Matt Noyes

What companies/organizations have you worked for as a DAM professional? What was your role at each? (How has DAM been a part of your career?)

I’ve always worked in the enterprise SaaS space and whether I was working with Marketing Automation tools, CPQ, or Enterprise Video Platforms, DAM has always been a critical complementary solution, as it should be in any mar-tech stack. In my function as a Product Marketer, I’m responsible for providing critical insights to cross-functional teams in Product, Product Strategy, and others as we develop an understanding of the market, competitors and their solutions, and for identifying opportunities for our solutions to deliver more value that can be translated into the product roadmap.

As part of this process, I’ve worked with numerous DAM vendors to develop technical integrations, activate co-marketing and co-selling motions, and identify ways for the software I’m representing to complement and extend the DAM so that our mutual customers can achieve successful outcomes.

What is your vision for DAM? What will it look like in 5 years?

DAM is a mature category, but it’s vibrant with innovation. There’s no doubt that DAM is changing as marketers, e-commerce, and more technical teams focus on content ROI and operational efficiency. I expect three trends to drive the bulk of the changes we’ll see in DAM  over the next few years.

First, and this isn’t a hot take, but AI and ML will continue to automate workflows across the asset lifecycle to improve team efficiency. Put simply, as more teams engage with DAM, there will be opportunities for AI to assist and automate rote, but important work of modifying assets for multichannel delivery, moderating content against brand standards whether it’s AI-generated or comes from partners, suppliers, users, or others, and it will free teams up to tackle more valuable creative projects rather than spending time manually assigning tags and metadata. Similarly, GenAI will drive personalized content creation, potentially from within the DAM as data and performance insights inform the creation of new assets.

Second, and we’re seeing this already, DAM will become an enterprise-wide solution as diverse users need to come together through a shared platform acting as a single source of truth. DAM will become the enterprise layer connecting all repositories and systems as users can interact with content wherever they are working.

And finally, personalization will continue to be a priority and DAM will have a significant role to play. DAMs may lead the way in the creation of tailored experiences as they provide more access to performance data and insights into customer preferences around  visual experiences. This would allow DAM to become the solution supporting predictive, AI-created content while also managing compliance and evolving regulations.

How do you describe Digital Asset Management to others?

When people ask what type of software I work in, and I say “DAM,” I still get a chuckle. But even for those with a general understanding of digital asset management, DAM can be confusing as it has evolved beyond the basics of uploading, storing, organizing and managing digital assets like images, videos, documents, and other media.

I encourage people to think about DAM a bit differently. There’s the suite of traditional capabilities, but modern asset management solutions go further combining the power of AI automation and the flexibility to connect and integrate across the tech stack. Essentially, the use cases involving DAM have expanded across the asset lifecycle from creation and sourcing, moderation and approval, management and enrichment, and optimized delivery across all channels.

What’s the most important thing for someone new to DAM to understand about DAM?

DAM is much more than just a place to store digital assets and it’s important to remember that not all DAMs are created equal. When evaluating a DAM solution, you need to think about your team, your workflows, and your tech ecosystem both today and into the future. Depending on the scale and types of assets you are managing, who is going to be using the solution, your requirements for connectivity into other tools, and how you see your need evolving, then you need to explore your options and take a critical look at your options for DAM providers.

How did you learn DAM? Any recommended sources?

When it comes to DAM or any other SaaS solution, I suggest learning by doing. You need to experience it to appreciate and understand it. Whether you’re curious about DAM from a professional perspective or you are looking at adding DAM to your teams, it never hurts to speak with people who are users of the solution you’re exploring. Talk to other users, talk to peers in your network familiar with DAM, ask them if they are willing to share their experiences.

If you weren’t doing DAM as a career, what would you be doing?

This may seem odd considering I’ve spent my career working in enterprise software, but I’d likely be working a trade – maybe as an electrician, carpenter, or plumber. So much of product marketing software is finding creative approaches to solving problems and I think that skillset translates to fixing a broken pipe, building a piece of furniture, or wiring a house.

 

About Matt Noyes

Matt Noyes is the Senior Director of Product Marketing at cloud-based image and video management services company, Cloudinary.  Matt’s background blends years of experience contributing to and building standout teams in Marketing, Product Marketing and Sales Enablement.

You can connect Matt via his LinkedIn profile.

This interview was published in DAM News on 26th September 2024.  For more DAM News interviews, see the interviews index page.

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