You’ve made it through evaluating vendors, getting approval and committing to a digital asset management system. Now, it’s time to implement!

But where do you start? One of the first steps is understanding the DAM user roles and how to apply them to your users.

In this blog post, we’ll break down the three most essential roles, and the supplementary DAM roles needed to ensure a successful DAM project.

The 3 Essential Roles That Drive Digital Asset Management Success 

Digital Asset Management (DAM) is no longer a “nice to have” – it’s a critical part of modern marketing, communications, and brand operations. But the technology alone doesn’t guarantee success. True DAM adoption and long-term ROI depend on people. 

Specifically, three roles play a vital part in bringing a DAM to life: the Admin Champion, the Strategic Owner, and the Power Users. Let’s explore how these roles contribute to maximizing DAM value post-onboarding. 

DAM User Role #1. The Admin Champion: Your Day-to-Day Driver 

This is your internal system lead – the person who manages permissions, organizes assets, trains users, and ensures governance. They know the platform inside out and act as the first line of support for users. 

A great Admin Champion uses tools to educate users and reporting dashboards to monitor usage and spot bottlenecks. Their attention to structure and usability ensures the DAM stays clean, functional, and accessible to everyone. 

Pro tip: Encourage Admins to host regular office hours or training sessions to keep adoption steady. 

DAM User Role #2: The Strategic Owner: Driving Long-Term Value

While the Admin manages the day-to-day, the Strategic Owner ensures the DAM aligns with the organization’s long-term business goals. This person oversees planning, defines KPIs, and collaborates across departments to grow usage and impact. 

Strategic Owners should create a 30-60-90 day plan to ensure momentum post-onboarding. For example: 
30 days: Add and train users (use SSO for faster onboarding) 
60 days: Integrate with other tools like Adobe or Wrike
90 days: Expand to new use cases (e.g., creating portals for the sales team) 

Pro tip: Tie KPIs to strategic outcomes like faster asset retrieval, higher usage rates, and improved brand consistency. 

DAM User Role #3: Power Users: Departmental Advocates

Your DAM needs champions embedded across departments. These are your Power Users – creative professionals, marketers, and sales reps who use the DAM every day and advocate for its use within their teams. 

Power Users bring the DAM into real workflows. Give them access to advanced features like Portals, Collections, and integrations like CI HUB for Adobe to streamline their creative work. 

Pro tip: Recognize and reward power users who actively promote DAM adoption across the organization.

Supplementary DAM User Roles You Should Know

Beyond the three essential roles, DAM platforms like MediaValet support a full spectrum of user roles to balance access, governance, and control across your teams.

Administrator

Core Function: Has full control of the account, including library and users
Typical Role: Leadership roles in marketing and/or IT

The Administrator has control over all aspects of the digital asset management system, with full feature functionality and administrative capabilities. Administrators need to have a strong understanding of best DAM practices and be fully trained on the various features and operations of the library. They’re crucial for supporting DAM adoption and ensuring the library structure and policies are followed. Depending on the size of the organization, there may be one or more Administrators.

User Administrator

Core Function: Has full control of user accounts, but not the asset library
Typical Role: Leadership roles across various departments

The User Administrator is solely responsible for user accounts within the digital asset management system. They have the same capabilities as a Member, but with the added ability to create, edit and delete users. This role is often used to give leadership roles across various teams the ability to add relevant users from their associated teams, without the added risk of enabling them to alter the library.

Library Administrator

Core Function: Has full control of the asset library, but not user accounts
Typical Roles: Leadership roles across various departments

The Library Administrator has full control of the asset library, but cannot make changes to users. They have the ability to create and update categories and assets, ensuring that the library remains organized and optimized for discoverability. The Library Administrator role is often assigned to leadership roles across various departments, so they can quickly add or update department-specific assets and categories, without burdening the Administrator.

Approver

Core Function: Approves uploads and downloads within the library
Typical Roles: Marketing, Content and Project Managers

The Approver is responsible for approving uploads and downloads requested by Contributors. This role ensures that only the most up-to-date and correct assets are uploaded to the library and that assets are only being used in approved ways. The Approver is role is critical in maintaining brand standards and consistency and is often held by management-level positions.

