TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR BRAND
CONTENT AND


PUMP UP YOUR CX


Using Personas


to Guide DAM Results
AGENDA
01
	
Content challenges and CX


02
	
Why DAM?


03
	
Persona-first approach: Research


04
	
Persona-first approach: Examples


05
	
Takeaways


06
	
Q&A
SECTION 1


Content
challenges
and CX
IT TAKES A
COORDINATED
EFFORT
to build engaging
customer journeys and
empower customers to
make confident
purchasing decisions
CHALLENGES THAT
GET IN THE WAY
– Content assets are
scattered across
multiple systems


and file shares


– Materials are
inconsistent,
outdated, or off brand


– Lack of
understanding by
marketing and creative
teams of content use
– Inefficient processes
slow go-to-market
timelines


– Too much manual
intervention is required
in creative workflows


– Lack of content provided
in a timely manner to
sales channels


– Content use violations
present a risk to the
business
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Widen, March 2021


© 2021 Forrester. Reproduction Prohibited.
BOTH STRATEGIC
AND TECHNOLOGY
CHALLENGES
Strategic challenges
Base: 259 Manager+ digital marketing/ecommerce decision makers in NA and EMEA


Note: Only top 5 shown for each question.
68%
67%
63%
58%
51%
71%
65%
59%
57%
53%
Organization/collaboration silos


Lack of coordination among business units


Syndication/right content in right channel


Difficulty with targeting/personalization


Lack of relevant/accurate product details


to inform purchase decisions
Content silos


Lack of integration among platforms


Lack of analytics


Difficulty managing data/poor data quality


Lack of technical resources
Marketing technology challenges
A streamlined internal approach to
content creation is critical to build
thoughtful, connected customer
experiences.


– DAM system


– Organize resources in a


persona-first approach


– Empower teams to build


brand-compliant experiences
SECTION 2


Why DAM?
DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT (DAM) is the practice of
administering, organizing, and distributing media files. DAM
software enables brands to develop a library of photos, videos,
graphics, PDFs, templates, and other digital content that is
searchable and ready to deploy.




DAM
DAM IN
MARTECH
ECOSYSTEM
CONTENT
LIFECYCLE
CORE DAM
CONTROL
ACCESS


with roles and


permissions
ROUTE


for review,


comment,


and approval


ANALYZE


Assets with
performance
insights


ARCHIVE


to preserve


content and


data for life
PUBLISH


assets to the
web, email,


and social


UPLOAD


for distribution
across your
organization
SHARE


on CMS, CRM,
marketing
automation,


+ creative


tools
TRANSFORM


to other
formats


on the fly


CURATE


collections


for events and
campaigns


CATEGORIZE


to search,


filter, and


find assets


TAG
METADATA


using rights


and security
SECTION 3


Persona-first
approach: Research
USER PERSONAS HELP US BREAK
DOWN SILOS
– Talk to other teams about their needs


– Design experiences to support them


– Work in connected tools
STEPS TO INVESTIGATING PERSONAS LIKE A UX RESEARCHER


STEP 1


Figure out what you want to learn
– What are their top priorities for the year?


– What does success look like?


– What content do they need access to?


– How are they using the content?


– What are their barriers?
STEP 2


Define your research pool
– Who do you need to learn from?


Roles/Regions


– Define limits: more people = more
time sifting through data, so keep
it manageable
STEP 3


Pick your research direction
(part 1)
SURVEYS


Send a list of questions to users to
learn trends from their responses.
Online surveys are quick and easy to
create and distribute. Check out
Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, or
Typeform.
USEFUL FOR:


– When you want specific
questions answered


– When you need feedback
quickly


– When you know your
audience fairly well
STEP 3


Pick your research direction
(part 2)
INTERVIEWS


Talk face-to-face or on a video call with
users to understand how they work
with the DAM system and what can be
improved. With these conversations,
you’ll often gain valuable context far
beyond what you set out to learn.
USEFUL FOR:


– When you want to better
understand individuals’
attitudes, goals, workflows,
and pain points


– When you need inspiration for
new opportunities or
positioning for your site
STEP 3


Pick your research direction
(part 3)
CARD SORT


Ask users to sort topics written on
cards to better understand how they
think about and group content. This
exercise can help improve labels for
categories or navigation and improve
organizational structure overall.
USEFUL FOR:


