Business
Tech Tuesday: Nine new-age tools that offer cutting-edge marketing solutions for your business
Dynamic Business’s Tech Tuesdays column is dedicated to the businesses and products that are making great contributions to the tech industry, pushing the boundaries of technology, and redefining the future.
Businesses are continually on the lookout for new marketing-related tools and strategies that will provide them with a competitive advantage. There are plenty of fantastic tools available that are built specifically to streamline sales activities and make it easier for businesses to manage the sales process.
And, regardless of what you’re selling, the ability of a business to prosper or fail is determined by the selling process. Creating a simpler but effective behind-the-scenes sales process today requires the use of digital tools. This week’s edition offers a list of new-age sales/marketing solutions your business can utilise for better reach and profitability.
Podium Campaigns
When devising marketing strategies, businesses focus almost entirely on the message, not the delivery. For digital-first consumers who live, work and communicate on their smartphones, the most effective marketing platform today is not email or billboard; it’s SMS marketing.
Podium Campaigns, used by over 100,000 local businesses in almost every conceivable industry, allow Australian businesses to build impactful campaigns, schedule promotions, send marketing messages and engage in conversations with customers – all through the power of text. It also allows businesses to track open rates, click-throughs, unsubscribes, transactions and more, so each new campaign becomes more impactful than the last.
According to Podium data, SMS has a 98 per cent open rate, while 75 per cent of consumers would like to have offers sent to them via text. Podium Campaigns is part of a broader, SMS-based marketing platform that allows businesses to incentivise reviews, accept payments and communicate with their customers on every platform through one centralised inbox and one convenient, customer-friendly strategy.
More here.
Seismic Enablement Cloud
Today’s digital-first, hybrid work environment turned the traditional Business-to-Business sales cycle upside down. Gone are the days of steak dinners and coffee dates with clients to close a deal – salespeople and marketers need modern, AI-powered tech to engage buyers, build trust, and drive revenue. Seismic Enablement Cloud provides one seamless, centralised workflow for customer-facing teams to be successful.
Seismic Enablement Cloud is used by enterprises right through to startups. The platform saves time and makes sellers’ lives easier by giving them access to all the resources they need in one place, equipping them with the right content, tools, and insights to engage customers and drive growth effectively. In doing so, it supports ongoing transformation initiatives and allows organisations to give employees a means of acquiring and refining digital skills as they jointly navigate turbulent economic conditions.
More here.
LUMOS Grid
LUMOS Grid – LUMOS’s first ad network was launched in late 2021. It became the world’s first martech platform offering brands the ability to promote themselves via the fast-growing gig delivery riders network that travels across the city. LUMOS Grid has reached over 10 million impressions, more than 2 million unique reach and over 80% uplift in store visits and web conversations.
LUMOS recently launched LUMOS Labs, a customer intelligence engine and LUMOS Core, an Ad management platform designed to empower brands to self-manage ads and track and access their customer insights and marketing ROI.
Founded in 2020, LUMOS leverages IoT, the booming gig economy industry and advanced data analytics through its IoT-enabled digital smart bags to create a new immersive marketing environment where businesses and smart brands can identify and reach their customers in the right place at the right time.
More here.
Progress Sitefinity DX platform
Launched last March, Progress’ latest release of the Progress® Sitefinity® DX platform is changing the way organisations develop, deploy and manage digital experiences.
Based on a composable experience approach, Sitefinity DX enables marketers to develop and deploy digital experiences across platforms and devices using the latest .NET 6 technology and enables them to build tailored solutions through a highly scalable, low complexity and value-driven approach.
This helps strengthen personalisation and brand consistency with new digital asset management, including advanced search and audience analysis, segmentation and targeting tools.
Sitefinity DX is used in healthcare, real estate, retail, insurance, and financial services.
More here.
GoDaddy Websites + Marketing
There are over 22 million active internet users in Australia, many of whom use online channels to regularly interact with their favourite brands and businesses. For these tech-savvy Aussies, online shopping is essential.
To help small businesses, hundreds of thousands of whom are still contending with the impact of the pandemic, GoDaddy Websites + Marketing pairs an easy-to-use website builder with a suite of marketing tools designed to help Australian SMBs with little-to-no marketing understanding reach new customers and fuel business growth.
Websites + Marketing’s ‘Insight’ function delivers recommendations powered by anonymised data from millions of websites, providing small businesses with an action plan powered by data science to find new customers and engage more deeply with existing ones with minimal effort. The average small business using the platform saw their revenue increase by 18 per cent, new customers increase by 23 per cent and a doubling of their website traffic.
More here.
