Have you used an expired logo on your website? Are you struggling to find the latest document you produced to explain how to use your product? Then it is time to organise your digital assets. Digital assets are all the documents, photos, videos, images and other marketing collateral that your company has.
By organising your digital assets, you will have a bird’s eye view of what is available. You will be able to collaborate better within your business and with clients. You will save time and money by not having to create new collateral because you can’t find the digital asset. You will improve the distribution and access to the digital assets for those who need them.
Here are six steps on how to manage your digital assets.
1. Talk to your employees
It is important to understand what digital assets your employees use and how they use them. If you have branches you need to ask them what digital assets they use and if there are any digital assets that they need.
2. Audit your digital assets
Find all the digital assets you have and put them in one location on your system. See what assets you have and check if they are out of date. If they are out of date but still useful ensure that you send them to the relevant parties to update them.
3. Find out who will be responsible for the digital assets
3. . It is crucial to identify who will be held accountable for the assets. They will be responsible for the creation, usage and management of the assets. This could be one person or a group of people.
4. Set up a filing system for your digital assets
Next, you need to have a comprehensive and easily-navigable library of your assets. You need to ensure that the name of the document is understandable and if you have different versions then ensure the labelling is clear. You could use v1 or v21 for different versions and you could use FB for Facebook and INSTA for Instagram to help label where the different versions can be used.
5. Keep your documents secure
Your documents must be kept in a secure place so that they won’t be stolen or used in an incorrect manner. You should also ensure you give the right degree of permission to your staff members. For example, you may give locked versions to employees who only need to use the document but you would give editable permission to those staff members who need to ensure that the documents are up to date.
6. Check the licensing expiration
Sometimes you will buy a license to use a certain piece of digital data. It is important to check these licenses regularly to ensure that you buy a new license or you remove the digital data from your set so that you don’t break the law by accidentally using it when the license has expired.
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