– When you would like to
reorganize your site’s content
to improve findability


– When you’re adding new
users or content and you want
to understand how they best
fit into the site’s current
structure
STEP 4


Set milestones and go!
SECTION 4


Persona-first
approach: Examples
WHO IS LIFE TIME?
We inspire healthier, happier lives through our omnichannel,
healthy way of life communities that address all aspects of
healthy living, healthy aging and healthy entertainment.
1992


Founding year
100,000


Square feet average
club size
500+


Pools and spas
140+


LifeCafes
1.4M


Members
30,000+


Team members
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Departmental DAM


launch Jan 2017
Enterprise DAM


launch June
2020
DAM rebuild
LIFE TIME DAM HISTORY
Gaps, branding,
customization
Resource
availability


and location
Lack of feedback
channels
Problems Life Time experienced
WHY DAM-BASED SALES
ENABLEMENT BECAME A
PRIORITY
SOLUTION


Portals to enable
sales teams
– Mini-decks and one-
sheets for pick-and-pull


– Organized by product
and use cases


– Tutorial videos to train
sales users


– Always reflects the latest
version in the DAM site
“Implementing the DAM and a team portal was a game-changer.
Not only did we solve for asset organization and visibility needs,
the structure also helped us recognize our sales tool gaps. Plus, we
continuously evolve our portal based on sales team feedback,
strengthening affinity and adoption.”


Teresa Pennington


Sales Management
The sales team
Changes in
materials
New resources
needed
Ability to
customize
Updates and
versions
Organization of
portals
FORMAL AND INFORMAL
FEEDBACK
Earn Sales Buy-in
THE RESULT
Sales is equipped to


represent Life Time,


communicate effectively, and


empower customers to make
confident purchasing decisions
CONTENT CREATORS
PROFILE
ROLE EXAMPLE


—Graphic designers


—Copy writers


—Video editors
PRIORITIES FOR THE YEAR


— Unify brand across all
customer touch points


— Empower teams to
represent the brand
DAM SUCCESS


— People know where to
go to find on brand
materials


— Streamline creative
workflows
PAIN POINTS/NEEDS


— Pull assets for creation


— Upload assets for sharing


— Version control
TOP PAIN


Frequently uploading
files that need metadata
– wants it done quickly


SOLUTION


Upload profiles to apply
default metadata
CONTENT
CREATORS
SOLUTION
CONTENT BUILDERS
PROFILE
ROLE EXAMPLE


—Marketers


—Business Unit Owners


—Managers
PRIORITIES FOR THE YEAR


— Generate new leads /
Generate new sales


— Develop and manage
regional marketing and
communications


DAM SUCCESS


— Self-serve access to
final assets


— Transform assets on
the fly


— Easy to share
collections of assets


PAIN POINTS/NEEDS


— Pull assets for creation


— Upload assets for sharing


— Differing sub-user groups
TOP PAIN


Quick access to lifestyle
photography, brand colors, and
product assets


SOLUTION


Customize the DAM dashboard
with links to collections, common
multi-faceted searches, and
brand guidelines
CONTENT
BUILDERS
SOLUTION
THIRD PARTY
PROFILE
ROLE EXAMPLE


— Brand partners/
sponsors


— Media
PRIORITIES FOR THE YEAR


— Tell compelling stories that
attract viewership
DAM SUCCESS


— Access to the few
critical assets related
to the partnership


— Easy to share with
many people


— Reflects the latest
version
PAIN POINTS/NEEDS


— Third-party needs access to
relevant information and
assets for events and
campaigns
TOP PAIN