Contributor

Core Function: View, upload and download renditions, with approval
Typical Roles: External photographers, videographers and designers

The Contributor role has the ability to upload and download assets but requires approval from an Approver or Administrator. This role is typically held by users like designers, photographers and videographers, that need consistent, but limited access to assets for editing and design purposes, but needs an added level of security.

Member

Core Function: View and download renditions of assets (but not originals)
Typical Roles: Most general roles within the company, including sales and marketing

The Member is one of the most popular roles and accounts for the majority of users. This role has self-serve access to view and download the renditions of assets. This role is typically assigned to all users that need access to the DAM for “general use”.

Guest

Core Function: View only, with no downloading or uploading capabilities
Typical Roles: External partners, agencies or volunteers

The Guest role is often assigned to both internal or external users. Guests have the ability to view assets, but can’t download or edit them. The Guest user role is typically used for sharing assets with various departments, partners or agencies when feedback or final approval is needed.

How to Measure DAM User Success 

What gets measured gets managed. Once your DAM is up and running, success planning should be an ongoing effort tied to business outcomes, user behavior, and operational efficiency. It’s important to define what success looks like for your organization and track progress using both qualitative and quantitative metrics.

Quantitative Metrics

• Number of Assets: Monitor growth over time to understand content volume.
• Active Users: Measure how many team members are logging in and engaging with the platform.
• Adoption Rate: Track the percentage of invited users who are actively using the DAM.
• Search and Retrieval Efficiency: Evaluate how quickly users can find what they need.
• Storage Used vs. Capacity: Helps in understanding asset usage patterns and scalability needs.
• Download/Share Frequency: Indicates how often assets are being used externally.

Qualitative Metrics

• User Satisfaction: Gather feedback through surveys or interviews about DAM usability and usefulness.
• Ease of Access: Measure how intuitive and accessible the platform feels to new and existing users.
• Integration Satisfaction: Assess how well the DAM integrates with tools like Adobe, Wrike, and others.
• Brand Consistency: Evaluate whether approved assets are being used across channels consistently.

Reporting and Stakeholder Communication

Use DAM reporting dashboards to visualize progress, surface team-specific insights, and make data-informed decisions. Regular account reviews with your Customer Success Manager can help tie system performance to business goals and prepare updates for internal stakeholders.

Pro tip: Document success milestones and challenges along the way to inform future planning and onboarding strategies.

DAM success isn’t just about the technology – it’s about the team that activates it. By identifying your Admin Champion, Strategic Owner, Power Users, and configuring the right mix of supporting roles, you can create a DAM environment that scales and delivers measurable value.

Need help building your DAM team or setting role permissions? Connect with us today!

In today’s digital-first world, the management of digital assets has become a cornerstone of successful business operations. Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems serve as the backbone for storing, organizing, and distributing digital content, from images and videos to documents and beyond.

And as businesses continue to grow their digital footprint, the need for robust, secure, and scalable DAM solutions has never been more critical. This is where Microsoft Azure and its cloud-based capabilities come into play, offering an unparalleled foundation for secure and efficient digital asset management.

Microsoft Azure: A Foundation for Secure DAM

Microsoft Azure is a comprehensive cloud computing service that provides businesses with the computing power, storage, and networking capabilities needed to run a wide range of applications. Azure stands out for its global infrastructure, offering scalable and reliable cloud services across multiple data centers worldwide. This global presence ensures that businesses can manage and access their digital assets quickly and efficiently, regardless of their location.

Security is a paramount concern in the digital age, and Azure addresses this concern head-on. With advanced encryption, comprehensive identity and access management, and rigorous network security protocols, Azure creates a secure environment for businesses to manage their digital assets. These security measures are continuously updated to respond to emerging threats, providing a secure foundation for DAM systems built on Azure.

Check out some frequently asked questions on Microsoft Azure for DAM:

The Security Advantage of Azure-based DAM

In the realm of digital asset management, security is not just a feature; it’s a necessity. DAM systems house a wealth of sensitive information and intellectual property, making them prime targets for cyber threats.

Azure-based DAM solutions leverage Azure’s robust security framework, providing an added layer of protection for digital assets. This includes end-to-end encryption for data in transit and at rest, advanced threat detection, and a comprehensive set of compliance certifications.

By building on Azure, DAM vendors like MediaValet can assure their clients of the highest security standards, safeguarding their digital assets against unauthorized access and cyber threats.

