Definition: Digital Assets

What are Digital Assets and what value do they represent for your organisation?

We live in a digital world today and that means digital assets are everywhere. From the photos on your smartphone to the movies we stream on Netflix or Disney+, the documents we store in the cloud and much more. Most people interact with digital assets hundreds, if not thousands, of times a day, both privately and professionally. But what exactly is a digital asset? And more importantly, why should you pay attention to them?

If you are considering a Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution for your organisation, it is important to know what digital assets are, what role they play and what value they represent for your organisation. Only then can you make a good and well-considered decision.

Definition of Digital Assets

In simple terms, a digital asset is any content that can be stored digitally. It can be images, photos, videos, text files, spreadsheets or presentations. New digital formats and formats are constantly emerging - before the 1990s we had never heard of MP3 - so the definition of a digital asset is constantly changing. Rather than creating a definitive list of file formats that qualify as digital assets, a digital asset can be any content, in any format, that can be stored digitally and provide value to the business (or to the user or consumer). However, there are some common types of digital file formats that are digital assets, such as:

• Images and photos: JPEG, RAW, GIF, PNG, TIFF, EPS, etc.

• Videos: MPG, MP4, MOV, WMV, AVI, etc.

• Audio files: MP3, MP4, WAV, FLAC, WMA, etc.

• Design files: PDF, AI, INDD, SKETCH, etc.

• Presentations (such as PowerPoint presentations)

• Excel spreadsheets

• Word documents

• Plain text files (such as Notepad files)

• House style files (such as logos and other brand carriers and media)

• HTML documents (and related files, such as CSS)

Benefits of Digital Assets

All digital assets offer (additional) value, but not all digital assets are equally valued. Some are even irreplaceable and have a value that far exceeds the cost of creating them. Think of digital assets that are impossible to recreate, such as photos or videos of once-in-a-lifetime events. These assets are more valuable to a company or an individual than assets that, with some time and effort, can be reproduced.

Take stock photos, for example. Although you pay a license fee for the right to use a stock photo, it is easy to find an alternative option (for a fee) if you can no longer find a specific photo. In contrast, a 100-page digital user manual for a software program that contains a variety of diagrams and other content is much harder to recreate and therefore has more value to your organization.

Today, companies rely heavily on digital assets to influence buying behaviour and to build brand awareness. Digital assets provide a visual representation of your products or services and allow you to connect and engage with your target audience across a wide range of channels and media. In short, from your company logo to your advertising copy, digital assets are the foundation of your brand identity, so effective Brand Management is a must for every organisation.

Why manage assets in a DAM system?

A Digital Asset Management (DAM) system makes it possible to bring together all digital content within an organisation in one central location. Digital assets can be used and shared from this location. DAM software can be set up according to the needs of an organisation. For example, a fashion company can use a Digital Asset Management system to store and unlock all product photos and videos. A supermarket chain can use a DAM system to centrally manage the marketing material of various branches. A bank can manage all its house style files and digital content centrally and share them with authorised users, marketers and local branches by means of DAM.

More information

There are many different Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems and DAM providers. Therefore, take a look at our DAM benchmark to compare solutions based on your functional requirements. Download the comparison guide without any obligation.

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