Nine Easy Ways to Brand Your Acquia DAM Site

As a company changes and evolves, so does its brand. After all, a brand is more than just words and images ⏤ it’s the identity of your organization. And memorable, cohesive brand experiences are built with current and approved brand assets. 

Digital asset management (DAM) systems help teams bring their brand to life with tools to centralize, organize, and distribute photos, videos, logos, and creative files. In essence, a DAM platform can be the gateway to your organization’s brand story. 

That’s why it’s important to infuse your brand across the look and feel of your DAM site. Not only is it an opportunity to remind your stakeholders who you are and what you stand for, but it helps embed your DAM site in your organization’s DNA — which encourages system adoption and long-term user engagement. 

Fortunately, you don’t have to be a brand strategist, graphic designer, or programmer to brand your Acquia DAM (Widen) site — here are nine simple ways you can make your site a branded environment, right now.
 

1. Name your DAM site

Often overlooked, but very important, is what to call your DAM system. Sure, you could just call it “the DAM,” but it’s a valuable opportunity to make the solution yours and rally users around a proprietary name. It can help integrate the system into your company and bolster user engagement.

We recommend using a name that reflects your organization and is easy to remember. Here are some customer examples:

• Beam Suntory: The DAL (Digital Asset Library)
• Crayola: The Crayola Gallery
• HARMAN: The HARMAN Media Library
   

2. Choose a vanity URL

Many customers create a web address for their DAM site that includes their name, like eudaimonia.widencollective.com. Others take it a step further and secure a branded URL that includes their proprietary name, like EbikesMarketingBuilder.com.

Note: There may be an additional charge for vanity URLs or vanity URL redirects.
 

3. Display your logo

The simplest and most effective way to brand your DAM site is by adding your logo to your login page and site header. This ensures your most important brand element is prominent across the user experience. Your logo also then becomes the default graphic in all system emails, asset pickup pages, and shared collections.

Use this opportunity to present your most current logo and model how to represent your brand consistently.
 

4. Use a site favicon

Another branding tactic is using your logo for your DAM site’s favicon. This small square icon identifies your website in bookmarks, tabs, toolbar apps, history results, and search bars. It’s a simple visual cue that contributes to a branded user experience. 
 

5. Display your brand colors

You can customize the primary and secondary colors of buttons and hyperlinks throughout your DAM site to match the colors in your brand guidelines. This will help create consistency across your intranet, website, mobile app, and other digital touch points.

6. Use a dominant brand graphic on key pages

Your login and dashboard pages allow you to showcase one of your best visual assets with a large hero graphic. It welcomes your users and allows you to promote something new about your products, people, or services. It can also be used as an all-asset search button. Be sure to change it up on a regular basis!
 

7. Customize your dashboard

Your dashboard is the first and most viewed page in your DAM site. Use banners, dashboard messages, and spotlight searches to make your dashboard experience really shine. These dashboard elements allow you to showcase new products, upcoming events, or key brand resources.
 

8. Brand your collections

Collection share pages are a great way to share groups of assets with targeted users or the public. Built-in tools make it easy to add custom colors and headers within different layout templates.

9. Build a brand portal

Portals allows you to share curated subsets of assets with control and flexibility. They include options to add text, colors, hero images, and banners to make the entire portal a brand experience. 

Here are some great examples of how Acquia DAM customers use portals to share media kits, training content, HR resources, sales materials, product information, and more. You can even use Portals to create a brand toolkit and house approved logos, colors, text, tone, voice, graphic elements, and assets to ensure content creators are always on-brand.
 

How will you brand your DAM site?

With these tips and tactics, you can tailor your site to reflect your organization's unique brand, and bolster user engagement. If you have questions about any of Acquia DAM’s features, don’t hesitate to contact your DAM representative. And if you’re not using Acquia DAM yet, request, watch, or click through a demo today to see our site branding options in action. 

Note: This article was originally published on Widen.com.