Digital Asset Management Best Practices: Top Use Cases

As developers of a DAM system, we often hear the same kind of request: “We’ve got too many files and too many people needing access to them—we just want a safe, organized way to manage it all.” It’s a pretty common challenge. And to put it simply, collecting, sorting, editing, and sharing digital assets is exactly what a DAM system is built for. But, of course, it’s never that simple.

Our team has been developing Pics.io since 2012, and after more than a decade of working with different use cases, requests, and challenges, we completely understand when customers come to us asking, “What exactly can a DAM do for us? How can it help our team’s daily workflow?” Honestly, we love that question. That’s why we decided to pull together some of the most popular use cases we’ve seen across different industries to give you a better idea of how DAM can be useful and what problems it can solve.

Now, the examples below are based on real cases from our own experience, but let’s be real—no single blog post can cover 10+ years of use cases. Think of this as a taste of what’s possible. And remember, you can always reach out to us to talk about your specific needs.

Also, Pics.io isn’t some rigid, one-size-fits-all product. We’ve designed it to be flexible and adapt to our users’ needs. In fact, one of the most exciting use cases we’ve worked on came from a client who needed a feature we didn’t have yet—so we built it for them. That’s how our face recognition functionality came to life! Our customer was struggling with media management after transitioning to remote work during COVID. They had 65 terabytes of video and 1 terabyte of photos, growing by 5 terabytes each year, and accessing, searching, and archiving that media was painfully slow over broadband. They wanted to move their entire workflow to the cloud for easier storage, backup, and collaboration—plus, they had an extra challenge. Since their organization was all about people, they needed a way to identify individuals in the photos. Manually tagging thousands of images was out of the question, so we developed face recognition from scratch, allowing them to automatically recognize and tag people in their media.

So as you read through these real-world cases from our practice, just keep in mind—there’s always room for custom solutions. Our team is all about collaboration, and we’re constantly working to make Pics.io even more efficient and helpful for our users.

This is a pretty common request for digital and marketing agencies, designers, and even in eCommerce. And of course, we’ve got a solution! With Pics.io, you can use our “Websites” feature to create online portals where clients can easily access, search, and download the finalized assets.

Now, we’re talking about Pics.io because, well, that’s what we know best. We’ve spent years helping businesses solve all kinds of challenges with our DAM system. But even if you’re using another tool, the workflow we suggest might still help you achieve your goals.

So, what’s our recommended workflow for clients who need a quicker and more convenient way to share commissioned assets?

Create a folder structure. For every new client, the project manager sets up a fresh folder structure in Pics.io DAM, with template folder names specific to each project.

Invite the client. Next, the project manager invites the client to the DAM system, using roles and permissions to make sure the client only has access to the folder with finalized assets.

Internal collaboration. The creative team works on the assets in a separate, internal collection. Once the assets are finalized, they’re attached to the client’s folder, so the client can see and comment on them.

Public access. When the client gives the final approval, the collection can be made public by turning it into a website.

Functional public portal. Now, the project manager has a functional public portal with searchable assets (both by text and folder tree) that the client can download. What’s great is that the website is public, meaning no login is required.
Client-facing website. Once the website is live, you can send a branded link to your client for proofing. Each site comes with the client’s logo and domain name, so it feels personal and professional.

Of course, not every situation is that straightforward. Sometimes we have to get creative. For example, one team needed to take photos of products and services and name the files before they even hit the system. Unfortunately, that wasn’t technically possible. But we came up with a workaround: instead of naming the files, we added custom fields where they could input order numbers and part details before submitting the pictures. As one of our customers put it after implementation, “It’s been a solid solution.”

Using roles and permissions in the DAM system

In this case, our solution is to create a curated media library that the marketing and sales teams can easily tap into to create high-conversion content.

Here’s how it works in a DAM system:

Photographers upload RAW files to the DAM library.

They add descriptive tags to make the files searchable for everyone in the organization.

Metadata is added during upload to keep everything organized, and you can even set it so that files can’t be uploaded without the required metadata.
Another team member can then find and edit the files for proofing, creating approved versions that are ready for the entire team.
Keywords or visual tags (like flags, ratings, or colors) help mark approved assets and differentiate them from those still pending.
Searching for the current assets is simple—just type in the keyword or use the advanced search options.
You can also link assets to related files, like webpages or PDFs, so if an asset gets outdated, you can quickly find and update all the related materials.
The DAM's comment section allows you to leave feedback directly on assets, keeping track of changes and preserving the revision history for future reference.

One customer shared their challenge with us: “We have multiple review stages where several people need access to the whole shoot. We wanted to avoid duplicating steps—once we select images, how do we communicate that? Should we move them or rename them? We needed a metadata-based solution to flag assets or write descriptions, making them easier to find. Our video team also struggled with finding and reusing clips from older projects. We often felt like the footage was already there, but we just couldn’t locate it.”

Pics.io resolved these issues by introducing metadata-based flagging and search tools, making it quick and easy to find and reuse assets.

Using the keyword functionality in the DAM system

Challenge 3: Preventing Unauthorized Use of Non-Approved Content in Sales Materials

This is something every digital agency team faces, but it’s not just a digital issue—any team handling external content needs to keep certain information secure. For cases like this, we recommend using role and permission management along with the restricted assets functionality to control access to sensitive content.

How does it work in practice?

