Unify your marketing strategy with a PIM and DAM systems integration
| December 3, 2024
Key highlights
- Difference between PIM and DAM systems: PIM systems store and manage product information, whereas DAM systems store and manage digital and brand assets
- Why you need a PIM DAM integration: Connecting PIM and DAM systems streamlines workflows, accelerates product and campaign launches, and improves productivity across teams
Marketers and digital sales professionals depend on PIM (product information management) and DAM (digital asset management) systems. PIM and DAM systems are key to taming marketing asset and product information complexity. But to launch accurate and on-brand products in today’s omnichannel marketing world requires streamlined workflows.
The solution is a PIM DAM integration, which creates a single source of truth by unifying product information and digital assets in one cohesive system. Below, you’ll learn the limits of using PIM and DAM systems separately, why PIM DAM integration is essential, and how to connect them.
What is the difference between PIM and DAM systems?
Product information management software, or PIM systems, centralize and standardize product information: specifications, pricing, descriptions, and technical details. They ensure every sales channel and team member uses the same accurate product data.
Digital asset management software, in contrast, organizes digital assets like product photos, videos, and marketing materials. A DAM system maintains version control, manages digital rights, and ensures teams can quickly find and deploy the right assets for each campaign.
Both systems bring organization to digital chaos. PIM handles product information, while DAM manages creative and brand assets. However, in an omnichannel environment, you need to launch on-brand and accurate products quickly. When PIM and DAM systems are operating in silos, teams cannot coordinate efficiently to get content to market.
Read more about PIM vs. DAM.
The limitations of independent PIM and DAM systems
Independent PIM and DAM systems disconnect teams from resources. Here are a few efficiency challenges teams face with disconnected PIM and DAM systems:
- Marketing teams have to manually check that product images match specifications across both systems
- Sales teams waste time searching separate platforms for up-to-date materials
- Content creators struggle to maintain brand consistency
When you operate without a PIM DAM system, it also negatively impacts the customer experience:
- Product listings appear with mismatched images
- Marketing campaigns launch with outdated specifications
- Social media posts contain incorrect pricing
The manual work required to prevent these errors slows time to market and diverts resources from strategic tasks.
Why you need PIM and DAM integration
PIM DAM integration creates a single source of truth for all product-related content and information. Instead of juggling separate systems, teams work from one unified platform where product information and digital assets live together.
Accelerated time to market
You need to launch campaigns and products faster than the competition. With a PIM DAM system, your marketing, content creators, and sales teams can find and access on-brand content and product information, speeding up workflows.
With DAM integrations to other marketing stack tools, your teams can find and access on-brand content in the tools they already love to use.
Improved brand consistency
Stop off-brand product launches before they ever begin with a DAM/PIM ecosystem in place. A PIM and DAM integration gives you one platform to manage product information and brand assets. Teams are always equipped with on-brand digital assets and accurate product information, enhancing brand consistency across channels.
Increased team productivity
With PIM and DAM integration, product specifications and supporting images are in one place. Content creators can access both product data and creative assets easily, ensuring accuracy across channels. Also, sales teams find everything they need without switching between platforms.
Scalable operations
A DAM/PIM ecosystem is the perfect scalable product content system. As your teams, product lineup, and content grow, your PIM and DAM system can scale to meet your latest product launch and campaign needs with ease.
Boosted content ROI
A PIM DAM system maximizes product content and information value by keeping your most valuable assets accessible. As your product photography and attributes get reused and repurposed across teams and channels, they provide increased value to your organization.
Optimized customer journeys
You need to provide the same consistent digital customer experience no matter what channel customers interact with your organization through. With a PIM and DAM integration, you can ensure that every product shot is the latest and every product listing is 100% accurate, elevating customers’ perceptions of your brand.
How to connect PIM and DAM systems
If you are looking for how to connect DAM and PIM systems, the easiest way is to use built-in PIM and DAM integration, known as a direct connector. Many DAM platforms have integrations to popular PIM platforms that you can use to connect your DAM/PIM ecosystem together.
Next, you’ll want to map specific fields so that product information and content are in sync to meet your teams’ needs. DAM platforms allow you to create automated content workflows for asset creation, collaboration, approval, and distribution into your main library. Meanwhile your PIM platform will keep your teams and channels updated with accurate product information.
Finally, you’ll want to train your teams on how to use your PIM and DAM systems for efficient use.
What types of businesses need a PIM DAM integration?
PIM DAM integration is particularly valuable for businesses managing large product portfolios across multiple channels, such as:
- E-commerce retailers
- Fashion brands
- Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies
- Manufacturers
- Food and beverage brands
- Health and beauty companies
Any business that maintains many product variations, sells through multiple channels, or needs to coordinate marketing campaigns across regions benefits from PIM DAM integration.
Canto is the industry-leading DAM platform
Not all DAM platforms are built the same. Canto is the leader in AI-powered digital asset management, making it easier than ever to organize, find, collaborate, and distribute your content at scale. Canto includes everything you need to accelerate content launch, improve collaboration and productivity across teams, and maximize content value across your channels.
Don’t settle for any DAM — get the best AI-powered DAM platform on the market. Get Canto’s free resource: The Definitive Guide to AI-Powered Digital Asset Management
Frequently asked questions
What is the meaning of PIM DAM?
PIM stands for product information management, and DAM stands for digital asset management. PIM and DAM systems work together to bring product information and digital assets into one cohesive workflow, streamlining product operations and hastening campaign launches.