![[Fully Managed] Margarita Mangino from marketminds Ep. 161](https://penji.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/BLOG-IMAGE-Margarita-Mangino-.jpg)
Introduction
Daniela (D) Hello, everybody. Welcome to the First One Hundred podcast. This is the podcast where we explore the journey of entrepreneurs, business owners, agency leaders, and many more as they share with us the strategies, challenges, and triumphs that helped them secure their first one hundred customers, followers—first one hundred anything.
D Very excited today because we have with us a very special guest, Margarita Mangino. Hi Margarita, how are you?
Margarita Mangino (MM) Hi Daniela, how are you? Super excited to be here, thank you.
D So excited to have you as well! For starters, for anybody that doesn’t know who you are or what your company is about, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
MM Of course. I’ve been working in marketing and sales for over twenty years, but in the last ten-plus, I’ve focused mostly on tech companies—especially in Latin America and the US. I’ve been working with entrepreneurs and small businesses, trying to help them expand their businesses from a marketing and sales perspective.
Founding MarketMinds
D Super interesting. So can you share with us the origins of MarketMinds? What inspired you to start this project?
MM Of course. I started MarketMinds more than a year ago. I was leaving my last job because the company was in the process of merging, and it made sense for me to move on. It was the first time in a while that I wasn’t just jumping to another job—I had this blank page in front of me. So I asked myself, “What do I want to do next?”
I could look for new opportunities or start something from scratch. I chose the latter. I’d been working with entrepreneurs and founders, especially in the US, and I noticed something interesting that wasn’t yet common in Latin America: fractional C-level roles.
I saw startups hiring fractional CFOs, CTOs—and I thought, why not marketing too? Founders are often generalists, especially in tech where they tend to come from engineering backgrounds. They build junior marketing teams but often lack strategy and measurement. I pitched the idea to entrepreneurs in my network, and they immediately connected with it.
Then during my research, I found that this problem actually has a name: the “random acts of marketing” syndrome. That was exactly what I’d been seeing—marketing without a clear plan or measurement. So I started pitching and quickly began to scale the agency.
Challenges and Team Building
D That’s very interesting. So MarketMinds is actually quite new, right?
MM Exactly.
D What would you say is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as an entrepreneur launching your own business?
MM One of the biggest challenges is scaling. I started working with three or four companies and quickly realized I didn’t have more time to invest in others. So I created a satellite of specialists around me—designers, marketing analysts, SEO experts, ad specialists—depending on the project.
I also partnered with another CMO based in Chile, a friend I worked with for five years. Now we collaborate on some projects. It’s all about figuring out how to grow and serve more founders.
Market and Differentiation
D Where is MarketMinds based?
MM We’re based in Latin America. I’m in Uruguay, and my partner is in Chile. But we mostly work with Latin American companies expanding into the US—that’s our main target market.
D With digital and content marketing becoming so popular, what is MarketMinds doing to stand out?
MM We focus a lot on our personal brand. At this stage of the agency, we are the product. People are trusting us to plan and build their marketing strategies, so it’s all about relationship and trust.
One thing we’re launching in November is a survey-based report focused on marketing and sales for IT companies. We collected data from nearly fifty companies across Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and some from the US with LatAm operations. We believe valuable content like this report differentiates us from other agencies.
Latin America vs. US Markets
D Since you work with both Latin American and US-based companies, do you notice any major differences?
MM Yes and no. In Uruguay, for instance, companies are born with a global mindset. The local market is small, so businesses think international from day one—Latin America, US, or Europe.
US-based companies often focus on their huge domestic market. But what’s similar is that each US state can feel like a different country—you need to understand the local culture and dynamics. So whether it’s a country in Latin America or a US state, cultural adaptation is essential.
Common Client Challenges
D What are the biggest challenges you see your clients face?
MM Lead generation. That’s what we’re seeing in the survey too. The real challenge is figuring out which activities will get the best results. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all strategies—it depends on the product, audience, and goals.
Some things have changed in recent years. Outbound marketing used to work well pre-COVID, but now it’s harder to cut through the noise. Inbound was strong during COVID, but economic slowdowns have made things tougher.
