5 Ways DAM Will Transform Your Online Sales

To fully realize the power of product data in eCommerce, immersive digital content is essential. This digital content is critical to product catalogs and can be in many forms including product imagery, short and long-form video, interactive content, PDFs, and marketing assets that will enable eCommerce revenue and profit success.

While well-written copy for features, specifications, and descriptions is essential for buyer education and SEO performance, without connecting high-quality digital imagery, the eCommerce business ROI will suffer.

Think of textual content and supporting digital assets delivering a 1+1=3 result.

Does that mean all products must go about creating extensive digital assets? The truth is not all products or product categories require the same digital asset treatment. Mostly due to significant creative costs and challenges in creating digital assets and the type of product sold.

Many companies will choose to prioritize the most valuable products in terms of sales and revenue volume.

Simply, the 80-20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, is an effective approach to prioritizing which products should receive the most investment. Each high-value product will receive a company’s best effort for digital asset and copy creation.

All said, creating and managing digital assets for products is difficult at best.

This is where a Digital Asset Management (DAM) platform can help. DAM solutions allow companies to organize, automate workflows, and manage digital assets with significantly less effort.

An introduction to the expert voice:

To shed light on the world of DAMs and best practice insights for this quintessential tool, we sat down with Tom Fristoe, a PIM + DAM specialist. Tom brings decades of experience helping eCommerce and product companies increase their revenue and profit velocity through the power of compelling and rich online product experiences for consumers.

Let’s dive into our interview with Tom.

Q: Hi Tom, before we talk about DAMs, can you share an overview of what a Product Information Management (PIM) system is for an e-commerce world? How would you explain a PIM’s primary role?

Tom: Thank you for having me! Think of a PIM platform as your eCommerce manager. Its primary responsibility is to keep product information organized. A key component of this product information is your digital assets. Digital assets come in many forms, from copy describing features, specifications, and descriptions. And equally important are product imagery, short and long-form videos, interactive content, PDFs, and other marketing assets.

Interviewer: Understand. So, what does a PIM actually do with all that product information?

Tom: A PIM is a master organizer. It allows for manual or automated importing of product data from various internal and external sources – suppliers, in-house teams, wherever – and brings the data together into a single repository. Delivering a single source of truth for product information.

Interviewer: But why is a single source of truth so important?

Tom: Having one central repository for product data ensures consistency and easy access for an entire company. Product descriptions can now be unified and accurate, and enable data to follow a specific format for brand compliance and consistency. PIM makes sure of that. It’s like the quality control manager for your product information.

Interviewer: What about when you’re selling on different selling destinations, like a company’s own website, Amazon, or other eCommerce destinations?

Tom: That’s where a PIM really shines. A PIM takes that organized product data and enables easy delivery (syndication) to disparate channel requirements and ensures that it’s used consistently across all those sales channels. No more inconsistent messaging for current or prospective customers. It’s all about creating a uniform experience from one place to another.

Interviewer: So, PIM simplifies data management and makes the customer experience more consistent. What are some other benefits of PIM?

Tom: This is a big question. Here’s the short version.

Beyond simplifying data management and ensuring a consistent customer experience, a PIM system offers a host of other advantages.

It accelerates time-to-market, making the process of adding new products quicker and more efficient. PIM also facilitates global expansion by helping you manage product data for different regions and languages, tailoring your content to diverse audiences.

Moreover, it enables personalization, ensuring you can customize product information for specific customer segments, enhancing their shopping experience. PIM’s data governance and security features protect sensitive information, while the analytics and insights it provides aid in data-driven decision-making.

Ultimately, PIM delivers a competitive advantage by maintaining data accuracy, consistency, and organization, which builds trust and strengthens a company’s market presence.

Interviewer: It sounds like PIM is a real eCommerce powerhouse. In a nutshell, what’s the big picture here?

Tom: A PIM is essential and indeed a powerhouse in the world of eCommerce when utilized properly.

To reiterate, its overarching role is to streamline and centralize product data management, ensuring that all your product information, from names and descriptions to images and pricing, are well-organized, accurate, and consistent. This centralization simplifies data management, making it more efficient, reducing the risk of errors, and helping build a company’s brand more effectively.

What’s more, PIM harmonizes your product data across various sales channels, whether it’s your website, mobile app, or third-party platforms, delivering a unified and seamless customer experience. It also empowers your eCommerce business with faster time-to-market, personalized content, and the ability to tap into global markets.