Needs access to relevant
information and assets for an event


SOLUTION


Public portal to promote the event
THIRD PARTY SOLUTION
SECTION 5


Best practices,
takeaways
YOUR NEXT STEPS
0
1

Align around
organizational
goals
02


Research user
success and needs


03


Be the change and
build out your vision
GUIDELINES FOR UX
METHODOLOGIE
S

– Break it into manageable parts


– Implement the change and communicate


– Monitor progress


– Follow up


– Document your process




TAKEAWAYS
0
1

Internal approach to
content impacts CX
0
2

Make DAM the hub
03


Personas are useful
design tools
04


Break it into
manageable parts
05


Continue to collect
feedback and iterate
SECTION 6


Q&A
Using Personas to Guide DAM Results: How Life Time Pumped Up Their UX and CX

Using Personas to Guide DAM Results: How Life Time Pumped Up Their UX and CX

  • 1.
    TAKE CONTROL OFYOUR BRAND CONTENT AND 
 PUMP UP YOUR CX 
 Using Personas 
 to Guide DAM Results
  • 2.
    AGENDA 01 Content challenges andCX 02 Why DAM? 03 Persona-first approach: Research 04 Persona-first approach: Examples 05 Takeaways 06 Q&A
  • 3.
  • 4.
    IT TAKES A COORDINATED EFFORT tobuild engaging customer journeys and empower customers to make confident purchasing decisions
  • 5.
    CHALLENGES THAT GET INTHE WAY – Content assets are scattered across multiple systems 
 and file shares – Materials are inconsistent, outdated, or off brand – Lack of understanding by marketing and creative teams of content use – Inefficient processes slow go-to-market timelines – Too much manual intervention is required in creative workflows – Lack of content provided in a timely manner to sales channels – Content use violations present a risk to the business
  • 6.
    Source: A commissionedstudy conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Widen, March 2021 © 2021 Forrester. Reproduction Prohibited. BOTH STRATEGIC AND TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES Strategic challenges Base: 259 Manager+ digital marketing/ecommerce decision makers in NA and EMEA Note: Only top 5 shown for each question. 68% 67% 63% 58% 51% 71% 65% 59% 57% 53% Organization/collaboration silos Lack of coordination among business units Syndication/right content in right channel Difficulty with targeting/personalization Lack of relevant/accurate product details to inform purchase decisions Content silos Lack of integration among platforms Lack of analytics Difficulty managing data/poor data quality Lack of technical resources Marketing technology challenges
  • 7.
    A streamlined internalapproach to content creation is critical to build thoughtful, connected customer experiences. – DAM system – Organize resources in a 
 persona-first approach – Empower teams to build 
 brand-compliant experiences
  • 8.
  • 9.
    DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT(DAM) is the practice of administering, organizing, and distributing media files. DAM software enables brands to develop a library of photos, videos, graphics, PDFs, templates, and other digital content that is searchable and ready to deploy. 
 DAM
  • 10.
  • 11.
    CONTENT LIFECYCLE CORE DAM CONTROL ACCESS 
 with rolesand 
 permissions ROUTE 
 for review, 
 comment, 
 and approval ANALYZE 
 Assets with performance insights ARCHIVE to preserve 
 content and 
 data for life PUBLISH 
 assets to the web, email, 
 and social UPLOAD for distribution across your organization SHARE 
 on CMS, CRM, marketing automation, 
 + creative 
 tools TRANSFORM 
 to other formats 
 on the fly CURATE 
 collections 
 for events and campaigns CATEGORIZE to search, 
 filter, and 
 find assets TAG METADATA using rights 
 and security
  • 12.
  • 13.
    USER PERSONAS HELPUS BREAK DOWN SILOS – Talk to other teams about their needs – Design experiences to support them – Work in connected tools
  • 14.
    STEPS TO INVESTIGATINGPERSONAS LIKE A UX RESEARCHER 

