June 8, 2022 | Samuel Chapman
Physical libraries have evolved into beautiful, modern facilities. But even the most state-of-the-art library would devolve into chaos without a librarian. Why? Human nature.
The list goes on. Now, factor in all the assets your local library provides—DVDs, CDs, magazines, journals, microfilm, microfiche, maps, atlases, historical documents, etc., and you can see how quickly a library can lose its value and appeal.
The same goes for a digital asset management system (DAM). DAMs have state-of-the-art capabilities to help businesses organize and manage millions to tens of millions of pieces of digital content—from text and video to graphics and collateral.
When managed effectively, a DAM enables marketers, creators, partners, and agencies to quickly and easily search, find, use, and reuse content to accelerate time to market with engaging campaigns. But those benefits depend on ensuring all digital assets are approved, meet brand and compliance standards, have appropriate metadata, and are tagged with the proper taxonomy so users can find what they need quickly.
That’s the role of the DAM librarian.
A DAM librarian’s responsibilities will depend on several factors, including the size of the business, number of users and assets, LOBs, governance, and more. But at a high level, a DAM librarian is responsible for:
There are additional responsibilities a DAM librarian can take on based on the internal flow between different lines of business (LOBs) and how they interact with the DAM. These could include:
Any organization with a DAM needs a DAM librarian. Whether you have a dedicated full-time resource or incorporate the responsibilities into an existing role, you need a DAM librarian with a specific skillset to optimize your DAM continuously, so it remains an effective tool. Ideal skills to look for in a candidate would include:
In our recent podcast featuring Marla A. Watson, Principal Digital Asset Manager, Creative Operations/Studio Z at Zillow Group, Marla explains that the importance of her job as a DAM librarian is twofold: “My mission is to make your job easier but to also build an evolving DAM, a DAM that can grow with the company, and that has flexibility. With that, it will be a DAM that can grow for many years.”
Like a physical library, a DAM is only as valuable as the information users can find and use. Your users need quick and easy access to on-brand, compliant content to be productive, get campaigns into market faster and increase revenue. For these reasons, a DAM librarian is not a nice-to-have, but a critical component to supporting overall business goals and strategies.
Be sure to tune-in to the full interview with Marla on our Marketing Cheat Codes podcast to hear what a real DAM Librarian has to say about the role and why it’s strategic for accelerating time to market and conversion.
Episode airs on June 21st, catch it here!
Are you a DAM librarian? Test drive the industry’s leading DAM with Aprimo’s free trial.