If your business needs to digitize its processes in order to expand into new markets and meet customers online, then you've discovered why digital transformations are so important. During the digital transformation process, businesses rethink and redesign their operations to be facilitated by more digital technologies. 

This can be a difficult and lengthy process, but it is essential if businesses want to stay relevant and adapt to the ever-changing landscape of the business world. Some of the most important areas that leaders focus on during a digital transformation are ensuring that processes are efficient, streamlined, and customer-centric. By taking the time to digitize business processes, you can position your business for success in the digital age.

During this journey, businesses find themselves with a lot of new content. Product photos and videos, ads, and educational content are just a few examples of the types of new content that could pour into media archives. 

All this new content has the potential to be extremely valuable. But it also presents a challenge: how can companies make sure that their content is seen by the right people and doesn't get lost in the shuffle?

As your business enters a digital transformation, one of the most important things you can do is to manage your media assets. 

Here are five reasons why :

1. It makes your media assets accessible and usable for your team, no matter where they are located.

During times of growth, many companies find that the management solutions they used before are not suited well for media or large amounts of files. Limited storage space and video preview options combined with the difficulty in retrieving large file sizes often cause enough friction to prompt a search for a better solution.

Related read: File Sharing vs. Media Management - What Do I need?

One of the best ways to ensure that your media assets are accessible and usable by your team during a digital transformation is to use a media asset management system (MAMS). Cloud-based MAMS like iconik can help you manage and organize your media assets, as well as provide access control and collaboration features for your team so they can access your media assets from anywhere in the world.

2. It keeps your media assets organized and easy to find.

Organizing your media assets can save you time by making it easier to find the files you need. This will improve your efficiency, giving you more time to create or collaborate.

The most common way to organize media is to use folders, but there’s a more powerful way to sort and find files by utilizing metadata. When it comes to media, this data can be things like the date a video was shot, the project it was used for, the location, and so on.

By utilizing custom metadata, you can have a more specific way to sort and find files. For example, you can find all media that features a certain product, has expired usage rights, or find all the assets for a particular ad campaign as well as campaign performance data. Utilizing metadata can help you find files more easily, but it can also be used to trigger automation elsewhere in your workflows.

3. It ensures that assets are utilized and leveraged.

Managing media well will allow you to have a better ROI by enabling your company to leverage existing media. A good media management strategy will help you to effectively integrate your content into your digital transformation strategy. It can also help you to re-discover media which can then be used to create new content. 

A well-maintained media library will save you time and money in the long run.

4. It reduces the risk of losing important media assets.

Losing valuable archive media can be devastating for a company. It doesn't only hurt ROI for content creation, it also puts future creatives at a disadvantage because they may not have what they need to create efficiently. As new employees join, they also may miss important parts of an organization's history because that media is gone.

Managing media from multiple storage locations will give a holistic view of every asset you have. A good MAM will have the ability to safely transfer or copy media to where it needs to be, so nothing is at risk of being lost as you grow.

5. It keeps assets secure, so you can protect your brand.

Digitizing anything creates data, and vital company data, like media, needs to have the highest security. When using a media management solution, this security can be built-in. With the ability to monitor MAM activity, you can keep track of what assets are being downloaded by who, and ensure that only authorized and appropriate use of company assets is taking place. This can help to avoid any legal issues or negative publicity that could arise from the misuse of company assets.

Managing media during a digital transformation can also help to ensure that company assets are being used in a way that is consistent with the company's brand and reputation. This can help to avoid any negative associations that could come from the misuse of company assets.

The benefits of managing your media assets are clear.

A digital transformation can be a massive process, but by utilizing a central media asset management system, you can streamline the process and make it more efficient. 

Not only can you save time and money, but you'll also be able to better control your brand's identity and protect your reputation.