Check out some FAQs on how Microsoft Azure enables better DAM security:

100% Cloud-based DAMs vs. Other Types

Digital Asset Management solutions can be broadly categorized into three types: on-premises, hybrid, and 100% cloud-based.

While on-premises and hybrid solutions have their merits, 100% cloud-based DAMs, especially those hosted on platforms like Azure, offer distinct advantages:

• Security: Cloud-based DAMs benefit from the high security standards of cloud platforms. Azure, for instance, provides continuous security updates and state-of-the-art protocols, offering better protection than most businesses can achieve in-house.
• Scalability: As businesses grow, so do their digital asset collections. Cloud-based DAMs can easily scale to accommodate this growth, without the need for physical infrastructure expansion.
• Accessibility: With remote work becoming the norm, cloud-based DAMs offer unparalleled access to digital assets from anywhere, at any time, fostering collaboration and efficiency.
• Cost: Cloud-based DAMs often come with lower upfront costs and reduced IT overhead, as the need for in-house maintenance and hardware is significantly reduced.

Interested in seeing MediaValet in action? Take our free, self-guided tour here:

The integration of Microsoft Azure into digital asset management represents a leap forward in the security, scalability, and efficiency of managing digital assets.

Azure’s robust infrastructure and advanced security features provide a solid foundation for DAM systems, ensuring that businesses can manage their digital assets safely and efficiently.

MediaValet, with its Azure-based platform, exemplifies the best in class for secure digital asset management. Recognized for its top-tier security by SecurityScorecard, MediaValet offers businesses peace of mind, knowing that their digital assets are protected by the best measures available.

Here are some FAQs on why MediaValet chooses to partner with Microsoft Azure:

Spotlight on MediaValet: Leading with Top-Tier Security

When it comes to securing digital assets, MediaValet stands out as a leader in the DAM industry. Hosted on Microsoft Azure, MediaValet is recognized as the #1 DAM vendor for security by SecurityScorecard, a testament to its commitment to providing top-tier security for its clients’ digital assets.

MediaValet is:

• SOC 2 certified by PwC,
• GDPR, CCPA and PIPEDA compliant, and can assist customers with DPA (Data Processing Agreement) requirements,
• HIPAA compliant and able to assist with any BAA (Business Associate Agreement) requirements, and
• Built on Microsoft Azure, which is compliant and/or certified with more than 90 regulatory standards.

MediaValet’s security features are comprehensive and include:

• End-to-End Encryption: Ensuring that all data, whether in transit between the client and the server or at rest within the system, is encrypted, making it inaccessible to unauthorized parties.
• Regular Security Audits: MediaValet undergoes regular third-party security audits and maintains strict compliance with industry standards, ensuring that its security practices are always up to date and effective.
• Customizable Access Controls: Clients can define access rights and authentication measures, ensuring that only authorized users can access sensitive digital assets.
• Azure’s Security Enhancements: Leveraging Azure’s security capabilities, MediaValet offers enhanced protection against threats, including sophisticated encryption and network security measures.

“As a massive organization, we have very strict procurement guidelines and security requirements for vendors… MediaValet stood out immediately as a front runner.” James Carter, Experian

By choosing MediaValet, businesses can rest assured that their digital assets are managed in one of the most secure environments available today, backed by the power of Microsoft Azure.

As digital assets continue to play a critical role in business operations, investing in a secure, scalable, and efficient DAM solution is not just an option; it’s a necessity. Azure-based DAM solutions like MediaValet offer businesses a forward-looking approach to digital asset management, ensuring that their assets are not only well-organized but also securely managed against the evolving landscape of cyber threats.

To learn more about how Azure can enhance your digital asset management and to explore MediaValet’s secure DAM solutions, contact our team for a personalized demo. Elevate your digital asset management today with the security and efficiency of Microsoft Azure.

A Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution enables an organization to better organize, store, and distribute digital assets, such as images, videos, audio files, documents, and other content. When it comes to unlocking the true value of DAM, however, we need to really delve into DAM ROI and how a DAM system can impact an entire organization.

Today, organizations are drowning in digital content—marketing creatives, video clips, legal assets, localized collateral—and without a strategy, assets become lost, duplicated, or misused. What started as a designer’s simple library has become a powerful enterprise system of record. DAM now powers marketing agility, brand consistency, legal compliance, and operational efficiency across the board.

In this post, we’ll discuss the benefits of DAM and how, when used across an organization, DAM can drive real ROI and business impact.