Lastly, PIMs offer robust data governance, security, and data insights. PIM is your trusted ally for data-driven decision-making and maintaining a competitive edge in the dynamic and highly competitive eCommerce landscape.

Q: So, with this overview of a PIM and its role in optimizing eCommerce revenue and profit velocity, where does Digital Asset Management (DAM) come into play with a PIM system?

Tom: Often overlooked, think of Digital Asset Management (DAM) as PIM’s partner. It’s like the tag team that ensures all your digital media, like images and videos, are brand-aligned, and consistent and will compel your prospective customers to buy. Here’s how a DAM solution fits into the story:

Overall, a DAM platform is complementary to a PIM ensuring media assets are organized to better work their magic. It’s about delivering potential customers a visually compelling experience when they’re shopping on eCommerce sites. DAM and PIM will help power online stores to new heights and that will stand out from the crowd.

Q: Alright, let’s dive into how Digital Asset Management (DAM) plays a crucial role in helping eCommerce businesses sell more. So, first off, what specific roles does DAM play in enhancing the eCommerce game?

Tom: DAM wears many hats, here are the high points:

Superior Visuals: DAM ensures that your product images and videos are high-quality, consistently formatted, on-brand, and optimized for all devices on desktop and mobile-optimized environments. When your customers see crisp, stunning visuals, it elevates the shopping experience and makes them more likely to hit that “Buy Now” button.
Speed to Market: With DAM, you can quickly upload and manage new media assets. This means you can get new products online faster and respond swiftly to market trends. When you’re ahead of the game, it’s easier to capture the attention of potential buyers.
Consistency Across Channels: DAM makes sure the same media is used consistently across all your sales channels. Whether someone’s shopping on your website, mobile app, or marketplace, they’ll see the same enticing visuals, creating trust and brand recognition.
Efficiency in Content Creation: DAM streamlines collaboration among your teams. Designers, marketers, and content creators can work together more efficiently, ensuring your product visuals are fresh, engaging, and match your brand identity.
Global Reach: If you’re selling globally, DAM helps you manage media assets for different regions and languages. It’s a game-changer for reaching diverse markets.
Rights Management: DAM takes care of tracking and managing the usage rights for your media assets. This is vital for compliance with copyright laws, which can save you from costly legal troubles.
Historical Tracking: It keeps a history of your media assets. So, if you ever need to look back at previous versions or track changes, you can do that without breaking a sweat.

All in all, a DAM ensures that your eCommerce show is visually captivating, and organized, and will compel your audience – to buy!

Q: Last question, Tom. Let’s talk about the impact of a DAM system on understanding and crunching the numbers. How does it influence data analysis and decision-making in e-commerce?

Tom: Absolutely, I love numbers, they never lie! A DAM system will have a significant impact on understanding and evaluating the numbers for eCommerce. Here how:

Analytics-Ready Assets: DAM ensures that your media assets are well-organized and tagged. This makes it easier to track which visuals are being used, where, and how often. These insights are gold when you’re trying to understand which product images or videos resonate most with your customers.
Conversion Optimization: By linking specific media assets to product listings, DAM helps you analyze which visuals are driving conversions. If you see that a particular image or video consistently results in higher sales, you can make data-driven decisions to use similar visuals for other products.
Content Performance: DAM provides visibility into the performance of different media assets across various channels. You can see which images or videos are most effective on your website, mobile app, or social media platforms. This knowledge allows you to fine-tune your content strategy.
Customer Engagement: Understanding which media assets customers engage with the most can help you tailor your eCommerce experience. If, for example, customers frequently click on zoomed-in images, you may want to provide more high-resolution images to enhance the shopping experience.
Inventory Management: DAM can also help with inventory management. By tracking which media assets are associated with low or high-selling products, you can make informed decisions about stock levels, product bundling, or promotions.
A/B Testing: With DAM, you can easily set up A/B tests by switching out media assets on product pages. This allows you to experiment with different visuals and assess their impact on sales, helping you refine your content strategy.

To summarize, a DAM system provides the data and insights to make informed decisions for optimizing eCommerce success. It will help guide content choices that ultimately lead to improved customer engagement, higher conversion rates, and better overall profit performance. So, when it comes to crunching the numbers in eCommerce, DAM should be considered essential for driving success.