So we’re working closely with each client to help them prioritize and make the most of their resources.
Types of Clients and Industry Crossover
D Are your clients mostly small businesses?
MM It’s a mix. Some are small businesses trying to expand or diversify internationally. Others are companies with over thirty years in the market looking to professionalize and digitally transform.
While I started with IT companies, I now work with companies from other sectors as well. That’s been enriching—bringing best practices from tech into more conservative industries and vice versa.
Landing the First Clients
D The podcast is called First One Hundred, so I always ask: how did you start getting your first clients? That’s a huge concern for any business owner—how to actually get people to purchase.
MM For me, it started with my close network. I had a lot of people who had seen me work, and I’d been building my personal brand on LinkedIn. So many people were already aware of what I was doing.
The first thing I did was make a list of people I thought might be interested or could benefit from what I was offering—people I had a close relationship with, not necessarily friends and family, but professionals who had seen me in action. I pitched the idea to them.
The first person I reached out to became my first client just two weeks later—and I’m still working with them.
From there, I started going to events and reaching out to more people. When you start something like this, you can’t slow down. You have to always be out there. Even when you’re deep in client work, you still need to build the next wave of opportunities. You need to constantly manage your pipeline.
So that’s what I do—I’m always thinking about the next project, the next client.
This year, I also started recording short videos on LinkedIn where I talk about things like defining OKRs, how to plan strategy with your team, how to build a LinkedIn brand. I’m also working on a webinar about using LinkedIn for both personal branding and as a sales trampoline.
So to summarize:
- Start with your inner circle—people who trust you.
- Be visible and consistent with your messaging.
- Then move to referrals.
- Finally, build outbound strategies to reach people who don’t know you yet.
That’s what we’re doing at MarketMinds.
D That’s very good. You’re really organized already—which is so commendable, especially since, as we said earlier, lead gen is the hardest part for most companies.
MM Yeah.
Rapid Fire Round: Marketing Edition
D Margarita, I also have some rapid-fire questions for you. These are quick—just say the first thing that comes to mind. All about marketing. Ready?
MM Okay, I’ll try to do my best!
D Favorite marketing tool right now?
MM HubSpot.
D SEO or paid ads?
MM SEO.
D Best social media platform for growing a brand?
MM Depends on the brand, but I love LinkedIn.
D Most underrated marketing strategy?
MM Referrals.
D Most overrated marketing strategy?
MM Going to conferences and events.
D Email marketing: dead or alive?
MM I would say dead.
D Key to writing high-converting ad copy?
MM Really understanding what triggers your customer. Be truly customer-centric and understand their pain and needs.
D Long-form or short-form content?
MM Long-form.
D How important are reviews for local SEO?
MM Huge. Very important.
D One tip to lower cost per click on paid ads?
MM Have multiple campaigns. For example, we’re implementing one now with three stages: awareness, retargeting, and WhatsApp. They need to complement each other.
D First thing to do when optimizing a website?
MM Check that you’re not losing authority or valuable ranking keywords.
D Very good! You did great. Honestly, those questions were kind of tough—I don’t know what I would’ve said!
MM Oh my god, I was nervous though!
D You did great! A total pass.
Final Thoughts and Where to Find MarketMinds
D It’s been great having you on the podcast today. Before I let you go, I want to give you the space to plug MarketMinds. Where can people find you or work with you?
MM Thank you so much. This has been so much fun. I love podcasts, even though they’re super improvised—and that’s hard for me because I’m a planner. I suffer beforehand, but I always enjoy them in the end.
The best place to connect with me is on LinkedIn. Just search my name—Margarita Mangino. I’m looking forward to connecting with people soon, and thank you again for the invitation!
D Thank you so much for being here! I’ll be adding links to your LinkedIn and MarketMinds in the episode description. For those listening, head to the video version to find the links and check them out.
D Thank you again, Margarita. Have a great day, everyone! I’ll see you on the next episode.
MM Bye!
D Bye!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/margamangino/?locale=es_ES
