What are DAM And PIM Systems?

Product Information Management (PIM) and Digital Asset Management (DAM) are often conflated terms in the eCommerce industry. But make no mistake, these are actually two very different systems—each of which brings unique value to marketing teams who run eCommerce storefronts.

What is Digital Asset Management (DAM)?

DAM is the acronym derived from the words Digital Assets Management. It covers a huge process, involving storing, cataloging, and managing all the digital resources of a company. As soon as any company begins to manage a large volume of images, videos, audios, logos, and files shared on different channels and platforms, a DAM system is useful to maintain control of all those materials and ensure that it shows a uniform image to the world.

PIM is the acronym derived from the words Product Information Management. It is a software tool that manages and organizes all the product content of a company that sells catalog products, either through one or several distributions and sales channels, including printed catalogs, mobile apps, websites, and social media.

Product Information Management is powered by the information provided by the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) of the company. Based on all that raw product information, Product Information Management is responsible for enriching and harmonizing content in all the channels in which the products are sold, and synchronizing the resources linked to the products (pictures, descriptions, text translations, categories, fields, and families).

In short, Product Information Management ensures that all information and product content of a company is in order, updated, and without errors or gaps that can be detected by customers and online search engines, and that will negatively affect traffic and sales conversion.

As the technology landscape is evolving rapidly, organizations may struggle to choose the right solution for their business. Especially in the golden age of content, a myriad of solutions, big and small, are available to help safeguard digital content.

Combining Digital Asset Management (DAM) and Product Information Management (PIM) (or not)

If you want to keep up with e-retailers such as Amazon, it is important to create a good balance between product information and marketing content. You should aim for “product content as a service” in which product information and the marketing materials used are coordinated. In this white paper, industry expert Theresa Regli shares her vision of combining your DAM and PIM system. She discusses:

• The importance of accurate product information.
• Product content as a service: a good balance between product data and your marketing material.
• The advantages of combining your DAM and PIM system.
• The Difference Between A PLM, PIM, and DAM System

Most products have a long life cycle from idea, product development, and proof of concept (POC) to final product launch. Technology plays an important facilitating role in this process. Each stage of the product development process has its own system for managing product information.

A Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system ensures the management of product information during the early stages of the product development process. In the subsequent phases, the data is migrated to a PIM system. The marketing assets are managed in a DAM system throughout the entire process.

Each system stands alone, and this creates many different versions of product information. It is often difficult for stakeholders to find out what the most recent version is. You can streamline this process by building a fully automated content system.

PIM and DAM: Building A Fully Automated Content System in Retail

Previously, it was normal for the marketer to obtain the necessary product information and marketing assets from various systems, databases, and spreadsheets. The modern approach is to work from complete tech stacks. An important advantage of the packages is that it ensures consistent communication by internal and external users.

The Advantages of Combining Your DAM And PIM System

Linking your PIM and DAM system provides a ‘product as a service’ approach that creates an optimal balance between product information and related marketing content.

There is no downplaying the place of Product Information Management (PIM) and Digital Asset Management (DAM) in the success of your E-commerce investment this year. The need for these two software solutions is presently on the rise.

Both DAM and PIM are data integration solutions that are foundational to the scaling up of your business; they are variants of the same kind. For E-commerce stores that depend on catalog production, DAM tools are the best, while for goods-producing e-commerce stores, a PIM solution will work best. Whichever your choice is, the following are reasons you should invest in these data management solutions now!

1. Achieve Brand Consistency

In the process of trying to be present across multiple online platforms, and share your product data across various retail channels, you must not be divulging information that is giving customers a dual perception of your brand. Opinions are fickle and can easily get distorted by minor irregularities. Create consistent product marketing content with PIM and DAM integration.

2. Improves Business Intelligence

Stay sensitive and in sync with trends around your customers with these software tools. The details about their online activities, searches, preferences, and clicks are the tools that brands like yours are using to provide relevant, user-tailored services and experiences to their customers. Rework a target messaging system that is individualistic and feeds on user-centered details. As an online business, you cannot afford to offer experiences that suggest that you are not on top of your game. Seize every moment with timely, relevant, and efficient responses to customers’ inquiries.

3. Faster, Easier, and Efficient Marketing

Instead of relying on speculations and assumptions, PIM and DAM will guide your marketing decisions with accurate facts. With these software solutions, marketing becomes more natural and accurate. You can serve each customer according to his preference, take calculated marketing steps, and strike while the rod is hot. It is especially important for brands with numerous varieties. The more the products you offer, the more organized you need them to be, so each good is well analyzed and expressed, and there is easy access to information.

4. Real-time Data

Employing data management software makes it easy to monitor every change in product consumption patterns. The tool provides real-time notification of stock levels every time there is a product purchase, online or offline. The announcement will give you room to make informed decisions based on accurate sales information.

5. Customer Personalization

Now in 2020, a mere online presence is not a good enough catch. In this day and age, customers are more inclined to the experience they get from doing business with you than the actual good they are out to buy. The customer personalization effect that PIM and DAM offer do not only uphold the fact that ‘customer is king.’ The software goes further to accentuate that ‘each customer is king,’ and this singular effect can help e-commerce brands to scale up their business tremendously. Customers can confidently check up on your store, knowing that you will always have something, particularly for them.

6. A Happy Customer makes for a Healthy E-commerce Business

In today’s business parlance, getting customers is not as crucial as retaining customers. People are always moving around, exploring, and trying new things, seeking the unusual and most comfortable. No customer wants to carry out full-scale research for every purchase they need to make. Give your customers the best they can get without taking so much of their time and requiring too much stress, and you have made a happy customer. Control over your SKUs from customer search experience to order placement, payment process, and delivery will improve your chances of having your customers return for more trade.

7. Time is of the Essence

Achieve more with less time. Cut out the time taken, and the avoidable errors made during the double-entry of data.