Latest news with #marketingagencies
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
21-Year-Old Giles Bailey Helps SMM Dealfinder Break $1M Milestone with AI-Powered Client Acquisition
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM / / June 1, 2025 / In a rapidly changing digital economy where speed and personalization define success, a new name is emerging as a force behind smarter client acquisition strategies. Giles Bailey, a 21-year-old Head Consultant at SMM Dealfinder, is helping reshape how marketing agencies find and close clients-faster, smarter, and with the help of artificial intelligence. Since joining SMM Dealfinder's leadership team, Giles Bailey has been instrumental in helping the platform achieve an impressive milestone: over $1 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) within its first six months. The company's growth highlights a major shift in marketing-away from cold outreach and manual prospecting, and toward AI-driven solutions that deliver high-intent leads and real-time business insights. Rethinking How Agencies Scale For decades, digital marketing agencies have relied on traditional client acquisition methods: scraping lists, sending mass emails, and hoping for a few responses. But in today's crowded market, these methods are no longer efficient-or sustainable. SMM Deal Finder flips the model. Its proprietary AI scans digital footprints across the web, analyzing advertising activity, engagement metrics, and market signals to identify businesses actively looking for marketing help. Instead of sending hundreds of cold emails, agencies using the platform can target a curated list of warm, qualified leads-saving time, improving response rates, and closing better clients faster. "Agencies shouldn't have to rely on outdated strategies that waste time and resources," says Giles Bailey. "With AI, we can identify the right clients at the right time-and start smarter conversations." Enterprise Launch: Opening Direct Doors to Decision-Makers Building on its early success, SMM Deal Finder has officially launched its Enterprise plan-a premium upgrade designed for agencies ready to scale their outreach at a whole new level. The full Enterprise package includes: Access to personal emails and direct phone numbers of decision-makers Integration of multiple email accounts for larger, multi-channel outreach campaigns Fully AI-personalized mass outreach tools, balancing scale with authenticity Real-time tracking and analytics, allowing agencies to optimize as they go This eliminates one of the biggest hurdles in marketing: getting past gatekeepers. Agencies can now connect directly with CEOs, CMOs, and founders-dramatically shortening sales cycles. "With Enterprise, we're giving agencies the infrastructure they need to scale intelligently, not just aggressively," Giles Bailey explains. The Rise of a New Generation of Marketers Giles Bailey's journey into the marketing world wasn't traditional. After studying Economics and Management at the University of Bristol, he realized that the pace of real-world innovation far outstripped what he was learning in classrooms. He made the decision to leave university and pursue a full-time career focused on emerging technologies and client acquisition strategies. That decision led him to SMM Deal Finder, where he now plays a critical role in bridging AI technology with real-world business growth strategies. "Success today isn't just about working harder-it's about working smarter, faster, and being willing to evolve," says Giles Bailey. Looking Ahead: The Future of AI in Marketing The launch of SMM Dealfinder's Enterprise plan reflects a broader trend happening across industries: AI is no longer just a buzzword-it's a real, practical solution for businesses that want to grow efficiently. Giles Bailey and the SMM Dealfinder team plan to roll out even more enhancements in the coming months, including further personalisation, even smarter outreach, and continuing to push AI to its limits as SMM Deal Finder evolves to help agencies land clients with less friction. As the marketing world continues to shift toward automation, personalization, and data-driven decision-making, Giles Bailey's message is clear: those who embrace AI today will be tomorrow's leaders. About SMM Deal Finder SMM Dealfinder is an AI-powered client acquisition platform built for marketing and digital agencies. Its real-time lead generation and data analysis help businesses target high-quality prospects efficiently and effectively. The platform recently surpassed $1 million in ARR and continues to grow with the launch of its Enterprise expansion. For Press Inquiries: Company Name: SMM Deal FinderContact Person: Giles BaileyEmail: giles@ SOURCE: SMM Dealfinder View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire
Fast Company
20-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Slash uses AI to build custom banking tools for niche industries
A fintech company called Slash offers business banking accounts tailored to the needs of specific kinds of entrepreneurs. Slash provides business checking accounts with funds held at FDIC-insured banks, detailed spending analytics dashboards, free or low-cost wire and ACH transfers, easy access to lending options, and unlimited virtual cards. These cards can be configured with specific spending limits, merchants, and merchant categories to prevent unauthorized or erroneous employee purchases. That control, along with metadata from Slash's integrations with popular accounting platforms, makes it easier for bookkeepers to classify transactions. The company also offers a range of add-ons built for particular industries—something like an app store for banking—designed to address the unique pain points of different types of businesses. 'The insight behind Slash is the work that an accountant [does] at a construction company, or a marketing agency, or a property manager looks very, very different from one another,' says CEO Victor Cardenas. Marketing agencies, for example, often take money from clients to spend on platforms like Google and Facebook. Traditionally, they would use a single business checking account and rely on internal systems to track how much was received, how much had been spent, and when to request more funds. With Slash, agencies can create virtual accounts for each client, allowing both parties to see the remaining balance. They can even trigger automatic billing for more marketing funds—plus the agency fee—when the balance runs low. The approach is popular: Slash reports that more than 1% of global ad spending on Facebook is conducted using a Slash card. 'We basically make it much easier for agencies to put their accounts receivable on autopilot,' Cardenas says. Other industries have their own challenges. Contractors in fields like plumbing or HVAC often give technicians credit cards for fueling up, but want to prevent personal purchases—even inside gas stations. Slash enables businesses to restrict cards to fuel purchases only and ties each transaction to a specific driver or vehicle. 'We can make it so an owner can basically say, I want this card to only be able to be used to buy gas at the pump and not inside of the station,' Cardenas says. 'And then we get data at the time of clearing of the transaction around the actual fuel grade, what the kind of fuel was, and we're able to pass that on and show that to our customers.' Other users include online travel agents, who generate virtual cards to pay hotels and vendors. For businesses dealing with cryptocurrency, Slash enables sending and receiving stablecoin payments —without needing a separate crypto platform. Slash also offers an API that lets customers build custom dashboards, trigger payments through internal systems, or, in the case of e-commerce marketplaces, automatically transfer funds to vendors when goods are sold. Cardenas says the rise of AI-powered coding tools has allowed Slash to rapidly release features tailored to different industries. The company started in 2021 with a focus on sole proprietors, but pivoted in late 2023 to serve larger businesses in specific verticals. On Tuesday, it announced a $41 million Series B funding round, valuing the company at $370 million. Thanks to AI, Slash can now ship features at a pace that would have been difficult just a few years ago, while leveraging its existing banking infrastructure and relationships. 'It's becoming trivial to build software, but it's not trivial to stand up a card issuing and banking program,' Cardenas says. 'And so while we're ahead, we want to build solutions for as many industries as quickly as possible.'