Let’s say an agency is creating visualizations for architectural projects. The sales department often uses photos and videos from some high-profile projects in their sales materials. But here’s the catch: they don’t always know if an image or video is approved for external use, like sharing with clients. Since these visualizations are made early on in the project, they can only be shared once the construction is finished and the client gives the green light.

Without a good tracking system, there’s a risk of accidentally publishing client content before it’s officially approved. That’s where the DAM system steps in—it allows you to categorize all projects by their estimated completion date, added as the collection name. This way, you can easily track project statuses and reach out to the client for permission before using their content publicly in sales and marketing.

Here's how the restricted assets functionality works.

Select the assets you want to restrict access to.
In the asset’s info panel, toggle on the restriction option.
Write a reason for the restriction, like a license name or any terms. If someone tries to download the asset, they’ll get a pop-up with this info.
Set the start and end dates for the restriction period. Once the end date hits, all users in your library will be able to download the asset.
To keep track of restricted assets nearing the end of their restriction period, you can use saved searches from the panel on the left.

Challenge 4: Create an Easy Way for Designers to Find Assets for Their Projects

Let’s be honest—designers aren’t the only ones who need to find the right assets quickly. It’s not just a designer’s problem. Photographers, marketers, and managers all face the same challenge. The good news? We’ve got a solution that works for everyone: upload all your team’s assets to a DAM and use metadata—keywords, custom fields, and visual tags—to speed up the search process.

At Pics.io, we’ve seen this in action. For example, you can upload product images to your Pics.io DAM and access them directly from Adobe Suite thanks to our integration. This allows you to search for images, download them for editing, and then save them back to Pics.io with new revisions—all without leaving your Adobe products.

To make life even easier, it’s a good idea to compress images by about 40-50% and change their extension to JPG. This keeps your website fast while still using high-quality images. For eCommerce, custom metadata fields are a lifesaver—just add product SKUs to each image and, boom, you’ve got a searchable database that anyone can use.

Our customers have described their experience like this: “Our customers send us photos, and our sales team uploads them to Pics.io. Sometimes, they tag the photos, but our marketing team also helps with that. Pics.io helps keep everything organized, so our social media manager can easily find specific images or features to highlight.”

Now, if you’re using Shopify, keep reading—we’ve got even more helpful tools to share.

Challenge 5: Easily Upload Product Images to Shopify Store

We noticed that many of our users, especially those on Shopify, needed an easier way to bulk upload product images. That’s when we realized we had to build something from scratch to meet this need. So, we developed a brand-new Shopify plugin. It didn’t just appear out of nowhere—it came from listening to our users, and now it’s one of our most popular features.

Both Shopify and WooCommerce have specific image requirements, and editing product images one by one can be a real headache. But with Pics.io’s Shopify integration, you can bulk import images directly from your DAM by matching SKU numbers.

We’ve even put together a quick tutorial to guide you through the whole process, step-by-step. Trust us, it’s a game changer:

Install the plugin from the Shopify App Store.

Sign up for a Pics.io account if you don’t have one yet.
Upload your product images to Pics.io (or to a storage service that syncs with Pics.io).
Rename the files to match your SKUs, or create a custom field to tag them with SKU values.
Open the plugin, choose your matching criteria, and start the sync.

It’s that easy!

Challenge 6: Promote the University and Its Programs to Increase Enrollments

Believe it or not, universities are big fans of DAM systems too—and with all the visuals they manage, it’s easy to see why! One of the best ways we’ve helped universities is by using Pics.io Websites to create quick, shareable albums from events like graduations. Here’s how it usually goes:

The university hosts an event, like a graduation or an alumni gathering. Photographers take thousands of photos, which they then upload to Pics.io (or sync from Google Drive). The communications manager steps in, reviews the images, and picks out the best ones. Those selected shots get organized into a collection named after the event.

Next, that collection is turned into a Pics.io Website, and the link gets shared across social media and the university’s official website. Attendees can easily click the link, browse through the photos, and download their favorites.

Challenge 7: Boost Ticket Sales and Views on Streaming Platforms

That's a common request from event planners. If you really want to drive ticket sales and boost views on streaming platforms, you need a well-organized, easily searchable library of photos and videos from past events. Here’s how we make that happen:

Photographers upload their photos to the DAM (or sync them through Google Drive with Pics.io). Then, a curator steps in, going through the images and adding comments and descriptions. The best part? All of these notes are searchable in Pics.io.

From there, the marketing team can quickly search through the tagged library, find the most relevant assets, and pass them on to designers for post-production work. Thanks to our Adobe integration, designers can access the Pics.io library directly from their Adobe products, edit the files, and save them back with new revisions—all in one seamless workflow.

This process means you’ll always have the best visuals at your fingertips, ready to use for your next campaign. Whether it’s engaging your audience or selling more tickets, you’ll be prepared.

So, What Can a DAM System Do For You?

In short, it streamlines your workflow, keeps your assets organized, and ensures your team is always on the same page—whether you’re running an eCommerce store, promoting a university, or managing events. But the real game-changer? It saves you time. Instead of endlessly scrolling through your asset library searching for that one image or video, you can use those extra hours for something far more productive.

Did you enjoy this article? Give Pics.io a try — or book a demo with us, and we'll be happy to answer any of your questions.

Challenge 1: A Faster, Easier Way to Share Commissioned Assets with Clients

Challenge 2: Better Brand Representation on Social Media and Boosting Online Store Traffic