Oracle NetSuite CRM
NetSuite’s cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) provides a seamless view of prospects, customers, partners and vendors to ensure marketing and support teams have the real-time data they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences and drive sales.
But importantly, NetSuite’s CRM integrates natively with the rest of its business management platform. Combining CRM with finance (ERP) and supply chain management tools gives end-to-end visibility and a true 360-degree view of the customer – as opposed to disparate, siloed systems that keep important data separate from each other.
Accessing a customer record across all channels and touchpoints in real-time allows businesses to deliver personalised and consistent service, understand customers’ true lifetime value, and make the right decisions for the business at the right time.
More here.
ActiveCampaign Custom Objects
ActiveCampaign’s no-code custom objects allow businesses of all sizes and industries to take action on their data, better understand their audiences and grow their businesses. With ActiveCampaign, customers can build their own custom objects directly within the app without coding.
This new functionality allows users to extend contacts and accounts and deal with their own data without needing to go through the API or pull in developer expertise. Custom objects help businesses build powerful workflows that create dynamic, automated experiences based on any set of the unique data they use to run their business.
Now, customers can more easily model data to their unique business needs and take action on it through automation, email personalisation, lead generation forms, reporting and more. With ActiveCampaign, businesses can connect to powerful app integrations that leverage custom objects like Salesforce, Zendesk Support, Calendly, DocuSign or Eventbrite—or they can build custom objects to support their own use case.
Here’s more.
monday Sales CRM
monday sales CRM is the ultimate all-in-one sales productivity solution for busy teams, empowering sales departments to manage every aspect of their sales cycle and customer data in one centralised place. Unlike rigid CRM systems that take months to implement, the monday sales CRM is flexible, fully customisable and takes just a few minutes to get up and running with no coding or CRM experience necessary. Key features include two-way email integration with Gmail and Outlook, quote and invoice creation, merging duplicate data, customisable templates, tracking and automation for email, integrations with hundreds of critical apps, and powerful automation.
monday sales CRM breaks sales teams out of their silos and promotes cross-functional collaboration within any organisation, promoting greater transparency and knowledge sharing.
The monday.com sales CRM is available for everyone from individual users to Enterprise teams via https://monday.com/crm.
Cheetah Digital
Cheetah Digital unlocks a new era of relationship marketing beyond the cookie by empowering marketers to create interactive campaigns that engage customers and collect first- and zero-party data. By offering a value exchange, brands can acquire the permissions needed to execute compliant and personalised cross-channel marketing campaigns to foster stronger, more meaningful relationships with customers at scale.
The Cheetah Digital Customer Engagement Suite sets marketers up for success when building these lasting relationships —from a set of unified, user-friendly, data-driven solutions underpinned by an engagement data platform ready to scale to meet consumers’ changing demands. By consolidating all communications onto one platform, companies save time by reusing content, audiences and business rules while providing customers with a unified story that creates a consistent brand experience, regardless of channel.
More here.
Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Transport providers, businesses and governments on Saturday are rushing to get all their systems back online after long disruptions following a widespread technology outage.
The biggest continuing effect has been on air travel. Carriers canceled thousands of flights on Friday and now have many of their planes and crews in the wrong place, while airports facing continued problems with checking in and security.
At the heart of the massive disruption is CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that provides software to scores of companies worldwide. The company says the problem occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows, noting that the issue behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack.
Here’s the Latest:
Microsoft: 8.5 million devices on its Windows system were affected
Microsoft says 8.5 million devices running its Windows operating system were affected by a faulty cybersecurity update Friday that led to worldwide disruptions.
A Saturday blog post from Microsoft was the first estimate of the scope of the disruptions caused by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike’s software update.
“We currently estimate that CrowdStrike’s update affected 8.5 million Windows devices, or less than one percent of all Windows machines,” said the blog post from Microsoft cybersecurity executive David Weston.
“While the percentage was small, the broad economic and societal impacts reflect the use of CrowdStrike by enterprises that run many critical services.”
Weston said such a significant disturbance is rare but “demonstrates the interconnected nature of our broad ecosystem.” Windows is the dominant operating system for personal computers around the world.
Austrian doctors’ group calls for better data protection for patients
In Austria, a leading doctors organization said the global IT outage exposed the vulnerability of health systems reliant on digital systems.
“Yesterday’s incidents underscore how important it is for hospitals to have analogue backups” to safeguard patient care, Harald Mayer, vice president of the Austrian Chamber of Doctors, said in a statement on the organization’s website.
The organization called on governments to impose high standards in patient data protection and security and on health providers to train staff and put systems in place to manage crises.