What Is DAM & Why Does it Matter?

A DAM platform is a centralized, metadata-enriched repository for digital assets—images, videos, documents, logos—equipped with intelligent features like versioning, permissions, AI tagging, and integrations.

The primary purpose of a DAM is to increase efficiency, productivity, and collaboration by enabling users to find and share digital assets quickly and easily. However, the benefits of adopting a DAM system go much further than efficiency. In fact, a DAM can provide much more value to an organization than what first meets the eye.

Why Implement a DAM Now?

• Content volume has skyrocketed.
• Teams are distributed and working across tools and time zones.
• Brand consistency and compliance (e.g., logos, trademarks) are under scrutiny.

DAM solves these challenges by delivering searchability, control, and governance—and by becoming a foundation for productivity across marketing, legal, IT, and beyond.

The Organization-Wide Value of DAM

In an earlier post, we deep-dive into the real business benefits of DAM, but if you don’t have time to read that blog post, here’s a summary of how DAM impacts a business:

DAM ROI Defined

Return on investment is the financial benefit that an organization receives from implementing a new system or software. However, when it comes to a solution like a DAM, qualitative benefits don’t always create a compelling enough case for executive buy-in. You need hard numbers to help justify the spending.

It’s essential to understand that the efficiencies a DAM provides create deep ripples in the core of any organization. By facilitating efficient and effective teams, a DAM can impact:

1. Increased Time savings
2. Improved Brand consistency
3. Reduced Legal Risk

According to the G2 DAM Vendor Comparison Report, MediaValet customers achieve ROI faster than any of our top competitors — with an average time to ROI of just 10 months. Compare that to 14 – 17 months for others in the market, and it’s clear: MediaValet delivers value quickly. (If you’d like to compare DAM vendors, we cover 6 different DAM platforms in this blog post.)

Based on findings from the 2025 DAM Trends Report, MediaValet customers: 

• Save 13 hours per week on asset related tasks 

• Reallocate 78% of their resources to other high-value tasks 

These time savings result in real-world cost reductions and productivity gains across marketing, brand, and creative teams. 

DAM ROI – The Financial Impacts

1. Increased Time Savings

One of the most significant benefits of a DAM system is increased efficiency and time savings. By centralizing your digital assets, you can reduce the time it takes to find, share, and collaborate on them. This increased efficiency can result in significant time savings for your organization, which can translate into financial benefits.

Since implementing a MediaValet DAM, The University of Windsor has saved an incredible 35 hours a week when it comes to finding and sharing digital assets.

As the Digital Media Producer at the university, Naomi Pelkey told us how she would “sometimes get bottled down for a whole week just dealing with photo requests. Now, at most, I’ll spend about five hours a week!”

Learn more about how The University of Windsor saved time with MediaValet.

2. Improved Brand Consistency

Another benefit of a DAM system is improved brand consistency. With a DAM system, you can ensure that all your digital assets are up-to-date and meet your brand guidelines. This consistency can result in increased brand recognition, customer loyalty, and ultimately, revenue.

Until they became a customer in 2016, A&W, Canada’s leading hamburger franchise was struggling to maintain brand consistency.

Now, despite having more than 950 locations across Canada, A&W has used its MediaValet DAM to ensure the integrity of brand assets being shared across the country.

They told us, “Now that everyone has instant access to the assets they need, we can spend less time on administrative tasks and focus more on developing innovative menu items, advertisements, and initiatives for the A&W brand.”

Read more about how A&W benefitted from MediaValet.

3. Reduced Legal and Security Risks

By implementing a DAM, you can reduce legal and security risks associated with the misuse or unauthorized use of digital assets. Legal fees associated with copyright infringement can be significantly reduced with a DAM in place.

But security is not just about protecting yourself from the outside world, it’s also about creating safeguards internally. You can track and manage who can access your assets. The extensive permission capabilities MediaValet offers ensure that assets are only used by the right people at the right time.

Experian has incredibly strict security guidelines in place when reviewing technologies and the MediaValet DAM met all of their requirements.

The global brand manager at Experian told us how we became a front-runner: “With clear requirements in hand, we were quickly able to [narrow our list down to] MediaValet.”

Read more about Experian’s use of MediaValet here.