  • 15.
    STEP 1 
 Figure outwhat you want to learn – What are their top priorities for the year? – What does success look like? – What content do they need access to? – How are they using the content? – What are their barriers?
  • 16.
    STEP 2 
 Define yourresearch pool – Who do you need to learn from? 
 Roles/Regions – Define limits: more people = more time sifting through data, so keep it manageable
  • 17.
    STEP 3 
 Pick yourresearch direction (part 1) SURVEYS Send a list of questions to users to learn trends from their responses. Online surveys are quick and easy to create and distribute. Check out Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, or Typeform. USEFUL FOR: – When you want specific questions answered – When you need feedback quickly – When you know your audience fairly well
  • 18.
    STEP 3 
 Pick yourresearch direction (part 2) INTERVIEWS Talk face-to-face or on a video call with users to understand how they work with the DAM system and what can be improved. With these conversations, you’ll often gain valuable context far beyond what you set out to learn. USEFUL FOR: – When you want to better understand individuals’ attitudes, goals, workflows, and pain points – When you need inspiration for new opportunities or positioning for your site
  • 19.
    STEP 3 
 Pick yourresearch direction (part 3) CARD SORT Ask users to sort topics written on cards to better understand how they think about and group content. This exercise can help improve labels for categories or navigation and improve organizational structure overall. USEFUL FOR: – When you would like to reorganize your site’s content to improve findability – When you’re adding new users or content and you want to understand how they best fit into the site’s current structure
  • 20.
  • 21.
  • 23.
    WHO IS LIFETIME? We inspire healthier, happier lives through our omnichannel, healthy way of life communities that address all aspects of healthy living, healthy aging and healthy entertainment. 1992 
 Founding year 100,000 
 Square feet average club size 500+ 
 Pools and spas 140+ 
 LifeCafes 1.4M 
 Members 30,000+ 
 Team members
  • 24.
    2016 2017 20182019 2020 Departmental DAM launch Jan 2017 Enterprise DAM launch June 2020 DAM rebuild LIFE TIME DAM HISTORY
  • 25.
    Gaps, branding, customization Resource availability 
 and location Lackof feedback channels Problems Life Time experienced WHY DAM-BASED SALES ENABLEMENT BECAME A PRIORITY
  • 26.
    SOLUTION 
 Portals to enable salesteams – Mini-decks and one- sheets for pick-and-pull – Organized by product and use cases – Tutorial videos to train sales users – Always reflects the latest version in the DAM site
  • 27.
    “Implementing the DAMand a team portal was a game-changer. Not only did we solve for asset organization and visibility needs, the structure also helped us recognize our sales tool gaps. Plus, we continuously evolve our portal based on sales team feedback, strengthening affinity and adoption.” 
 Teresa Pennington 
 Sales Management The sales team
  • 28.
    Changes in materials New resources needed Abilityto customize Updates and versions Organization of portals FORMAL AND INFORMAL FEEDBACK Earn Sales Buy-in
  • 29.
    THE RESULT Sales isequipped to 
 represent Life Time, 
 communicate effectively, and 
 empower customers to make confident purchasing decisions
  • 30.
    CONTENT CREATORS PROFILE ROLE EXAMPLE —Graphicdesigners —Copy writers —Video editors PRIORITIES FOR THE YEAR — Unify brand across all customer touch points — Empower teams to represent the brand DAM SUCCESS — People know where to go to find on brand materials — Streamline creative workflows PAIN POINTS/NEEDS — Pull assets for creation — Upload assets for sharing — Version control
  • 31.
    TOP PAIN Frequently uploading filesthat need metadata – wants it done quickly SOLUTION Upload profiles to apply default metadata CONTENT CREATORS SOLUTION
  • 32.
    CONTENT BUILDERS PROFILE ROLE EXAMPLE —Marketers —BusinessUnit Owners —Managers PRIORITIES FOR THE YEAR — Generate new leads / Generate new sales — Develop and manage regional marketing and communications DAM SUCCESS — Self-serve access to final assets — Transform assets on the fly — Easy to share collections of assets PAIN POINTS/NEEDS — Pull assets for creation — Upload assets for sharing — Differing sub-user groups
  • 33.
    TOP PAIN Quick accessto lifestyle photography, brand colors, and product assets SOLUTION Customize the DAM dashboard with links to collections, common multi-faceted searches, and brand guidelines CONTENT BUILDERS SOLUTION
  • 34.
    THIRD PARTY PROFILE ROLE EXAMPLE —Brand partners/ sponsors — Media PRIORITIES FOR THE YEAR — Tell compelling stories that attract viewership DAM SUCCESS — Access to the few critical assets related to the partnership — Easy to share with many people — Reflects the latest version PAIN POINTS/NEEDS — Third-party needs access to relevant information and assets for events and campaigns
  • 35.
    TOP PAIN Needs accessto relevant information and assets for an event SOLUTION Public portal to promote the event THIRD PARTY SOLUTION
  • 36.
  • 37.
    YOUR NEXT STEPS 0 1 Alignaround organizational goals 02 Research user success and needs 03 Be the change and build out your vision
  • 38.
    GUIDELINES FOR UX METHODOLOGIE S –Break it into manageable parts – Implement the change and communicate – Monitor progress – Follow up – Document your process 

  • 39.
    TAKEAWAYS 0 1 Internal approach to contentimpacts CX 0 2 Make DAM the hub 03 Personas are useful design tools 04 Break it into manageable parts 05 Continue to collect feedback and iterate
  • 40.