Web apps give visitors the highly personalized, engaging and convenient online experiences that are increasingly expected in the marketplace. As the first no-code web app builder that is truly meant for non-technical users, Ontraport is opening up a world of opportunity for small businesses to offer experiences on a level playing field with enterprises.

“Customer expectations continue to rise. For businesses, meeting those expectations is mission critical – and exceeding those expectations is a real competitive advantage,” commented Landon Ray, Ontraport Founder and CEO. “In the near future, customers will expect an app-like experience from every business they interact with. This is precisely why Ontraport is delivering the no-code technology that enables organizations of any size to create rich online customer experiences without the time and cost associated with developer-driven legacy approaches. With our platform, developing web apps is a straightforward process that saves both time and money.”

Ontraport’s Dynamic CMS combines the platform’s drag-and-drop web builder with its customizable, relational built-in CRM database, making it possible for businesses to easily create apps powered by their data. They can create customer portals and self-service centers, blogs, online courses and membership sites, online directories, knowledge bases, user-generated content, and other interactive experiences — all without being encumbered by technical roadblocks or hefty developer bills.

More About Dynamic CMS and the Ontraport Platform

Ontraport’s Dynamic CMS is bolstered by the platform’s robust CRM and automation feature set — giving web app creators one central software solution for all their business and marketing needs.

With Ontraport, businesses can leverage features such as a customizable CRM database, an advanced visual automation builder, enterprise-grade email and SMS marketing, online payment and subscription management, sales pipeline management, and marketing tracking to manage and choreograph complete customer journeys. They can take customers from web app and payment to email follow-up and more via one seamless platform — without the need to buy, learn and integrate multiple software products.

Other key features and benefits of Ontraport’s Dynamic CMS include:

1. A simple drag-and-drop editor – Designed to allow non-technical users to intuitively and visually create dynamic web applications, the Ontraport platform requires no coding knowledge and is built with small businesses – not web developers – in mind.
2. No limits on traffic, users or data storage – With a scalable relational database, Ontraport is one of the only no-code web app builders that eliminates size and capacity limits so that companies are not forced to switch platforms as their business grows.
3. Customizable data – Users can input, access and update data manually, via online forms, through direct import or via the Ontraport application programming interface (API). They can also create custom record types to store and relate data for their web apps, without being restricted to preset options.
4. Personalized content – Using customer data stored in their CRM database, businesses can provide individualized online experiences, such as showing relevant offers to visitors based on their web app navigation or purchase histories or different courses to members based on their subscription level.
5. Password protection – Users can build secure, password-protected applications, including sites that offer access to online educational courses, customer self-service portals, or confidential document centers.

Growing Customer Success

The Ontraport platform is being embraced by businesses across numerous markets, ranging from business and lifestyle coaches to personal service providers and marketing agencies.

The Global Society, an organization that supports Australian university students traveling abroad, plans to use Ontraport’s new Dynamic CMS capabilities to expand its offerings. According to Chief Operating Officer Rob Malicki, “There have been lots of things on my wish list for the business — but just the idea that we would need to get another piece of technology to do those things has been discouraging. Now we can do it all in Ontraport, which allows us to build something incredibly complicated without additional complexity and cost.”

Rachel Jones, business strategy coach and co-founder of a small business advisory firm the Bold B, has seen firsthand the cost- and time-saving benefits of the integrated Ontraport solution. “We had a client using another software that had gone through three different developers and spent over $80,000 to get her site to work the way she wanted — and it still was never completed,” she said. “All of the functionality she needed is available in Ontraport and would have saved her so much time, money and stress.”

To learn more about Dynamic CMS and other Ontraport offerings, please visit www.ontraport.com

The post Ontraport Empowers Entrepreneurs to Create Web Apps Without Code appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

The research also reveals just how many tasks that SMB owners are handling on their own, rather than automating or outsourcing to colleagues or third party providers. These tasks include responding to customers and prospects, setting up appointments, reviewing and storing leads, sending and confirming payments and refunds and tracking business statistics.

Key Data Insights

Business owners are bogged down by daily tasks: Most (40%) of respondents reported spending between one to five hours weekly on tasks that can be automated, while 13% spend a staggering 20+ hours a week on these tasks. What would business owners rather be doing with this time?

• The general consensus is that they would put that time back into their business (62%).
• The percentage of respondents that would reinvest time saved into their business is higher among men (66%) and extroverts (67%)
• More women and introverts would use that time to spend with family.