Calculating DAM ROI: Metrics That Matter

Interested in calculating your own the value of a DAM for your organization? Use our free DAM ROI Calculator here

Tailoring your DAM Value Case By Stakeholder

A strong DAM business case speaks directly to the priorities of each stakeholder group. Use the table below to align DAM benefits with what matters most across your organization.

Read our blog post here to learn how to follow more steps to build your business case for DAM.

DAM ROI is so much more than the ability to easily search, discover, and distribute your assets. Organizations can see significant financial benefits with a DAM system in place.

By understanding the financial benefits of a DAM system, you can make a compelling case for its adoption and ensure that your organization is making the most of its digital assets.

If you want more information on how MediaValet could be of value to your organization, reach out today to set up a conversation!

These days, patients are evaluating their healthcare providers on perceived value and quality, rather than just location. They’re comparing prices, reviews, and sites to ensure they find a healthcare provider that meets their unique needs. It’s made branding and brand trust an incredibly important part of the healthcare system. That’s why, finding a DAM for healthcare organizations is mission critical.

With this change, having a strong, customer-centric focus is critical to keeping patients engaged and happy. For marketing teams, this translates into an increased demand for content that showcases their knowledge, transparency, and success. From inspiring videos to comprehensive online help desks, healthcare providers need to consistently develop on-brand content that provides value to their patients.

This increase in content creation has made a digital asset management system (DAM) a must-have in the healthcare sector. But, with more stringent security and compliance requirements than other industries, it can be a challenge to find a DAM that will meet your needs.

This post will help identify the key features to look for when buying a DAM for a healthcare organization.

Key Features in a DAM for Healthcare

The healthcare industry has very specific pain points and requirements, making it difficult to find a DAM provider that understands your needs and delivers a viable long-term solution. Here are five features to look for:

Healthcare DAM Feature #1: Comprehensive Compliance

One of the key features any healthcare organization should look for in a DAM provider is a HIPAA compliance certification – more specifically, the vendor’s willingness to enter into a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA). By entering into a BAA, the DAM provider is stating that they will comply with all HIPAA standards and follow the rules & regulations required to properly safeguard any personal health information stored. Additionally, this holds the provider liable for any breaches of data caused by the DAM and makes them responsible for following the steps to properly report any breach.

Healthcare DAM Feature #2: High Security

Keeping personal health information secure is becoming an increasingly difficult task, with cyber-attacks becoming more and more frequent. In fact, according to Black Book Market Research, 93% of healthcare organizations have experienced a data breach in the last 3 years. In response, hospitals & other HIPAA-responsible companies are becoming the subject of more frequent audits and increasing fines.

To protect your media assets, it’s important to find a highly secure DAM system. Look for a DAM that uses a well-established and reliable cloud platform with a reputation for outstanding security, such as Microsoft Azure. That way, your company can rest assured that your assets are held securely at all times.

The team at UCSF is using their MediaValet DAM in a truly exceptional way – for security and compliance.

To take photos or video during a surgery or procedure, UCSF must have a signed patient consent form. Previously they had paper forms but now, they upload the form to the DAM and connect it with the photos and footage from the surgery through Related Assets!

The team then applies custom permission rules to user groups to ensure that only authorized people have access to this content.

“This has saved so much time tracking down consent forms. Now, when I search the DAM for a specific surgery photos or video – I know if the person has consented and can quickly share and distribute content where needed!”

Read the full UCSF DAM story here.

Healthcare DAM Feature #3: Custom Access Permissions

With various locations, partners, and departments, it can be challenging to ensure each person is using photos, videos, presentations, and more that have been explicitly approved for use. But, controlling access to your media assets can be critical – especially given the sensitivity around personal health information.

For example, in 2012, a Los Angeles-based physical therapy provider broke HIPAA privacy rules, when they posted patient testimonials on their website. By using the patients’ full names and headshots without prior approval, the business was in direct violation of HIPAA Privacy Rules. The violation resulted in a $25,000 settlement.

To prevent incidents like the above, it’s important to only look at DAM vendors who offer advanced permission settings. With custom permission capabilities, you can segment your users by location, department, seniority, and more to ensure each user will only access and use assets that are pre-approved for use.

Healthcare DAM Feature #4: Advanced Search Capabilities

Arguably one of the most important features when selecting a DAM (in any industry) is its ability to optimize searchability. While it’s standard for vendors to offer keywording capabilities, some offer additional features to improve productivity.

