When it comes to digital marketing, most startups are unable to make the most of it. This is primarily because of the lack of experience or the mammoth goals that startups wish to achieve in short time periods. To help startups with their digital marketing woes and to help them plan better, we spoke with Mariya Bentz, Founder & Creator at Mariya Betz Media Agency (MBM).
In this interview, Mariya talks about the biggest digital marketing hurdles that startups face and how they can overcome them coupled with the best tools that startups can use to optimize their digital marketing endeavors.
What inspired you to start MBM? Tell us the story.
I believe that I’ve always had an” entrepreneurial spirit,” so I was always seeing ways to turn things into a business. I started MBM when I was working as a full-time Marketing Manager for an event technology company. At the time, I had a few friends who were starting their own ventures and they would ask me for marketing advice.
I realized that I could help many other businesses in helping to create their own marketing strategies. That is where the idea began. It was tough initially, but so worth it! In just a couple of years, I am working full-time for myself, and looking to expand our team even more in 2019.
When it comes to digital marketing, what is the biggest hurdles startups are facing these days?
I think the biggest hurdles startups face with digital marketing is they try to be everywhere at once. They try to be on every single social media platform, they try to start a weekly blog, an email newsletter, etc.
While all these things are important, and they should be done – you want to make sure that you should be consistent with whatever you set out to do. If you have social media platform across all platforms, make sure someone on your team oversees making sure that each social platform stays active.
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If you start a weekly blog, make sure someone on your team oversees writing and posting it once a week (if once a week is too much then you can always scale it down to once a month).
Whatever you decide to do, make sure you are consistent with it. Inconsistency can kill your business! I would advise identifying which social media marketing platform is perfect for your target audience and starting there. Once you get the hang of your target platform, you can move on to the next.
What are some of the best digital marketing tools startups can use when just starting out?
In regard to social media, I love using Buffer or Hootsuite for scheduling posts. You can plan out your entire month (or two) or what you will be posting, and it will automatically post for you on the day and time you select.
I also love using MailChimp for newsletters or email campaigns. The best part about it is that it is free up to 2000 subscribers and it is so easy to use!
Which marketing channel in your opinion is highly undervalued?
I think blogging is undervalued. Many companies don’t understand the importance of having a blog. Even if you don’t have too many “readers”, blogging helps tremendously with SEO. Blogging is a marketing strategy that uses written content to get your business visible online.
The more you blog, the more you can increase traffic to your website. Having a blog improves your organic SEO because the more pages of content that you have increases your chances to rank on certain keywords. Aside from SEO, blogs and content marketing help personalize your brand and establish your company as a thought leader in the industry.
Tell us some important lessons you learned during your entrepreneurial journey with MBM so far?
Some important lessons that I have learned in my entrepreneurial journey so far are:
Keep Learning: The market changes very frequently, so it is smart to keep yourself updated on all the new developments in the industry. For 2019, I signed up for 6 different courses in different areas of digital marketing, so I can keep up to date in the digital marketing world.
Know Your Worth: When I started MBM, I underpriced myself by a lot. But I later learned that your time and knowledge are very valuable. The clients who are willing to pay your worth, understand and value the importance of the service you are providing them with.
Take A Break: I love what I do, and I always say that if I didn’t have a toddler, I would probably be working 24/7. But I am starting to understand the value of taking a break. Unless I have a pressing deadline, I take weekends off and limit how often I check my emails on Saturday and Sunday. Ever since I started doing this, I never feel like I am “burning out,” and I come back on Monday refreshed with new ideas and excited to get back to work.
