Get a Handle on Managing all Your Visual Content Assets
Business Technology | December 3, 2014
If your company is like many others these days, chances are you are creating visual content at a mind-blowing rate. The question will soon arise, if it hasn’t already, is how to manage these visual assets?
The reasons for having a workable visual content strategy are rooted mainly in time-savings and asset protection. How often have you personally looked for what seemed an eternity for a specific visual? Painful memories, I know.
The time savings alone that would occur if you didn’t have to search low and high for that particular image or video are worth it. Let alone the need to ensure you have proof of your ownership of these images should a copyright infringement action come against you. That could be an expensive mistake, and one that is totally preventable. Let’s have a quick look at how to get a better handle on your company’s visual assets.
5 Tips for managing your visual content
Develop a system – Whether you purchase a digital management system and adapt it for your use, or have one designed in-house, it’s extremely important to have a software system that allows you to manage this digitally.
Use your own naming conventions – Make sure you name your image files in a way that depicts what the content is. It saves a considerable amount of time if you name something “old small logo” as opposed to IMG3899976236.
Create guidelines for its use – There may be a number of people who will need access to these files over the course of their useful lifetime. Make sure you provide guidelines for the proper use of your content, so that you aren’t surprised after the fact when it can be very hard to fix.
Centralize your storage – Resist the temptation to have files in several different locations. Having your assets in one centralized location, with appropriate backup systems enabled, can make your life a lot easier.
Have a protocol for how it is used – Ensure that no one uses images or videos in a fashion or manner that isn’t what you want. Eager and over-zealous employees can cause havoc with well-meaning but misguided adventures.
If your company is like many others these days, chances are you are creating visual content at a mind-blowing rate. The question will soon arise, if it hasn’t already, is how to manage these visual assets?
The reasons for having a workable visual content strategy are rooted mainly in time-savings and asset protection. How often have you personally looked for what seemed an eternity for a specific visual? Painful memories, I know.
The time savings alone that would occur if you didn’t have to search low and high for that particular image or video are worth it. Let alone the need to ensure you have proof of your ownership of these images should a copyright infringement action come against you. That could be an expensive mistake, and one that is totally preventable. Let’s have a quick look at how to get a better handle on your company’s visual assets.
5 Tips for managing your visual content
Develop a system – Whether you purchase a digital management system and adapt it for your use, or have one designed in-house, it’s extremely important to have a software system that allows you to manage this digitally.
Use your own naming conventions – Make sure you name your image files in a way that depicts what the content is. It saves a considerable amount of time if you name something “old small logo” as opposed to IMG3899976236.
Create guidelines for its use – There may be a number of people who will need access to these files over the course of their useful lifetime. Make sure you provide guidelines for the proper use of your content, so that you aren’t surprised after the fact when it can be very hard to fix.
Centralize your storage – Resist the temptation to have files in several different locations. Having your assets in one centralized location, with appropriate backup systems enabled, can make your life a lot easier.
Have a protocol for how it is used – Ensure that no one uses images or videos in a fashion or manner that isn’t what you want. Eager and over-zealous employees can cause havoc with well-meaning but misguided adventures.