As secure technology becomes more important in many businesses & organizations, there is a growing need for new positions & roles so that there are plenty of people to manage all this new IT. One such role is that of the digital asset manager.
Related: What is a digital asset?
This position is now very important within any company that obtains & stores any kind of digital assets. These might be things like photos, videos, website content, and much more. If these aren’t stored, managed and used correctly, then it could potentially cause some really big headaches for the company.
Since digital asset managers are still a relatively new position, some companies are still unclear why they might need one. Here’s our complete guide to what a digital asset manager is and does.
What does a digital asset manager do?
First, let’s take a look at what a digital asset manager does. One of the first things to note is that you shouldn’t confuse this with digital asset management (DAM), as this refers to the software that helps with the job. The digital asset manager is the person who is responsible for all digital assets. Here’s an overview of their general responsibilities.
- Put secure storage practices in place. Each digital asset needs to be correctly and securely stored so there’s little chance of it being lost or compromised in a security breach.
- Monitoring employee access to digital assets. The digital asset manager should review which employees should have access to certain assets — and ensure that this access isn’t being misused or exploited.
- Using & monitoring digital asset management platforms. Most likely, the manager will use a DAM platform to help them correctly manage all of the assets. Digital assets of every type will need to be cataloged on this platform. It’s the digital asset manager’s decision which DAM software is used, and they will need to ensure that any employee who requires access to it is well-trained in its use.
- Train other staff. There’s a good chance that a few employees will need to rely on the DAM platform, and it is the manager’s responsibility to train everyone who requires access to it. This training should be done continually on a cycle so that all colleagues are aware of any updates and changes to the DAM.
What skills should a digital asset manager have?
There are a lot of transferable skills that a successful digital asset manager will possess, as well as a few that are very job-specific. Not sure if you have what it takes to tackle this role? You might be surprised.
If you check out some of the digital asset manager roles advertised on sites like Glassdoor, you will see what companies expect from their applicants. Here’s a rundown of some of the main skills that are required in most digital asset management positions.
- Project management. Having good project management skills is now key in a wide range of roles, but it will be especially important for all digital asset managers. As part of the role, you will have to collaborate with various departments within the company. That means there might be a few different projects that these managers will be working on at once, so they need to be able to juggle different work and deadlines with ease.
- Leadership & people management. As mentioned in an earlier point, it is often the digital asset manager’s responsibility to train other employees in the correct ways to use and manage various digital assets. You will also need to train them in how to use the DAM software responsibly. This will require some expert people skills. A strong leadership background is valuable as well, since you might be the head of a whole digital asset team.
- Data entry. It might not be the most exciting task in the world, but part of being a good digital asset manager is carrying out impeccable data entry. Whenever you gain any new digital assets, you will need to import them into the DAM and, more often than not, the only way to do this is manually. If your data entry skills are rusty, it pays to practice and perfect them before applying to this sort of role.
- Good attention to detail. It’s important for you to pay good attention to the details, no matter how small they are. For instance, there may be finer details and metadata that you need to catalog regarding a certain asset and it will be important that you don’t miss any.
- Patience. There might be some on your team who take a lot longer to understand the DAM software that you use. They might require more training from you. Make sure that you are patient with them and have plenty of empathy. After all, not everyone is great at adopting new technologies or understanding the importance of strong digital security. It’s your job to show them these things.
- Flexibility. When you are managing people & technology, you never quite know what kind of problems you might be asked to solve. It’s also fair to say that no two days will be the same. You need to be flexible with your work so that you’re always able to accommodate whatever obstacle your team might need to overcome together.
- Strong communication skills. Any manager will have to have some very strong communication skills, but this is especially the case for digital asset managers as they will be carrying out training & compliance quite regularly.
There are plenty of skills that a digital asset manager requires, but thankfully, most of them are ones that can be quickly picked up and learned on the job. You can give yourself a head start over the competition by searching for opportunities to practice these skills in your current work situation.
Key takeaway
As you can see, this relatively new role of digital asset manager is becoming more important to a range of companies, industries and sectors. If you run a company or manage a brand, then you should definitely consider hiring a suitable candidate as soon as possible. In the mean time, you can purchase DAM software to help protect your company’s brand and its digital assets.
