How to Extend the Lifecycles of Your Digital Assets

Supply and demand – how does it relate? The inception of a company takes place to respond to a demand. But should they remain the same after operating for years? In most cases, the answer is no. 

A decade ago, the business environment looked vastly different; today, the digital age is dominating every element of business procedures. We may not have a clear picture of what will happen in a decade’s time, but experts like Gartner predict that in the next 10 years, employees will need to apply continuous digital upskilling to find the solution to difficult problems. To ensure longevity and success, you have to constantly adapt to this ever-changing world.

As creative industries continue to evolve, they should change how they see the lifecycles of digital assets. To cut down on the time needed to create new assets, these assets — whether they’re creative assets or materials that can support better production — should be available at all times.

What does a digital asset’s lifecycle look like?

First and foremost, we need to define the term “digital asset”. A digital asset is anything digital that is owned, valuable, discoverable, and transferred between individuals. 

The term “digital asset lifecycle” describes the phases that every digital asset goes through throughout its existence. The five main stages of a digital asset’s lifecycle are creation, management, maintenance, archiving, and disposal 

Stage 1: Creation 

The creation phase happens when the asset is being created. This stage can be achieved either by creating the asset from scratch or by converting a physical asset into a digital one. It ranges from writing a blog post, shooting viral-worthy videos, or capturing photographs. Once it’s been created, you’ll need to format and store it in a secure place. 

Stage 2: Management 

This stage is established once an asset has been created. The management phase consists of acquiring approval of the content, making sure that the appropriate departments are granted access, and organizing the asset. 

The management phase is an important one because if assets aren’t properly managed you’ll run into the risk of not utilizing them to their full potential. 

Stage 3: Maintenance 

This is when you keep your digital assets working properly and constantly updated. It entails tasks like continuous monitoring, fixing problems, and ensuring that your asset is compatible with the systems utilized. 

Stage 4: Disposal

The disposal phase entails assets that are discarded when they’re no longer needed. 

Stage 5: Archival 

This is the final destination of all assets. It’s where assets that aren’t used regularly are kept for future use. It’s suitable for situations where you don’t want to dispose of assets, but you also don’t want to use them at that particular moment. 

What happens to a digital asset once a project ends?

When creating content, you do so with a specific goal in mind. So what do you do with the content once a project ends? The most obvious choices are to archive or dispose of it. 

But a far more valuable solution is repurposing your assets in new content. 

Repurposing assets refers to the process of taking an existing piece of content and either updating it or demonstrating it in a different form. In this way, you expand its reach and lifecycle. 

Why is it important to make digital assets work harder?

Repurposing is beneficial to both creative workflows and operational expenses through minimizing production time. You don’t need to delete or archive your content once a project ends, always retaining the ability to repurpose assets in conjunction with new content. 

This allows for more efficient content creation and non-stop uploading while also saving you time. A HubSpot study revealed that organizations with more than 10 000 Facebook followers increased the number of clicks by posting frequently. So instead of increasing creative production, repurposing assets allows you to create content quicker without increased costs. 

The ongoing generation of content will have an impact on your ROI. By always having content on hand, you’ll experience an increase in clicks or conversion rates leading to a spike in ROI. Ultimately, content marketing has been estimated to increase by $269 billion during the 2020-2024 period, so you might want to use that to your advantage. 

How to manage digital assets for increased longevity

Forgetting about digital assets once a project ends is inevitable. The good news is there is a solution: metadata. 

Metadata is data that provides vital search information on your assets. It optimizes your digital asset library by making your assets accessible, discoverable, and valuable. When extra information is attached to an asset, it increases searchability to ensure better visibility and management. 

Constantly updating your systems and debugging will also ensure the longevity of your assets. Not doing so will only result in your files being corrupted causing a loss in valuable assets. 

The best way to increase digital asset lifecycles

Once an asset has been created, a lot of people become involved, and as a result gain access to your assets. Sharing assets internally within an organization is crucial, and this is where globaledit steps in. globaledit recognizes that digital asset management is part of an organization’s workflow and that efficient workflow is elemental to every organization. 

A centralized digital asset management library guarantees the effective collaboration between whole teams. Additionally, DAM ensures communication with stakeholders via automated notifications and comments are attached to each digital asset. And you won’t need to be apprehensive about security concerns as your assets will only be visible to parties who’ve been granted access. 

Extending the lifecycles of your digital asset will benefit you in the long run. And with DAM you can be assured that your assets are secure and accessible at all times.