“Happily, where there were problems, these were kept small and short-lived and many areas of care were unaffected” in Austria, Mayer said.
Germany warns of scams after major IT outage
BERLIN — The German government’s IT security agency says numerous companies are still struggling with the consequences of a far-reaching technology outage.
“Many business processes and procedures have been disturbed by the breakdown of computer systems,” the BSI agency said on its website.
But the agency also said Saturday that many impacted areas have returned to normal.
It warned that cybercriminals were trying to take advantage of the situation through phishing, fake websites and other scams and that “unofficial” software code was in circulation.
The agency said it was not yet clear how faulty code ended up in the CrowdStrike software update blamed for triggering the outage.
European airports appear to be close to normal
LONDON — Europe’s busiest airport, Heathrow, said it is busy but operating normally on Saturday. The airport said in a statement that “all systems are back up and running and passengers are getting on with their journeys smoothly.“
Some 167 flights scheduled to depart from U.K. airports on Friday were canceled, while 171 flights due to land were axed.
Meanwhile, flights at Berlin Airport were departing on or close to schedule, German news agency dpa reported, citing an airport spokesman.
Nineteen flights took off in the early hours of Saturday after authorities exempted them from the usual ban on night flights.
On Friday, 150 of the 552 scheduled inbound and outbound flights at the airport were canceled over the IT outage, disrupting the plans of thousands of passengers at the start of the summer vacation season in the German capital.
German hospital slowly restoring its systems after widespread cancellations
BERLIN — The Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital in northern Germany, which on Friday canceled all elective surgery because of the global IT outage, said Saturday that it was gradually restoring its systems.
In a statement on its website, it forecast that operations at its two branches in Kiel and Luebeck would return to normal by Monday and that “elective surgery can take place as planned and our ambulances can return to service.”
Britain’s transport system still trying to get back on track
LONDON — Britain’s travel and transport industries are struggling to get back on schedule after the global security outage with airline passengers facing cancellations and delays on the first day of summer holidays for many school pupils.
Gatwick Airport said “a majority” of scheduled flights were expected to take off. Manchester Airport said passengers were being checked in manually and there could be last-minute cancellations.
The Port of Dover said it was seeing an influx of displaced air passengers, with hourlong waits to enter the port to catch ferries to France.
Meanwhile, Britain’s National Cyber Security Center warned people and businesses to be on the lookout for phishing attempts as “opportunistic malicious actors” try to take advantage of the outage.
The National Cyber Security Center’s former head, Ciaran Martin, said the worst of the crisis was over, “because the nature of the crisis is that it went very wrong very quickly. It was spotted quite quickly and essentially it was turned off.”
He told Sky News that some businesses would be able to get back to normal very quickly, but for sectors such as aviation it would take longer.
“If you’re in aviation, you’ve got people, planes and staffs all stranded in the wrong place… So we are looking at days. I’d be surprised if we’re looking at weeks.”
Germany airline expects most of its flights to run normally
BERLIN — Eurowings, a budget subsidiary of Lufthansa, said it expected to return to “largely scheduled” flight operations on Saturday.
On Friday, the global IT outage had forced the airline to cancel about 20% of its flights, mostly on domestic routes. Passengers were asked to take trains instead.
“Online check-in, check-in at the airport, boarding processes, booking and rebooking flights are all possible again,” the airline said Saturday on X. “However, due to the considerable extent of the global IT disruption there may still be isolated disruptions” for passengers, it said.
Delta Air Lines and its regional affiliates have canceled hundreds of flights
DALLAS — Delta Air Lines and its regional affiliates canceled more than a quarter of their schedule on the East Coast by midafternoon Friday, aviation data provider Cirium said.
More than 1,100 flights for Delta and its affiliates have been canceled.
United and United Express had canceled more than 500 flights, or 12% of their schedule, and American Airlines’ network had canceled 450 flights, 7.5% of its schedule.
Southwest and Alaska do not use the CrowdStrike software that led to the global internet outages and had canceled fewer than a half-dozen flights each.
Portland, Oregon, mayor declares an emergency over the outage
PORTLAND, Ore. — Mayor Ted Wheeler declared an emergency Friday after more than half of the city’s computer systems were affected by the global internet outage.
Wheeler said during a news conference that while emergency services calls weren’t interrupted, dispatchers were having to manually track 911 calls with pen and paper for a few hours. He said 266 of the city’s 487 computer systems were affected.
Border crossings into the US are delayed
SAN DIEGO — People seeking to enter the U.S. from both the north and the south found that the border crossings were delayed by the internet outage.