Owners want to simplify their business through a single platform: Sixty-four percent of survey respondents said they use between two and five software tools to manage their marketing, sales and overall online presence, while only 32% use a single platform. An overwhelming majority (84%) said that they would switch to a single software platform if it was capable of performing all of the functionalities they needed. Despite this majority, the survey revealed some interesting outliers.

• Those making under $100K were the least likely amongst all respondents to dedicate time to finding a single platform for their needs, indicating that they are spending far too much time on daily tasks to dedicate their time to research elsewhere.

Based on these findings, Ontraport, which offers business owners a no-code automation platform to manage their business online, believes systemizing and scaling through automation is the answer for faster growth and fewer headaches for SMB owners.

“With the right technology, business owners can earn back valuable time to focus on the bigger picture,” said Landon Ray, founder and CEO at Ontraport. “Automation does the job of multiple employees, handling tasks that entrepreneurs typically take on themselves. The burden of day-to-day tasks should not fall on their plates when their time and energy is better served elsewhere.”

Ontraport’s solutions remove the burden of daily tasks and technology by providing everything an owner needs to run their business in an easy-to-use and centralized platform. With Ontraport, a business owner can manage their sales and customer relationships, marketing automation, website pages and forms, payments and more without having to leave a single interface.

“The power of automation is in providing the freedom for small business owners to step away from working as employees inside their businesses and into the role of CEO,” Ray said. “With the right technology, business owners can save as much as twenty hours a week handling sales and marketing tasks all from a single platform. The right software solves these frustrations and limitations resulting in more growth with less work.”

Methodology
The national survey of more than 500 small and medium-sized business owners, ages 18 and over, was conducted in June 2021 by Propeller Insights on behalf of Ontraport.

To learn more about Ontraport and how it can help SMB owners better manage their business, please visit www.ontraport.com.

The post Half of Entrepreneurs Believe They Cannot Step Away from Their Business for Even a Week appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

Our revamped branding falls right in step with the rollout of several exciting new features over the past few years, as well as our more intuitive and user-friendly interface.

“With the launch of significant features in the past two years, including our visual automation campaign builder, visual CRM and the enhanced landing page builder, Ontraport is positioned at the top of the all-in-one martech space today,” said Ontraport Founder and CEO Landon Ray. “Our new branding now follows suit, reflecting both our technological advancement and modern simplicity.”

What’s changed?

Our updated logo reflects a simple, modern aesthetic, characterized by a custom font — aptly named “Automate.” Along with the logo, Ontraport has created a snazzy new icon using the word “on,” and a new tagline, which lets the world know what we do in one bold statement: “Turn your business on.”

The play on the word “on” not only reflects the first two letters of our company name, but also represents the way Ontraport powers and ignites business growth.

Our new colorways also reflect this feeling of action and motion. The vibrant blue elicits optimism and electricity, and its neon green highlight color is reminiscent of a neon “open for business” sign — the vintage version of turning a business on. The black complement is inspired by dark mode, trending throughout the tech industry.

The way we write our company name has also evolved, from “ONTRAPORT” to “Ontraport.” Like the new logo, moving from all caps to regular case is easier on the eyes, friendlier and more aligned with our commitment to simplicity.

What has stayed the same?

While Ontraport’s app has undergone significant changes over the last several years, the rebrand is purely aesthetic; the software itself and the way customers use it has not changed.

We made sure not to lose touch with our roots in the rebrand process, so we focused on capturing the essence of what Ontraport has always been: a comprehensive and user-friendly set of tools that businesses need to grow and scale.

“Ontraport has been a best-kept secret for a while now — like your favorite band before it went mainstream,” said Ontraport VP of Creative Laura Casanova. “Our software toolset has never been limited or limiting, and now our brand reflects this inclusivity and flexibility. Our vision and voice is as empowering, inspiring and relatable as our software has always been.”

The post Ontraport’s Rebrand Gets Turned On appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

Ontraport’s State of Entrepreneurship survey results reflect the same: Of the nearly 1,000 respondents in various stages of business, nearly everyone expects their annual revenue to grow in 2018. However, even while optimism reigns outwardly, the survey reveals that a feeling of overwhelm clearly takes over internally.

No matter which stage of business they’re in, entrepreneurs expressed a struggle to manage all the different technologies needed to run their businesses and to understand how to attract and retain customers. These challenges unveil two major needs in the entrepreneurial community:

• All-in-one platforms to manage marketing, sales and business functions efficiently
• Marketing and automation education on essential functions such as lead generation, sales funnels and copywriting to reach a niche audience

“Once entrepreneurs overcome the challenges of having too many incompatible software tools and insufficient marketing knowledge, their opportunity for growth expands exponentially,” said Ontraport Founder and CEO Landon Ray. “It’s clear that this needs to be the focus among software providers and educators who serve entrepreneurs.”

