PIM vs. MAM: Product Information Management vs. Digital Asset Management
Pia Heßler7/27/2023
These tools sweep the data chaos from your team's desks directly into a central digital folder!
Table of contents
- What is a Product Information Management (PIM)?
- What is a Digital Asset Management (MAM)?
- How do PIM and DAM differ from each other?
- When should you use a PIM?
- When should you use a MAM or DAM?
- Which PIMs and DAMs are suitable?
- Conclusion: Put an end to the data chaos - get started with the software(s)
Spent half the day again with boring office work? Why not switch to digital and automated data management. This way you have more time for the nice things of your job. In this way, according to a study by Akeneo, you increase your personal efficiency and the ROI of your company. How Product Information Managements (PIM), Media Asset Managements (MAM), and Digital Asset Managements (DAM), differ and which system is best suited to your situation, you will find out in this article.
What is a Product Information Management (PIM)?
PIM stands for Product Information Management: a system with which companies organize their product information centrally. This includes the recording, management, preparation and dissemination of product information. With the help of a PIM, product data remain up-to-date and customer experiences are continuously improved.
Typical product information:
- PI for sales and marketing (e.g. designations, labels and prices)
- Product features (e.g. descriptions with information on ingredients and colors)
- Logistical and technical product information (e.g. data sheets with dimensions, sizes and weights)
- Assets (e.g. images, videos and documents)
You don't have a Product Information Management? These are our top 7-PIM!
What is a Digital Asset Management (MAM)?
Digital Assets are important corporate resources in the digital age. These include all non-physical assets that are on hard drives and servers. All your images and videos are digital assets. But beware: it's not just about your digital content. The files are associated with high (re)production costs, which is why they are often referred to as investment goods.
A Digital Asset Management (DAM) deals with the digital media (e.g. product photos, product videos, audio files and documents) of a company and helps with the efficient organization, management and distribution of the files. You can, for example, centralize data, add metadata, use search functions and assign access rights.
A DAM system facilitates the management, findability and reuse of brand-related content. The content is primarily relevant to the sales and marketing department of your company. A Media Asset Management (MAM) on the other hand, focuses on the workflow of images, video and audio files. It is part of the A/V production process and is the content heart for editors, which they can access from their editing tools.
MAM is part of DAM. In addition to pure media content, you can also manage these contents:
- Presentations
- Contracts
- PDFs
- Designs
- Text documents
- Spreadsheets
How do PIM and DAM differ from each other?
Both tools facilitate the optimization of your data management, making your workflows more efficient.
PIM | DAM | |
Focus | - Stores, organizes and edits product information - Focuses on product information and product-related data | - Stores, organizes and edits digital assets - Focuses on the general management of digital content |
Objectives | - Intends to facilitate distribution of your products across marketing and sales channels - Is especially helpful for collaboration with external parties | - Aims to simplify your content processes by centrally managing all digital files - Aims to increase the value of your assets |
Examples | - Product designations - Contents - Dimensions | - Logos - Product photos - Commercials |
Do you want more details? Then read in our article more similarities and differences between PIM and DAM!
How can the two systems complement each other?
Sometimes PIM with a few DAM functions can be sufficient. As a rule, however, the work steps are designed more efficiently with a combination of PIM and DAM. Thanks to their different emphases, Product Information Managements and Digital Asset Managements can usually be combined particularly well.
- Data exchange: PIMs and DAMs can connect to each other via APIs and automatically exchange data. This tells your DAM which assets belong to which product and vice versa. This allows your company to efficiently maintain and further develop product catalogs and online shops in parallel.
- Updates: As soon as an update is carried out, all parties involved can be automatically informed and can directly access the latest version.
When should you use a PIM?
Product Information Managements enable the storage of product-related information - from product descriptions to information about suppliers.
A PIM makes sense for you if you mainly:
- get your product information from various sources and want to centralize them.
- want to manage and organize many article numbers.
When should you use a MAM or DAM?
Media Asset Managements and Digital Asset Managements are particularly helpful when you handle digital content for your sales and marketing department. You can store your image and video material in it and trace old versions.
A MAM or DAM makes sense for you if you mainly:
- want to manage and organize digital content.
- want to stream and publish audio and video files.
Which PIMs and DAMs are suitable?
Whether PIM, DAM or a combination of both managements - the ideal solution is always in the eye of the beholder.
However, there are some features you should pay attention to:
- Data centralization: Your data should be stored centrally so that every tool can access the current data and ensure easy access.
- Flexibility: Your tool or your toolbox should be flexible and adaptable in order to meet all your requirements. This starts with custom fields and categories up to the intuitive and personalized user interface.
- Automation: Automated workflows facilitate the update, use and publication of product information and assets. Sources of error are reduced to a minimum.
- Scalability: Your tool or your toolbox should be able to adapt easily to your company's growth.
- Monitoring and Reporting: Automatic analyses and reports should give you important insights at all times, so that you always make the right decision.
- Integration: If you want to use multiple tools, they should allow seamless integration.
On OMR Reviews you will find many helpful Product Information Managements and Digital Assets Managements, that support you in terms of data management and organization. You can refine your selection using filters. The verified user reviews help you find the right tools.
These are currently the most popular systems on OMR Reviews:
Plytix
Akeneo
Pimcore
Centric PXM
ATAMYA
mediacockpit
ANTEROS
SalsifyConclusion: Put an end to the data chaos - get started with the software(s)
Have you ever calculated how much time you lose searching for information? You probably belong to the vast majority who sigh and say: " too much ". PIMs and MAMs change that from now on. So get started with tool comparison. OMR Reviews has already listed the most popular systems for you. Now all you have to do is decide.
Author
Pia Heßler
Pia war mehr als 10 Jahre im Vertrieb und Marketing verschiedenster Unternehmen aktiv. Danach gründete sie ihr eigenes Unternehmen und betreibt dieses zusammen mit ihrer Geschäftspartnerin.