The San Ysidro Port of Entry was gridlocked Friday morning with pedestrians waiting three hours to cross, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Even cars with people approved for a U.S. Customers and Border Protection “Trusted Traveler” program for low-risk passengers waited up to 90 minutes. The program, known as SENTRI, moves passengers more quickly through customs and passport control if they make an appointment for an interview and submit to a background check to travel through customs and passport control more quickly when they arrive in the U.S.
Meanwhile, at the U.S.-Canada border, Windsor Police reported long delays at the crossings at the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.
U.S. filings for unemployment benefits rose again last week and appear to be settling consistently at a slightly higher though still healthy level that the Federal Reserve has been aiming for.
Jobless claims for the week ending July 13 rose by 20,000 to 243,000 from 223,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It’s the eighth straight week claims came in above 220,000. Before that stretch, claims had been below that number in all but three weeks so far in 2024.
Weekly unemployment claims are widely considered as representative of layoffs.
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark borrowing rate 11 times beginning in March of 2022 in an attempt to extinguish the four-decade high inflation that shook the economy after it rebounded from the COVID-19 recession of 2020. The Fed’s intention was to cool off a red-hot labor market and slow wage growth, which it says can fuel inflation.
AP AUDIO: More Americans apply for jobless benefits as layoffs settle at higher levels in recent weeks
AP correspondent Shelley Adler reports filings for unemployment benefits have risen.
“The Fed asked to see more evidence of a cooling economy, and for the most part, they’ve gotten it,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E-Trade. “Add today’s weekly jobless claims to the list of rate-cut-friendly data points.”
Few analysts expect the Fed to cut rates at its meeting later this month, however most are betting on a cut in September.
The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits rose after declining last week for the first time in 10 weeks. About 1.87 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits for the week of July 6, around 20,000 more than the previous week. That’s the most since November of 2021.
Continuing claims have been on the rise in recent months, suggesting that some Americans receiving unemployment benefits are finding it more challenging to land jobs.
And there have been job cuts in a range of sectors in recent months, from the agricultural manufacturer Deere, to media outlets like CNN, and elsewhere.
The four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 1,000 to 234,750.
Strong consumer demand and a resilient labor market has helped to avert a recession that many economists forecast during the extended flurry of rate hikes. As inflation continues to ease, the Fed’s goal of a soft-landing — bringing down inflation without causing a recession and mass layoffs — appears within reach.
While the labor market remains historically healthy, recent government data suggest some weakening.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1% in June, despite the fact that America’s employers added 206,000 jobs.
Job postings in May rose slightly to 8.1 million, however, April’s figure was revised lower to 7.9 million, the first reading below 8 million since February 2021.
Darden Restaurants is adding Tex-Mex to the menu.
The parent company of Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House and other chains, said Wednesday it’s buying Chuy’s for approximately $605 million.
Darden said it will acquire all outstanding shares of Chuy’s for $37.50 per share. Those shares closed at $25.27 apiece on Wednesday, then soared past $37 in after-hours trading once the deal was announced. Darden shares fell 1% in after-hours trading.
Darden said the boards of Darden and Chuy’s have unanimously approved the acquisition. The deal is expected to close later this year, if it’s approved by Chuy’s shareholders.
Chuy’s Holdings Inc. was founded in Austin, Texas, in 1982. It now operates 101 restaurants in 15 states and has 7,400 employees. It’s known for its eclectic decor and fresh food, including handmade tortillas and sauces.
Like Darden, Chuy’s owns and operates all of its restaurants. Darden President and CEO Rick Cardenas said Chuy’s is a differentiated brand with strong growth potential that will expand Darden’s dining options.
Darden, based in Orlando, Florida, operates more than 1,900 restaurants and has 190,000 employees. It also owns Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Eddie V’s and Bahama Breeze.
“Based on our criteria for adding a brand to the Darden portfolio, we believe Chuy’s is an excellent fit that supports our winning strategy,” Cardenas said in a statement.
Chuy’s Chairman, CEO and President Steven Hislop said the acquisition will accelerate Chuy’s business goals and expand the brand to more communities.
The deal comes as both restaurant companies have been struggling with a downturn in customer traffic due to consumer concerns about inflation.
In Darden’s fiscal fourth quarter, which ended May 26, same-store sales — or sales at restaurants open at least a year — were flat compared to the prior year. Chuy’s same-store sales were down 5% in its first quarter, which ended March 31.
Investment bank Jefferies downgraded shares for both restaurant chains earlier this month, saying they’re being squeezed by price promotions at fast-food chains like McDonald’s as well as at casual dining peers like Chili’s and Applebee’s.
