Organizing your Marketing Asset Library

The Asset Library in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys helps you upload, store, host, and organize images, documents, videos, and other files used throughout your marketing efforts. A well-managed Asset Library makes it easier for your entire team to find and reuse approved marketing materials instead of storing important assets on individual devices or across disconnected locations.

A unified library for Outbound and Real-Time

If you're currently using Outbound Marketing and preparing to transition to Real-Time Journeys, there's some good news: you don't need to migrate your Asset Library separately. Outbound and Real-Time use the same unified Asset Library. The older Real-Time Marketing module previously used an add-on to store images, videos, and files. That add-on was deprecated in June 2023, and files were automatically copied into the unified Asset Library. Assets connected to items such as emails, templates, and content blocks were brought over as well. The unified library is hosted using Microsoft Dataverse storage. Keep in mind that files stored there count toward your overall database storage capacity.

Supported file types and upload limits

The Asset Library supports a variety of file types, including:

• CSS
• DOC
• GIF
• JPEG
• MP3
• MP4
• PDF
• PNG
• PowerPoint
• XML
• ZIP

If you attempt to upload an unsupported file type, you'll receive an error message. For images used in emails, JPEG is a good option. The maximum upload sizes covered in this class are:

• Images: 5 MB
• Documents: 32 MB
• Videos: 128 MB

Uploading new assets

To upload a file, navigate to Customer Insights – Journeys, then Assets, select Library, and choose New. You can drag files into the upload window or select them from your device. Multiple files can be selected at the same time. After selecting your files, you can update their names and add tags to make them easier to organize and locate later. Once uploaded, each asset includes information such as:

• Name
• Owner
• File size
• File type
• Tags
• A unique URL for the asset

That unique URL makes it possible to use hosted assets throughout your marketing content.

Using tags to keep your library organized

Tags are one of the most useful tools for maintaining an organized Asset Library. When adding tags, previously used tags appear as options. Without a consistent tagging strategy, that list can quickly become difficult to manage. In general, the more specific and intentional your tags are, the more useful they'll be when searching and filtering later. Consider creating tags for categories such as:

• Newsletter header images
• Frequently used logos
• Product-specific imagery
• Campaigns
• Seasonal imagery
• Time-sensitive materials
• Companies or brands sharing the same CRM tenant

If color is important to your marketing materials, you could even use specific hex codes as tags. That can help your team locate assets using the correct brand colors when working with a particular color palette.

Sorting and filtering your Asset Library

The library provides several ways to narrow down your assets. You can sort using information such as:

• Asset name
• Resolution
• File size
• File type
• Creation date

For example, you could sort your library to help identify DOC or PDF files. You can also filter assets using tags and other information. Tags will often be the most useful filter, but Edit Filters gives you additional options. With images, for example, you could filter based on height or width. As with other areas of Dynamics 365 CRM applications, you can create custom views in the Asset Library. Custom views can provide quick access to the marketing materials your team uses most frequently.

Searching for assets

The Asset Library also includes a search bar for finding items by keyword. One limitation to keep in mind is that search requires you to know the asset's title, or at least the beginning of its title. When you don't know the asset name, sorting, filtering, and a good tagging strategy may be more effective.

Managing different types of marketing assets

The Asset Library isn't limited to images. You can work with separate areas for:

• Images
• Documents
• Videos
• Custom fonts

You can also delete individual uploads or select multiple assets to remove items you no longer need. Regularly reviewing and removing unnecessary files can help keep the library manageable as your collection of marketing materials grows.

Using Asset Library images in emails

Once your library is organized, using an asset in an email is straightforward. Open your email draft and add an image element. You can then select an existing image from the Asset Library. Videos can also be used with your marketing content. However, consider the size of the video and how you want recipients to access it. For larger videos, linking to the hosted video from a button may be a better option.

Uploading assets while creating content

You don't always need to navigate to the Asset Library before creating an email. If the image you need isn't already available in Customer Insights – Journeys, you can upload it while you're working on the email. You can add tags during the upload process, and the new asset will then become part of your Asset Library for future use. This lets you continue building your marketing content without interrupting your workflow while still keeping newly uploaded materials available to the rest of your team.

Linking to documents and videos

Documents and videos can also be linked from buttons in your marketing content. Add a button element and link it to the appropriate file or video from your Asset Library. When a recipient selects the button, they can access the hosted asset using its unique URL. This provides a convenient way to share supporting files without requiring recipients to receive the file itself as part of the message.

Building a more consistent marketing library

A well-organized Asset Library helps make marketing materials easier to find, reuse, and manage. By using descriptive names, specific tags, filters, sorting, searches, and custom views, you can prevent your collection of assets from becoming unwieldy as it grows. Most importantly, keeping shared marketing materials in Customer Insights – Journeys makes them accessible to the broader team instead of leaving valuable assets siloed on individual devices or in separate storage locations. Centralizing these resources can help everyone work from standardized marketing materials and contribute to a more consistent brand experience.