Your Career Guide to Becoming a Creative Asset Manager
Creative talent and insight into the intricate workings behind creative content gives you a unique, panoramic view of the marketing world. With this comprehensive understanding of how the final product is created, the world becomes a series of creative possibilities and missed opportunities you can’t believe brands haven’t tapped into yet.
But how do you make a living off of this comprehensive behind-the-scenes insight when you’re just at the start of your career? How do you establish yourself in the digital content industry without being a veteran of the marketing world?
By becoming a creative asset manager.
What is a creative asset manager?
A creative asset manager’s role exists at the crossroads where market trends intersect with the content production floor. It’s the creation of a full-circle creative cycle where market trends guide and influence the production of content which in turn influences the market once again.
Filling a role of this caliber requires a unique combination of insights and skills that can be put to work behind the scenes of a brand’s marketing strategy.
A creative asset manager job description will generally include:
- Creating optimal and efficient workflows
- Managing digital assets for increased investment value
- Ensuring brand consistency across content pillars
So to be able to do that, which qualifications and skills do you need?
Which skills and qualifications does a creative asset manager need?
When you think of what you need on your resume to show you’ve got what it takes to become a creative asset manager, the itinerary focuses far less on qualifications than on skill sets acquired throughout your life.
Creative asset management (along with most fields that fall within the digital asset management family) may not have college courses dedicated to it yet, but there are a number of certificate programs that help individuals acquire the basic skills needed to understand the responsibilities and processes of asset management.
Qualifications as diverse as team management and graphic design and videography can all contribute to the responsibilities needed for a creative asset manager job. So while there is no single qualification that will help you land the job, your degree(s) can go a long way to prove your interest in the field.
What’s far more important is your experience in creative production:
Do you know your way around digital editing tools?
Familiarity with digital editing tools like InDesign, Lightroom, and Photoshop is vital. By understanding the workspaces within which content is created you can better augment workflows to help creatives in those spaces.
Have you worked with digital asset repositories before?
Experience within industries like eCommerce, where digital content management is a constant part of the job, proves an existing understanding of the digital asset landscape of creative asset management is part of.
Can you manage people and optimize their workflows?
Managing a team isn’t an easy task, especially not when performance isn’t measured on tangible metrics alone. But once you’ve learned how to guide and improve creative performance, it’s a skill set you can bring to any team.
Can you communicate and share information with multiple parties?
Because creative asset management is a role that borders on business processes that go beyond the creative sphere, you need to know your way around CRM and communication platforms like Microsoft Office and Slack to stay in touch with the business’s greater operational landscape.
Have you worked with digital asset management software before?
Experience with digital asset management (DAM) workflows is always an added plus. The efficiency that comes with DAM system implementation is undisputed, but learning how to access the full potential of the software does take time. When you walk into a new role and can start improving production from the get-go, you can’t go wrong.
How well can you analyze and communicate brand narratives?
Most importantly, you need to be able to understand brand narratives. At its core, creative asset management ensures that brand journeys are created with consistency across multiple platforms. You must be able to connect brand elements effectively to each platform and medium to ensure brand consistency.
Where does the creative asset manager career path start?
Unlike creative roles that are born primarily out of artistic passion or C-suite roles that are born out of entrepreneurial drive, creative asset managers’ career paths aren’t all that linear. The digital asset management field is one that’s been around for years, but it’s an industry that is gaining increased attention due to the collaborative and workflow-boosting possibilities DAM software offers. It’s also gaining traction due to its accessibility from multiple professional backgrounds.
Whether you’re a creative, a manager, or an administrative guru, the chances are you already have a skill set that can be applied immediately to workflow and asset management optimization.
The only thing creative asset management demands is the ability to connect workflows and an existing asset library to real-world applications to leverage a brand’s creative output to maximum effect.
Do you have what it takes to be a creative asset manager?
Digital content creation is built on a mountain of creative assets, of tiny pieces that ultimately add up to the final product the public sees for a scant few minutes. But when used right, those building blocks can communicate a brand narrative that sticks with people long after their social media ends.
As a creative asset manager, you have the power to guide the creation of content that sticks with people.
If you want to learn more about the workspace and career possibilities of creative asset management, delve into our blog or talk to one of our skilled representatives to chat about the industry and the tools you need to establish the most efficient creative ecosystems.