What is Digital Asset Management (DAM)?
Digital Asset Management (DAM) is the process of managing all of an organization’s digital assets. DAM systems are a fundamental real estate marketing tool and encompass much more than simple storage. They allow digital assets to be stored and organized, so they are accessible and used correctly. An essential part of DAM is the management of the digital asset lifecycle. Assets need to be created, managed and distributed and, after use, either preserved or archived. Real estate industries with extensive collections of media assets need to be able to quickly supply them to employees across the organization. DAM is a type of real estate marketing software that allows management throughout the lifecycle, ensuring users can easily find, share and amend assets.
DAM systems within real estate firms offer a centralized organized repository for all digital files. They allow every image or file to be tagged with information. Keywords enable users to quickly refine searches using standard search terms. Meanwhile, fields provide unique information for each file or project to ensure correct usage. Real estate DAM systems also improve workflows and enable large teams to work together seamlessly, regardless of location. Having the right real estate marketing software enables files to be shared and routed effectively, ensuring the whole team has immediate access to the most up-to-date files.
The Volume Of Digital Assets In Real Estate
The volume of digital assets within real estate firms is growing rapidly with imagery representing a substantial percentage of these assets. Imagery has always been important within the industry but there are now many more devices available to produce and consume digital media. What’s more, consumer expectations are continually rising, meaning that images need to be of the highest quality while using the newest techniques to make them innovative and engaging.
Images are fundamental to being successful within the real estate industry. High-quality images make the quickest and largest impression to potential clients and help homes and commercial properties sell faster and at higher rates. Imagery is a direct representation of a company and the real estate offering it provides. Consumers are being bombarded with images and companies need to try to stand out amongst the crowd. Whether for large commercial spaces or multiple residential properties, firms need to capture numerous photos of the highest quality. They then need the right real estate marketing tools to ensure they can store, share and amend the images.
Types Of Real Estate Imagery
Real estate photography can be broken down into several sub-categories. The most important areas are residential, commercial, architectural and interiors, each of which has its own imagery requirements. Residential images of both the interior and exterior of properties, from single homes to multi-family units, are used to help agents market properties. Commercial images, again used to create marketing material, often have a much longer lifespan. They can be used for many years in promotional material until such a time as the property is updated. The storage and management of these images is vital to ensure they are correctly used, tagged and where appropriate updated.
Every type of imagery used within the real estate sector requires extensive visual and media production. In the past merely hiring a decent photographer and updating content regularly would be enough to meet the demand. Now there are new forms of media that allow real estate firms to create much more engaging experiences for their customers. The following are examples of visual formats that are being used more regularly by real estate firms to create content:
- High-quality imagery – the majority of searches for property now start online, meaning that real estate firms need to stand out from the crowd to compete in the marketplace. Low-quality images are no longer good enough, images need to be high quality in order to stand out. Modern technology enables real estate firms to present properties in the best possible light. Well-lit high-resolution images are fundamental to successfully marketing a property.
- Walkthroughs – a technology that allows users to view the interiors of a building and plans for construction. Clients get a vivid interpretation of the construction and all the details of the property. This allows construction firms to verify that proposed designs live up to client expectations. A significant benefit of walkthroughs is that designers can make changes early on in a project before building has commenced until the client is satisfied. Designers are also able to use the technology to detect potential flows in the construction and rectify their plans accordingly. Real estate companies can then finalise designs with confidence that their plans are sound and cater to their client’s needs. Walkthroughs offer a cost-effective solution to ensure transparency and shared understanding of development plans.
- Drone footage – a valuable emerging technology, drone footage is one of the latest real estate marketing tools being used to enhance online listings and assist inspection and surveying. Drones are used to photograph high rise buildings and other residential multi-unit projects. The commercial side of the industry, in particular, is embracing drones to meet the fast-growing demand for high-quality aerial photography.
Many firms are now experimenting with these new forms of media to create content. High-quality images are a fundamental requirement and one day soon drone photography may follow suit. Meanwhile, technology such as 3D walkthroughs offers a cost-effective solution to facilitate the design process. Embracing these technologies not only allows companies to work more efficiently, but it also enables them to create a personalised service and exceptional user experience. Each of these technologies produces large digital files. Real estate firms need a storage system to facilitate these files, making them easy to access and use to their full potential.
The Importance Of Being Able To Access Digital Assets
As we’ve discussed, images form a fundamental part of the real estate industry allowing firms to showcase properties, sell design concepts, and demonstrate their expertise. Images are used throughout the design and construction phases of projects and are often used and adapted for years to come.
Once a property has been built, real estate companies need to produce a lot of marketing collateral to ensure tenants fill the buildings. This collateral includes brochures, flyers, floor plans and signage. The aim being to attract the best tenants or buyers. WIthin the commercial real estate sector marketing material is also required after it’s been leased. Imagery is used for promotional events, seasonal activities, brochures for office leasing, promotional material for retail partnerships, branding activities and more.
Not only is a vast amount of material needed to successfully market properties but real estate companies need to embrace a large number of marketing channels. The rise of the digital age comes with an ever-growing list of marketing opportunities, which allow organizations to provide unique customer experiences. However, each of these channels has different image requirements. Having the right system in place to make existing images easily searchable and adaptable is a key to being able to engage with clients across multiple channels both online and offline.
With the expense incurred in producing high-quality images and using new technology comes the requirement to have a specialized solution to manage them. Images only have value if they can be accessed easily. A large organization with multiple divisions and sub-brands needs to ensure that everyone has access to the most up to date assets in real-time. On top of this the complexity of the organization needs to be managed with the correct level of permissions in place for all of its digital assets. Furthermore, assets lose their value if time is lost finding and repurposing them. Real estate marketing software is needed to ensure images are used efficiently.
How DAM Systems Can Help Manage Images
Organizations need the right real estate marketing tools to enable them to market their properties and projects efficiently. A big part of this is finding the right DAM solution that can help manage the huge number of digital assets. DAM solutions allow assets to be auto-tagged, and templates created. Property centric DAMs make it easy for real estate firms to market their listings, which means they have more time to sell.
Digital Asset Management allows real estate firms to find and efficiently use their digital assets. As such, they can harness the intrinsic value of their imagery. With the right tools in place, firms can maximize profitability and make the most of the ever-growing number of user touch points. Staff are able to find what they need from the latest version of approved photos and collateral. On top of this users can specify file type, size and resolution and ensure they download the appropriate format.
With more emerging technology on the horizon, the number and size of image and video files are set to grow further within the real estate industry. It is vital for companies to ensure they can manage the volume and complexity of their digital files if they are to work in an efficient way. DAM systems are a key real estate marketing tool which facilitate the use of digital files.