Advanced search filters allow you to filter your search by rating, file type, color or text identified in an asset, and more. For example, searching for an image that contains a group of nurses in blue uniforms.

Artificial intelligence, which labels your assets with AI-generated tags (either generic or customized to your business) and tag people with Face Recognition to not only save time when uploading assets but also enhance your search results, and save you money; 83% of DAM users who implement Face Recognition have saved money.

Healthcare DAM Feature #5: Strong User Experience

No matter the level of security, compliance, or functionality, if a system isn’t used, it’s of no use. When looking for a DAM, it’s crucial to evaluate the vendor’s user interface and approach to customer support, onboarding, and training. This will help determine how easily your users will adopt the system, and what their overall experience will be. Prioritize vendors with an attractive, easy-to-use, and intuitive interface. Then, ask for reference customers from the vendor that can talk to about their experience in these areas.

MediaValet’s new, intuitive digital asset management system user interface has been built on customer feedback and ensures that teams across the globe can easily discover, streamline, and control their assets, no matter where they are or what device they’re using.

You can check out a free, self-guided tour of the MediaValet platform here:

Finding the Right DAM for Healthcare

These are just a few things to look for in your hunt for a DAM for healthcare. If you’re interested in seeing how other healthcare organizations succeed with DAM, check out our story on Jones Healthcare.

Since implementing their MediaValet DAM in 2020, the team at Jones Healthcare has greatly improved their asset workflows. But further to that, they’ve seen a massive turnaround on both branding and security. With their DAM, they have:

• Improved communication & brand consistency
• Enhanced internal and external collaboration
• Improved compliance with industry regulations

Read the full Jones Healthcare DAM story here.

Ready to start your healthcare DAM journey? Download the DAM Buying Guide here:

As the digital asset management industry has matured, the terms “digital assets” and “content” have begun to be used interchangeably. While this change emerged as a way to resonate more with marketing teams and the increasing surge in content marketing, the use of the word “content” within the DAM space has created the illusion that a DAM and a CMS perform the same function. What does CMS stand for? A CMS is a Content Management System like WordPress or Contentful.

A DAM and a CMS act as two completely separate systems, performing very different functions for a marketing team. In a nutshell, a CMS helps manage content for your website, while a DAM helps manage content for your entire organization across multiple channels.

Here, we’ll highlight the differences between the two systems and answer the frequent question: If I already have a CMS, then why do I need a DAM?

What is The Difference Between DAM and CMS?

• The definition of a DAM and a CMS,
• The key features of each solution, and
• What use cases each solution is best for.

To understand the difference between DAM and CMS, a good starting point is to look at the definition of each:

WPBeginner describes a CMS as: “A platform that facilitates the creation, editing, organization, and publishing of content.”

Primarily, a CMS is designed for website and related web content management. It allows users to craft and manage textual and media content on websites. Typically, access to a CMS is reserved for specialized members of the marketing team, such as web developers and content marketers. Its media library generally hosts assets explicitly intended for webpage creation.

On the other hand, TechTarget defines DAM as: “A tool for organizing, storing, and retrieving rich media, and managing digital rights and permissions.”

DAM serves as a hub for organizing and disseminating media, visuals, and content throughout an entire organization. While primarily managed by the marketing team, DAM can be accessed by various departments like sales, product management, PR, communications, and even external entities like contractors, agencies, and partners.

Let’s explore each in further detail:

Digital Asset Management (DAM)

A digital asset management system is pivotal to the media and content creation landscape. It is a centralized hub, enabling companies to seamlessly organize, collaborate, and distribute their visual content and digital files. By establishing a unified repository for all essential visuals, a DAM streamlines operations, mitigates bottlenecks, and fortifies brand consistency across diverse channels.

Within the DAM environment, users are equipped to manage an extensive range of digital files. They can effortlessly resize, reformat, monitor usage histories, and share hefty files with external collaborators. Moreover, DAM ensures robust media security through features like user permissions, compliance adherence, data recovery, and geo-replication.

However, it’s vital to recognize the limits of DAM in publishing. While DAM excels in handling visuals and offers select features like web publishing and embedding, it can’t create well-designed, highly specific web pages like a CMS can.

Interested in seeing a DAM in action? Check out our free guided tour right here!

