3 pro tips to simplify your move to DAM

You’ve done your research, sat through countless demos, and at long last you have bought a new DAM solution! You can’t wait to get started, but there’s just one final step: migrating your existing content into your new solution.

It may seem like a chore, but we promise it’s actually a piece of cake with Canto! Our implementation team is with you every step of the way with guidance and technical help. But we’ll let our customers who have been through the process speak for themselves.

Here are their top tips:

1. Set up your folder structure first

This is a tip echoed by multiple customers. Getting your folder structure figured out up front helps your team get the most out of your DAM, because team members will be better able to find assets more quickly.

Derek Wolfford, marketing manager of integrated media at Pearl, says, “Organization is key. Make sure the folder architecture is what you want in Canto before you start dragging stuff over.”

In practice, this means thinking through what makes the most sense for your team. At Visit Seattle, creative director David Newman implemented the folder structure in a way that made sense for the organization: each department has its own folder which contains content most relevant to them.

We’ve seen customers organize folders by department, photoshoot date and photographer, or even assign individual approvers folders so that they know where all of their content to review lives. 

2. Create 25-30 keywords as a starting point

Keywords help you categorize assets on a more detailed level, helping team members find content via search and filter. They can only be set by administrators, so setting up a number of keywords in the beginning can help your team organize content as they upload, and find it later.

“From day one, classify the 25-30 keywords that are appropriate for the organization. You can easily fill in the gaps with tags,” says George Comeau, marketing and brand activation manager at Downtown Boston Business Improvement District. 

“If you think a photo should be labeled with a keyword but that keyword doesn’t exist, write it on a scratch pad. If you find yourself writing down the same word over and over again, then it should be a keyword. Otherwise, you can just add that label as a tag and either way it will show up in search.”

3. Use this opportunity to sort out what’s useful and what can be left behind

Chances are, not all of your assets will be valuable moving forward. This is a great opportunity to assess what your team can use and what you should migrate, and leave behind any assets that are no longer useful and just taking up storage space.

George from Downtown Boston Business Improvement District did just this when his team migrated to Canto, and also takes care to keep only useful assets in Canto going forward to avoid recreating clutter.