Key takeaways
- Marketing asset management (MAM) is one central, searchable record of every content asset your company has published, each tied to its URL, so people find what exists instead of rebuilding it.
- A MAM tracks assets and where they live. A digital asset management (DAM) system stores the media files themselves, and a MAM record can point to them.
- There are five practical options, from least setup to most: a spreadsheet, a task app like ClickUp, custom objects in a CRM, a SaaS brand platform like Brandfolder, or an app you build with AI tools.
- Spreadsheets and task apps are quick to set up but can’t relate one asset to another, such as a case study to the client and keyword it serves. A CRM or SaaS platform can, at a per-user or enterprise price.
- We built ours with custom objects in our CRM, and have started rebuilding the same design as a standalone app whose cost doesn’t rise with each new user.
Most companies have more content than they can find. Without an organized way to manage it, valuable assets end up lost in a content void.
A new salesperson never discovers the case study that could have helped them close a deal. Someone builds a new presentation because nobody knew a perfectly good one already existed. Marketers plan next quarter’s content without a clear view of what’s already published and where it all lives.
What is marketing asset management?
Marketing asset management (MAM) is a system for keeping one central, searchable record of every content marketing asset your organization has published, with each record tied to the asset’s URL. It makes those assets easy for anyone in the company to find, and gives content marketers one place to manage them.
With a MAM in place:
- Sales finds existing enablement assets instead of recreating them
- Marketers plan new content against what’s already published
- Updates happen faster, because you know what exists and where it lives
- Distribution gets easier, because every asset is ready to reuse across channels
How is MAM different from DAM?
A MAM tracks your content assets and where they live, while a DAM stores the media files themselves. We look at this from a content marketing and SEO perspective, where the URL is what matters most, so the two systems do different jobs and work well together.
Marketing asset management
A central repository for every content marketing asset that has a URL. It makes those assets easy for people across the organization to find, and gives marketers a place to manage them.
Digital asset management
A storage repository for media files themselves, such as images and videos. Records in a MAM can carry URLs that point at the media stored in a DAM.
What counts as a marketing asset?
Any content that took time or money to create counts as a marketing asset. The 13 types below all qualify, and you’ll probably think of others.
| Asset type | Description |
|---|---|
| Blog post | This one is self-explanatory |
| Standard page | Your homepage, product and service pages, about, contact, testimonials |
| Landing page | A page whose primary goal is visitor conversion |
| Gated PDF | The gated content sitting behind those landing pages |
| Microsite | A sales room type site on a platform like OneMob |
| Case study | A customer case study PDF |
| Tool | A free tool offered to visitors, such as a calculator |
| Video | A video on YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, or Vidyard |
| Audio | A podcast episode player link or a SoundCloud link |
| Map | A Google My Map or an ArcGIS Online map |
| Social article | A long-form article on LinkedIn, X, or Medium |
| Miroverse template | A Miro template shared on Miroverse |
| Link-in-bio | A link-in-bio page on Gravatar, Linktr.ee, or Bit.ly |
An asset is a resource with economic value that someone owns or controls, held because it is expected to pay off later.
Paraphrasing Investopedia’s definition of an assetA marketing asset works the same way as a physical business asset. You spent money to create or acquire it, and you expect it to produce or contribute toward a financial return. That’s the case for tracking it.
What software can you use to manage marketing assets?
You have five practical options: a spreadsheet, a collaboration and task management app, custom objects in a CRM, a SaaS brand management platform, or an app you build with AI tools. They’re ordered here by how much setup each takes, starting with the one you could have running this afternoon.
A spreadsheet
- CostFree
- SetupAn hour
- Best forSmall libraries, small teams
A spreadsheet is the simplest way to start tracking marketing assets, and sharing it with as many people as you need costs nothing extra. Everyone already knows how to use one.
It’s also the weakest option as your library grows, for the same reasons spreadsheets fall short at CRM and accounting.
Nothing to buy or learn
Add columns as you go, share the link, and start logging assets today.
No search, no audit
There is no global search and no relational database capability. Edits are not audited, and rows can be deleted by accident.
A collaboration and task management app
- CostPer user, per month
- SetupA day
- Best forTeams already living in the tool
A task app like ClickUp works as a MAM if you treat each asset as a task: create a folder called Content or Marketing Assets, add a list for each asset type, and enter each asset as a task in the matching list.
ClickUp lets you add custom fields and statuses at the list level, so a video record and a gated PDF record don’t have to look the same. And because content work already happens in apps like this, the asset library sits right next to the tasks that produce and update it.
Assets next to the work
Custom fields, statuses, and assignees come standard, and the team is already in the tool every day.
Records shaped like tasks
Task apps are not built to relate one record to another, so connecting an asset to a client, persona, or keyword takes workarounds.
Custom objects and page layouts in a CRM system
- CostCRM licensing
- SetupA few weeks
- Best forTeams that already run on CRM
A CRM with custom objects is the strongest way to relate marketing assets to everything around them, because it has a real database underneath. Each asset can connect to the client it was built for and to its links, personas, and keywords, and global search finds all of it.
