The DAM System Pricing Mystery

Photo by Karolina Kaboompics

How many digital asset management sites have you visited that proudly feature a pricing page, only to discover a mouthwatering list of features and a prompt to contact the supplier if you'd like to know more?

Off-putting isn't it.

The feeling is that you're being tricked into handing over your details to a hungry sales team who'll soon be pitching to you mercilessly for months to come - when all you really wanted was to do a bit of market research, and get a rough idea of costs.

Hidden pricing is a widespread issue. If you scan the web for DAM system providers, you'll quickly find there are only a handful of outfits brave (some may say foolhardy) enough to openly display their fees on their site.

Having set the scene for what looks like is going to turn into a take-down of providers who advertise a pricing page and then force visitors to enter their email if they want actual prices, I have to hold up my hand up and confess there are no prices advertised on the LightRocket Enterprise site either.

So, what's going on with DAM systems and pricing? What's with all this cloak-and-dagger secrecy?

For the most part, providers who don't advertise their prices are probably, you guessed it, are the expensive ones. For the eye-watering fees many providers are charging, it's going to take a battalion of very charming, professional and skillful salespeople to coax future clients over the line.

Photo by Ivelin Radkov

Do High Prices Equal Greater Value?

After decades in the DAM sector, and as the co-founder of a company that invests much more in its product and the excellence of its technology than it does in marketing, I can certainly say there is a tipping point where the actual value, the functionality being delivered by a DAM system, no longer matches the price being asked (which is precisely the point at which a DAM becomes 'overpriced'). The same is probably true for almost any product or service.

As we all know, however, value also is partly a matter of perception. Overpriced for one client might be reasonable for another. Much depends on budgets, priorities and timing.

Before I continue, allow me another small confession.

At LightRocket Enterprise, we're actually very conflicted about not showing prices on our site. Conflicted because on the one hand we know that LightRocket Enterprise is one of the most competitively priced platforms on the market, and on the other because while we'd love to show the world how reasonable our prices are, we also want to allow ourselves the flexibility to tailor our fees to the exact needs, and budgetary constraints, of our (future) client.

Photo by fauxels

A DAM System for All

We have built a fantastic media management platform that has transformed life for archive managers at major international bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). While that sounds very grand, and rather upmarket, we still cherish the down-to-earth goal of wanting our platform to be accessible for any organization that needs it.

At the risk of sounding a touch sentimental - we want LightRocket Enterprise to be something of a 'DAM system for the people'. A service (because our software comes with real, human, personalized service) that releases value from archives, while releasing time through efficiencies - for any organization or company enlightened enough to see the need for it.

Hand on heart, I can say that LightRocket Enterprise, for all the glamour of our client list, is ready to compete with even those brave companies who openly list their fees on their pricing pages (presumably in the hope that potential clients will think they're getting a bargain).

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto

How to Choose the Right DAM System Provider?

So, here's the thing. Choosing a DAM system is such a huge decision, one you're unlikely to reverse for quite a long time, that it's worth learning as much as possible about the providers you're interested in and the systems they've developed.

In some ways pricing, and maybe this is why so many companies get away with hiding their fees, is actually the least important consideration when selecting a digital asset management system provider.

Almost every provider will have put time and money into developing a slick website, so it's a case of getting down to the nuts and bolts. Browse to the page where you can see the functionality on offer. Don't be over impressed by a lot of fashionable bluster about AI (it's value is real but not revolutionary in the DAM world), look at the depth and breadth of features. Think about scalability too. Is there a guarantee to allow for unlimited users? Are there limits on storage?

Pricing in the DAM world, is probably unnecessarily mysterious. We wish it could be otherwise. At least in the case of LightRocket Enterprise, we're playing our pricing hand close to our chest because we want to leave you, dear client, the flexibility to a propose a price-point that matches your needs.

Contact us now to find out just how reasonable LightRocket Enterprise DAM systems are.

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Written by Yvan Cohen | Yvan is a Co-Founder of LightRocket Enterprise and has spent the past two decades immersed in the challenges and realities of digital asset management. As a professional photojournalist, Yvan uses his decades of media experience to help shape LightRocket's world-class DAM platform; focusing on collaboration, intuitive workflows and continuous innovation.

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