OVERCOMING TECHNOLOGY OVERWHELM

Entrepreneurs who’ve been in business for over two years have typically amassed multiple systems to run their email marketing, landing pages, CRM and payments — and with them, many headaches trying to manage it all.

When asked to describe their biggest challenge, “getting a bunch of different software to play nice with each other,” “incompatible software tools,” “constant changes in technology” and “keeping track of all my tools” were some of the responses of those in this stage of business.

“Just like I experienced with my previous startups, the need for streamlining all the software you need to market and run the business becomes very apparent, very fast,” said Landon. “All-in-one systems like Ontraport will become increasingly necessary and popular as the entrepreneurial community grows in the coming years. There simply is no other way to effectively grow a business.”

While all-in-one systems for large enterprises have been around for decades, a growing need for systems that are designed for entrepreneurs is apparent. These systems must be intuitive enough for a small business owner without technical know-how to use — and quickly, as getting up and running and on the market fast is crucial in the startup environment.

Along with the need for having all their software in one place comes the need for having all their customer data in one place. Business owners at this stage may have a steady stream of leads and customers, but they have no way of seeing which marketing campaigns are most effective, how many leads are in the pipeline, or multiple other insights that would support decision-making and budget forecasting.

“Tracking from initial contact through purchase” and “really struggling how to tie everything together so I can have all of my data in one place” are just two examples of survey respondents who recognize this issue.

“Having insight into your customers and your business is mission-critical,” Landon said. “It not only supports your ability to grow your business, but it enables you to give your customers compelling, relevant experiences and deliver on your promises.”

OVERCOMING MARKETING MYSTERIES

Another all-encompassing survey result prevailed, regardless of the stage of the business: Entrepreneurs are seeking more education on how to market their businesses.

While learning how to generate leads and convert them into customers were the most common areas in which entrepreneurs were seeking education, the answers varied widely. Copywriting, marketing automation, funnels, lead nurturing, Facebook and Google advertising, video and webinars were among the open response answers. Several respondents even wrote “everything” and “all of it” as far as the areas in marketing they need to learn.

“Entrepreneurs are usually experts in whatever it is they’re selling — but often not in doing the actual selling,” Landon said. “It’s clear that education on marketing and automation strategies will go a long way in supporting entrepreneurs in realizing their vision.”

With that in mind, Ontraport continues to expand Ontraport Education, an online learning platform for entrepreneurs to develop their skills in marketing, leadership, operations and business software.

The growth in subscription-based video learning sites, like LinkedIn-owned Lynda.com and SkillShare, reiterate the growing desire for education, especially for self-sufficient yet motivated entrepreneurs veering into unknown territory.

A POSITIVE OUTLOOK

Entrepreneurs are not strangers to overcoming obstacles — it’s a natural part of starting and running any business. That’s where their unending optimism comes into play, pushing them to dismantle fears and remain steadfast in their goals.

The results of the Ontraport survey reflect that positive outlook, despite the challenges of technology and marketing overwhelm that were expressed.

Check out the infographic below for details on entrepreneurs’ expectations for growth, where they spend their marketing dollars, and which software tools they invest in.

Business Types

The majority of entrepreneurs surveyed have a niche skill that they offer as a consultant or coach, whether it’s for professional services, such as graphic design or financial advising, or personal services, such as life coaching or fitness instruction.

Growth Expectations

EMAIL LIST SIZE

The majority of respondents’ current email list size is under 500, but only a quarter expect it to stay that way this year. In fact, the biggest jump in list size expectations comes in the 10,000-100,000 range; twice as many people expect their list to be within that range this year compared to last year.

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

Half either have zero or one employee currently, but most expect to add a few this year.

AVERAGE EXPECTED NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN A YEAR

Areas of Spending

Among those who are investing in online advertising, Facebook is by far the most popular outlet.

OVERALL DOLLARS SPENT MONTHLY ON YOUR BUSINESS

Tools for Success

Among those who use marketing software, the majority of respondents use Ontraport to manage their email marketing, automation, landing page and ecommerce functions. Of those who don’t use Ontraport, Mailchimp was the most common email marketing tool. WordPress is the most commonly used for landing pages, and the spectrum of tools for ecommerce varied widely — reflecting the saturation of the market that contributes to the overwhelm of running a business online.

CURRENT TOOLS

The post Report Unveils Need For All-In-One Platforms, Marketing Education appeared first on The Ontraport Blog.

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