We built our own MAM this way, with custom tables and fields inside our CRM. Here is part of the schema we created.
Marketing Asset (custom object) ├── Title, URL, Asset Type, Status ├── Publish Date, Last Reviewed, Owner ├── related to → Client (who it was built for) ├── related to → Persona (who it speaks to) ├── related to → Keyword (what it targets) └── related to → Link (where it points, who points to it)
List views make the library easy to work through day to day. Sorting by the most recently edited record, for example, shows what the team has touched this week and what has gone stale.
Real relationships and real search
One asset can connect to a client, a persona, a keyword, and a set of links, and global search finds all of it.
Licensing gets in the way
Some team members who need asset information are not licensed CRM users, and seats on a highly configurable CRM platform are expensive.
A SaaS brand management app you subscribe to
- CostEnterprise subscription
- SetupVendor onboarding
- Best forLarge teams with brand governance needs
An enterprise brand management platform is the most complete marketing asset option you can buy, and more than most teams need for asset tracking alone. Tools in this category tend to be DAMs and brand management systems, such as Smartsheet’s Brandfolder.
Brandfolder’s feature set includes:
- Adobe Creative Cloud integration for editing assets in place
- AI-driven tagging and analytics that make assets easier to discover
- Customizable branding for the library itself
- User management to keep workflows moving across teams
Everything is already built
Tagging, permissions, analytics, and design tool integrations arrive configured, with a vendor supporting them.
More system than most teams need
If your goal is a searchable index of content with URLs, an enterprise brand platform is a large purchase for a small job.
A MAM app you build with AI tools
- CostFlat, regardless of users
- SetupPrompting and iteration
- Best forTeams that want exactly their own fields
Building your own MAM with AI development tools gets you exactly the fields you want, without subscription costs that climb with every new user. Anyone can do this now, whether that means describing the app in chat or working alongside an AI editor in the code itself.
We started building ours this way, from the design we had already worked out in our CRM, which meant the data model was settled before any prompting started.
Cost does not scale with headcount
Adding the tenth or the hundredth user does not raise a per-seat bill, and every field is one you chose.
You own it now
Hosting, backups, access control, and fixes are yours. There is no vendor to call when something breaks.
How do the five options compare?
Capability and cost rise together as you move down the list, with one exception: an app you build yourself can relate records the way a CRM does, without a bill that grows with every user.
| Option | Cost model | Relational | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheet | Free | No | A first pass at an inventory |
| Task app | Per user | Limited | Marketing teams already using one |
| CRM custom objects | Per licensed user | Yes | Companies running on a CRM |
| SaaS brand manager | Enterprise subscription | Yes | Large libraries and brand control |
| App you build | Flat | Yes, as designed | Wide internal access on a budget |
What we learned building our own MAM
We’ve run a MAM inside our CRM and started rebuilding it as a standalone app. Three lessons carry over no matter which option you choose.
Design the data model first
We worked out our schema in the CRM before touching any other tool. That same design became the blueprint for the app we’re building, so version two started from a settled structure instead of a blank prompt.
Relationships make it useful
A list of URLs is an inventory. Linking each asset to the client it was built for, the persona it speaks to, and the keyword it targets is what turns it into something people search.
Access is the real constraint
The people who most need to find assets aren’t always licensed CRM users. A system only part of the team can open leaves part of the content void in place.
Marketing asset management FAQs
Is a spreadsheet good enough for marketing asset management?
For a small library, yes. A shared spreadsheet costs nothing, and everyone already knows how to use one. It starts to break down as the library grows, because there’s no global search, no way to relate one record to another, and no audit trail when a row is edited or deleted.
Do I need a DAM if I already have a MAM?
Only if you need a place to store the media files themselves. A MAM tracks assets by URL, so its records can point to images and videos wherever they already live, including inside a DAM.
Can ClickUp be used for marketing asset management?
Yes. Create a folder for content, a list for each asset type, and add each asset as a task in the matching list. List-level custom fields and statuses let each asset type carry its own details. ClickUp is reasonably priced for small teams, but it isn’t built to relate one record to another.
Who should have access to a marketing asset management system?
Everyone who creates or uses content, and especially sales. The point of a MAM is that a new salesperson can find the deck or case study that already exists. That’s why per-seat pricing matters when you choose a tool: a system only some of the team can open won’t solve the problem.
What is the cheapest way to manage marketing assets?
A shared spreadsheet, which costs nothing however many people use it. If you need search and relationships between records, an app you build with AI tools is the most affordable at scale, because its subscription costs don’t rise as you add users.
Whether you use a free spreadsheet, buy a system, or build one, the result is the same: people stop hunting for content that already exists. That saves significant time, and it can increase revenue.
Start hereBefore choosing a tool, spend an hour listing every asset you can find with its URL, type, and owner. That list tells you which of the five options you actually need.