media profiles or internet sources with credible reputations. FameAudit is a great resource for checking the quality of certain social media profile audiences as you look for content to use or buy.
4. Collaboration
Great content and marketing campaign requires a team. One person may do the writing, another edit it, another create a video, while another curates the images, and so on. DAM software makes this kind of collaboration easier as everyone has access to the necessary material.
Conclusion
Having an efficient social media asset management system is essential to maximizing your brand’s online influence. A good team is necessary and using good DAM software can make the entire process easier, less stressful, and more exciting.
