By Gareth O’Sullivan, Social Media Influencer (@_GarethG)
Daniel Knowlton is a Founder & Digital Marketing Specialist, who has been ranked the #12 Digital Marketer in the world, this year. He publishes very interesting and useful content across the web. I’ve had the chance to interview Daniel and ask him some interesting questions that not only will you find useful, but you’ll also learn more about him too.
Gareth – Hey Daniel, thanks for allowing me to interview you. First of all, can you tell us a bit about yourself and background?
Daniel: Thanks Gareth, it’s great to be interviewed! I don’t think there’s a huge amount of value in talking about myself for too long, therefore I’ll do a quick bullet point summary (that can easily be skipped) and then get into the good stuff;
- Passionate about helping others learn how to use Digital Marketing effectively.
- Did a business management degree at University of Brighton.
- Went straight into a Graduate Management Scheme at a large blue chip organisation.
- Worked my way up the ranks and then quit and went travelling around Thailand.
- Started KPS Digital Marketing with my brother Lloyd in July 2015.
- Built up a client base of small start-ups to large multinationals.
- Love creating useful Digital Marketing content on the KPS Digital Marketing Blog.
- Contributor for Social Media Examiner, Content Marketing Institute, Jeff Bullas & more .
- Share my knowledge as a speaker at various events across the country.
- Named #12 Most Influential Digital Marketer on Twitter in the world in 2016.
Gareth – What excites you about Digital Marketing?
Daniel: Being at the cutting edge of human communication.
I’m a huge people’s person and love building relationships and meeting new people. Being at the forefront of the technology that allows humans to do this fascinates me.
Gareth – What 5 social media tools do you use on a daily basis?
Daniel :We test hundreds of tools every year and every now and then you find a tool/ app which you add to your smartphone homescreen/ desktop. The following 5 tools have achieved exactly that. On the rare occasion that we find these gems, we tend to partner with them (if possible) hence our ability to provide a discount for some of the paid tools.
1 – Sendible
What it does
Social Media Management software on steroids! It’s like Buffer and Jarvis from Iron Man had a really, REALLY smart baby.
Benefits
✓ 5+ social media tools rolled into 1
✓ Automatic posting from RSS feeds
✓ Integrated social listening software
Price
1 month free trial & prices start from £39 per month. Use code kps10 for 10% off any subscription.
2 – Joocier
What it does
An incredibly powerful Twitter growth tool. Joocier helps you automatically grow your Twitter followers in a strategic, targeted way.
Benefits
✓ Easy interface (takes 10 minutes to setup)
✓ It works! I’ve grown 22,000+ targeted followers
✓ Low cost ($9 per month is very reasonable)
Price
5 days free trial & prices start from $9 per month. Visit bit.ly/Joocier10 for 10% off any subscription.
Leadfeeder
Awesome lead generation software that uncovers your website visitors and turns them into leads. The software tells you which businesses have visited your website and the actions they have taken.
Benefits
✓ Easy to use (sign up via Google Analytics in seconds)
✓ Automatic lead generator once setup
✓ Integrates with your CRM
Price
1 month free trial & prices start from $59 per month. Use code kps10p for 10% off any subscription.
4 – IFTTT
What it does
Free online tool which connects 300+ apps with ‘recipes’ which allow you to programme 1 app to trigger another to take a specific action.
Benefits
✓ Save time (make long processes very efficient)
✓ Set up industry alerts & automate lead generation
✓ Simple to setup and use
Price
FREE
5 – Boomerang
What it does
Free app which creates captivating mini videos that loop back and forth.
Benefits
✓ Make social media engagements more personal
✓ Stand out from the crowd
✓ Completely free
Price
FREE
Gareth – What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your digital marketing career? And how have you overcome it?<>/p>
Daniel: Patience.
When starting out in business, risking it all, not 100% certain if you’ll have enough money to pay the bills, it’s difficult to be patient.
It’s difficult not to focus on short term sales rather than providing long term value for your audience upfront.
I personally found this a challenge. How did I overcome it? I had faith in the ‘provide value upfront’ model and I was confident in our ability to deliver and exceed customers’ expectations. I’d been testing out the Digital Marketing strategies on my own personal brand way before we started KPS Digital Marketing. I knew the framework worked.
Gareth – What’s your biggest piece of advice for those who are new to digital marketing?
Daniel: First off, if you’re not passionate about Digital Marketing, find out what you are passionate about and follow that career path.
If you are passionate about Digital Marketing and you’re just starting out, here’s my advice;
- If you have no experience at all, go and work for an agency and upskill yourself.
- While you’re working there use a ton of your spare time consuming content and learning more.
- Start to apply what you are learning to your own personal brand.
- Grow a targeted social media following.
- Engage them.
- Create and share great content.
- Create your own blog, if you don’t know how to, learn how to via online tutorials.
- Be genuinely interested in everyone you meet and stay connected.
After working at the agency for 1 – 2 years you’ll have all the experience you need, coupled with a highly engaged online audience to start your own business.
If you already have experience or feel you have all the knowledge you need then do exactly the same steps but instead of working at an agency start your own business from the get go.
Good luck, let me know how you get on or any questions you have over on Twitter: @Dknowlton1