Key Features of a DAM

• Storing and managing brand and marketing material (photos, videos, etc.)
• Finding and retrieving media assets, using advanced searches
• Enriching assets with custom metadata, such as keywords
• Version control, history tracking, and reporting for all media assets
• Manipulating assets into other forms, such as file type or size
• Access permissions for internal and external users
• Templating and Proofing capabilities for seamless collaboration on digital assets

The Bottom Line

A DAM is best for companies that need a better way to produce, store, collaborate on, share and distribute large amounts of marketing content (photos, videos, audio, etc.)

Content Management Systems (CMS)

A content management system essentially acts as the foundation for your website (blog, news, eCommerce, etc). With a CMS, you’re able to publish, change and remove content from your website, making it a strong solution for teams across the globe.

A CMS is usually home to web designers, editors, and administrators. It hosts easy-to-use templates and comprehensive WYSIWYG building blocks to allow users to easily and quickly build beautiful, impactful websites. It has strong capabilities when managing text-based content, with version tracking, SEO add-ons, and robust search capabilities.

Where a CMS is lacking, however, is in its media abilities. The media library within a CMS is built to function as a repository for content being shared on your website. While it can store videos, images, documents, audio, and more, its searching, sharing and permission capabilities are limited. With this in mind, media and content that are not part of your website should not be stored in your CMS.

Examples of Content Management Systems

Key Features of a CMS

• Storing and indexing web pages and web copy
• Searching for and retrieving relevant content
• Format management for brand consistency
• Revision control for past versions of web content
• Basic access permissions to edit and view
• Publishing and reporting on web content

The Bottom Line

A CMS is best for companies looking to streamline the way they build visual, informative, and user-friendly websites.

Integrating DAM and CMS

When you understand the difference between a DAM and CMS, it becomes clear that the two systems are actually complementary to each other (rather than alternatives). With a DAM, users are able to use advanced library capabilities to feed their web team the media content they need to confidently build on-brand, visual web content. This benefit only improves with an integration between the two, as users will be able to access the DAM without having to leave the CMS.

Benefits of a DAM and CMS Integration

When you’re able to access your DAM within your CMS, it allows your users to:

• Easily access on-brand and approved media assets from within your CMS
• Automatically upload and create links within your CMS library
• Use advanced search capabilities to find the assets they need
• Improve brand consistency across all web properties
• Effectively re-use media content across your website

Example of a DAM and CMS Integration

Without a DAM
You’re the web developer for a furniture retailer and you’re working on a web page to promote one of your partner brands and their upcoming sale. You go into your CMS library to find their logo, but there are 3 different variations. You know you should send a message to the marketing team to clarify which one to use, but this page needs to go live today. You ultimately decide to use the most recently uploaded logo and pray that it’s the right one.

With a DAM
You’re the same web developer, working on the same web page, but instead of searching for the logo within your CMS library, you open your DAM library plugin. From there, you can instantly see a category that your marketing team created specifically for this campaign. Within this category, you find a logo that was hand-picked by the marketing team and confidently add to the page to be published.

Learn more about DAM and CMS Integrations

MediaValet has countless integrations available out-of-the-box and an open API to enable your team to customize any of your tech stack needs.

Some of MediaValet’s CMS integrations include:

Contentful: MediaValet’s Contentful integration speeds up your content creation process by enabling users to find and embed MediaValet assets directly into Contentful entries, saving time and effort.

This DAM CMS integration enables teams to focus on creating compelling content without worrying about asset sourcing and management.

WordPress: MediaValet’s WordPress integration enhances your website creation process by enabling teams to easily search and insert on-brand assets from your MediaValet library directly within the WordPress platform.

The DAM CMS integration ensures that only approved and current assets are published. This guarantees that your website always showcases the most up-to-date and on-brand corporate visuals, protecting it from outdated or unauthorized content.

Drupal: The Drupal integration allows teams to easily insert images and videos from MediaValet into Drupal’s content editor, simplifying the process of adding assets to your webpages.

Whether you need images for website banners, social media posts, or print materials, this DAM CMS integration has you covered.

DAM and CMS: Better Together

With integrations into leading CMS platforms, DAM is equipped to bring your web development to the next level. See how MediaValet can be integrated into your Drupal 8 or WordPress platform.

MediaValet is a leader in cloud-based digital asset management that helps organizations manage, organize and share their digital assets, improving productivity and increasing ROI.