PIM vs. DAM

Each ecommerce business has its own strategies, practices, and values. Despite these differences, everyone can agree on the importance of a unified online presence. Maintaining a high-quality brand presence consistently is essential to building trust with customers and retaining them long-term. So what are the foundational blocks of your online presence? All of your digital assets.

Managing digital assets and leveraging them to grow your business and nurture customer experiences requires efficient management systems. Here is where PIM (Product Information Management) and DAM (Digital Asset Management) systems come into play. Do these terms still sound like alphabet soup to you? Read on to learn more about PIM and DAM systems and how they differ from each other.

Source: factory.dev

Importance of consistent digital assets

Today’s customer experiences have evolved immensely. You have to be available to your customers everywhere and at all times, and you have to make this presence look effortless. Behind the scenes, this means operating with an omnichannel shopping experience.

While being available on several platforms benefits your customers, it could also confuse them if not managed consistently. Imagine your product details vary across platforms – how do your customers know which information to trust? It is important to provide them with a unified shopping experience with standard product details. However, maintaining a consistent product feed manually is incredibly taxing. To seamlessly manage data, you need PIM and DAM systems.

What is product information management (PIM)?

Product information management is the process of centralizing product data in a single repository while streamlining the processes of handling, updating, and editing your product feed across ecommerce platforms. The importance of consistent data in ecommerce cannot be brushed off! Today, around 79% of online buyers choose to shop from businesses that provide consistent customer experiences across channels.

However, your business might have a huge set of product data, such as images, videos, descriptions, titles, inventory stock, etc., which can be difficult to keep up-to-date and error-free across the internet. Imagine you are an online clothing brand, and one of your dresses in a new collection runs out of stock. This tiny change needs to be reflected on Amazon, Google, Facebook, TikTok, your own website, and wherever else your products are listed.

Statistics show around 48% of companies find it challenging to aggregate product feed data across systems. A PIM system can support product data syndication by storing product data under a single platform and distributing it across multiple channels in a consistent manner.

What is digital asset management (DAM)?

A DAM system allows you to manage all of your digital assets, like audio files, videos, images, documents, and other multimedia content for marketing and advertising use, in a centralized repository. It refers to the process of managing, organizing, and sharing digital media across channels with ease. DAM involves all processes from creating and altering to deleting digital assets.

Did you know that 73% of online shoppers choose a business based on the quality of the product content and the reviews on your digital shelf? Yes, a digital shelf is a virtual representation of the aisles in the physical store displaying the products to your customers. A DAM system helps ensure the right digital aisles are shelved with the right digital assets for the right target audience.

However, digital asset management is not merely about improving customer experiences. DAM enables easy access and collaboration among internal teams. Creating product catalogs and stocking digital shelves involves the efforts of several teams across any given organization, which can lead to siloes or misinformation. A DAM system’s pre-built workflows streamline team coordination and collaboration, boosting your business operations.

Key differences between PIM and DAM

It is true that both PIM and DAM systems primarily serve as central digital asset repositories. However, these systems differ in the kind of assets they handle, the purpose they serve, and the advantages they provide.

• Assets

While both PIM and DAM systems manage and store digital assets, they vary in the kind of content each system supports.

PIM, which is a product information management tool, handles all of the product-related details required to create a good product catalog. This includes product descriptions, specifications, bar codes, stock details, product images, videos, size charts, customer reviews, and every other piece of information that a shopper would consider while making a purchase.

Whereas, DAM is a tool that simplifies the process of managing digital assets across teams and channels for better business results. They handle content like brand logos, pictures, promotional videos, audio files, how-to videos, branding templates, and any other go-to-market materials.

• Purpose

A PIM system offers a centralized platform to help with data syndication and creating a unified multichannel shopping experience. It stores, manages, organizes, and disburses standardized product information across multiple ecommerce channels through APIs. It has in-built workflows that make updating a new product, editing your product information, and removing a particular product or detail quick and easy. You only have to make changes within the PIM, and they are reflected on every other platform immediately.

Whereas, DAM streamlines the workflow for teams to access, collaborate, and work efficiently on digital assets. It keeps everyone aware of edits made and ensures the right versions are used externally.

• Benefits

With an efficient PIM tool, you can create customer experiences that add value and build trust in your brand. PIM systems reduce your time-to-market, making your service and products quickly available to your customers. With access to high-quality product information, shoppers can make more confident purchasing decisions.

On the other hand, a DAM system streamlines your internal marketing efforts. Its inbuilt workflow capabilities allow organizations, teams, and individuals to collaborate effectively. It accompanies you in the process of establishing your brand image among your audience, while enhancing their shopping experience with useful materials.

How can you leverage PIM and DAM?

If you are a business with an ecommerce store, a PIM system can help you manage all of your product details simultaneously across platforms and create a consistent brand image.

If you are a business dealing with rich multimedia assets and require several individuals and teams to work on them, DAM offers you a platform to collaborate on product content across your organization.

Now, imagine the power of integrating both software types. A new technology category has emerged, Product-to-Consumer (P2C), to centralize PIM, DAM, and other commerce systems into one single management platform. This way, the information in your PIM matches the information in your DAM and creates even more synergy for your business.

Find out how Productsup combines the impact of PIM and DAM with our P2C platform here.