How to secure buy-in for a new Digital Asset Management system

12th August 2020

Choosing the right Digital Asset Management (DAM) system for your organisation can be tricky. There are lots of things to think about, like functionality and integrations, the cost of cloud storage, customer support and user permissions and restrictions.

Deciding on the best solution is the first step, but you also have to secure buy-in from the other key stakeholders.

Download our free guide, Building a business case for Digital Asset Management.

Identify stakeholders and current challenges

Start by identifying the different groups of stakeholders and what their specific challenges are. Then you can prepare your business case for the new DAM with tailored scenarios for each group.

If you're responsible for collections management it'll help to know how the new system will make the job of archivists and digital preservation teams easier.

If you're a brand manager, gain an understanding of how photographers and content creators can use it.

Being clear on how your favoured system helps everyone involved is crucial.

The key people to win over:

• your executive management team;
• your marketing team;
• the people who will be using the DAM.

Let's take a look at the different approaches you should adopt when trying to get everyone on board.

READ MORE: The Digital Asset Management Comparison Checklist

The executive management team

Whether it's your CEO or board of directors, at this level the primary concern will be cost to the business and return on investment.

It's crucial to convey the value that a digital asset management system will bring to your organisation. You should point out that when digital assets are scattered throughout the company's devices and servers, it's not only detrimental to your business from a confidentiality and security perspective, but it also makes collaboration and effective project management a time-consuming task.

A DAM system helps you stay competitive. By simplifying how employees manage, organise, share and store files, it'll improve productivity, efficiency and results.

Your marketing team

Taking care of branding, advertising and promotions, your marketing team are likely to make the most use of the DAM.

Making sure the marketing team know the benefits of a DAM and how it can make their life easier will motivate them to use it. With up-to-date record keeping, usage monitoring and better management of assets it'll save them time and improve efficiency.

Your sales and creative teams

The other teams who benefit from a digital asset management platform are your sales and creative department.

To get the best out of your creative teams, it's essential to eliminate any time consuming or distracting hurdles. The same applies to your sales team. Often, their interactions with customers are time-sensitive; they need instant access to the right files, in a format that's easily adaptable and can be shared quickly. You don't want calls to the office with requests for files to be sent out by gatekeepers and administrators.

Paradoxically, these may also be the individuals who show some resistance when it comes to adopting a DAM. This is because it may signify a disruption to their routines or a lengthy conversion period which impacts their deadlines.

The best way to translate the value of a DAM to these teams is to set up a transparent process that will educate them on how to use the tool. Initially, you may want to start off with just one person on the team and address the pain points that he or she may have when managing a sale or a project - then you can demonstrate how integrating a DAM into their process will tackle the challenge more effectively.

Soon, news of the success will spread, and more people in that department will start to recognise the benefits of an optimised system for storing the company's digital assets.

Keep in mind that you'll probably encounter opposition whenever proposing organisational changes. This is human nature. Particularly if individuals already have an entrenched process - although your offer may seem more practical, their primary concern will be the disruption and learning curve that ensues.

Before you dive in with all the benefits of a DAM, have a checklist for how to address the potential objections that will inevitably arise. To give reassurance, you should be able to talk everyone through the roll-out plan and show how you will support and train employees through the transition.

From then on, it's important to use case studies and demonstrations that show how a DAM can have a transformative effect on the business as a whole, helping the organisation to be more agile and responsive to changes in the future.

Build a solid business case

Convincing management to buy into a Digital Asset Management System is often one of the biggest challenges for departmental managers on the front line, in organisations of all sizes.

But it can be even harder to convince the people who hold the money - the financial directors and accounts department. They are the ones who probably won't be using a DAM system anywhere near as much as the rest of the team, and so may struggle to recognise the value.

What you need is a solid business case for Digital Asset Management, one that emphasises efficiencies, savings, and cost effectiveness.

Our whitepaper can help you build that case.

Once you've identified the benefits of your chosen system and how they solve the challenges across the organisation, building a solid business case will be much easier.

There are several steps to consider:

Research and preparation

The foundation of any successful business case is the research and preparation. You're much more likely to win over decision-makers if you have a firm grasp on existing processes, operating costs and how investment in a new system will deliver ROI.

Build support

When it comes to securing buy-in from the whole organisation, start with some key voices who'll support your business case and act as advocates of the system. This could be members of the creative, marketing, PR, sales or IT teams, and as long as you've got a solid business case that solves their challenges, they'll be on board.

Be specific

You'll probably have a long list of benefits of the DAM you've selected, but it's a good idea to identify the ones that are most relevant to your organisation - especially those benefits that senior management will care about the most - like changes to day-to-day operations and how costs can be reduced.

Calculate wasted time and costs

Work out how much time your new DAM can save your organisation, and then how much money it'll save you over the course of a year.

Streamlined processes will save money by reducing wasted admin time, improving security and increasing efficiency.

Use a free trial to support your case

Our comprehensive free trial of ResourceSpace will be the most powerful tool in your arsenal to secure buy in.

This will give you the opportunity to demonstrate all your reasons for investing in a new DAM, as well as handling any concerns or questions that might crop up.

If you'd like to find out more about ResourceSpace you can speak to our team here. Otherwise, click below to get started for free within minutes.