Most large- and mid-sized businesses are well on the path of maturity with product information management (PIM) and digital asset management (DAM) solutions. PIM and DAM tools serve different masters, but the use cases that come together around these two business-critical software categories are now more important than ever.
As I write this piece, many in the US are heading into the seventh week of shelter-in-place orders. With schools and non-essential businesses closed, every business is in some form of survival mode. Brick-and-mortar businesses are drafting plans to resume normal operations; online-only businesses are working to transform supply chains and prioritize dramatic shifts in consumer buying habits.
Now that the only viable sales, marketing and distribution channel for many businesses is through an e-commerce store front, the already difficult challenge–marketing the right product to the right customer at the right time–has now become acute or even existential. Tackling the challenge requires careful orchestration of now distributed teams of marketers, merchandisers and operations professionals. As a marketing operations consultant focusing on the digital asset management link in the digital supply chain, I cannot help but notice the shortcomings of tools marketers and merchandisers use to do their jobs.
If integrating your DAM and PIM systems is still a priority on your roadmap, answering these three questions will help you get to an actionable, tactical plan in short order.
Question 1: Who needs DAM and PIM metadata?
In a DAM context, we must consider standard DAM roles like marketers, creatives, and project managers. What product metadata do they typically already know related to creative assets versus what metadata do they consistently request from the PIM team? How do employees, agencies, distributors, and channel partners find product-related creative assets? Do they default to browsing your website because there are no other options?
In a PIM context, what metadata about product photography and other assets is needed and how is that information being accessed and shared?
Question 2: How are your stakeholders using DAM and PIM metadata?
This question gets to exactly what information needs to be exchanged between the systems. Err on the side of too much product metadata in the DAM and DAM performance will suffer. Too little product metadata in the DAM results in more of the same: users reverting to offline processes to get what they need.
In a PIM context, what marketing, project, or creative metadata from the DAM do PIM users need and how do they need to receive it? What systems downstream of PIM use this metadata on a regular basis?
The first two questions–who needs what metadata and how do they use it—are primarily process engineering inputs. Your focus there is to ensure that you are asking a representative set of users about their needs. Be sure to encourage them to think outside of their current paradigm. That will help you avoid automating current inefficiencies.
The next question speaks to how to integrate the PIM and DAM in a way that meets your business goals.
Question 3: When do your users need DAM and PIM metadata?
In a DAM context, knowing the frequency of product metadata changes will determine schedule and capacity required for product information updates in the DAM. If the product information is relatively static, the integration will require a lower frequency of updates with a lower volume of data. Alternatively, if product information changes rapidly, data may need to be updated in real-time and the system will need to be sized for a larger volume of data transfer.
In a PIM context, knowing how frequently relevant asset-level metadata changes can help determine how much time you invest in designing processes and user interfaces/notifications for data validation across systems.
Let’s Get Started …
I am an optimist by nature. I tend to think anything is possible for a team of committed, competent people with strong leadership and a shared vision. If you have a moderate level of process maturity across DAM and PIM systems, you have already made a significant investment. Now’s a great time to get these systems working more seamlessly for your users.