Interview with Gavin Bell

Gavin is a multi-award winning entrepreneur, Facebook consultant and renowned vlogger with millions of views on Youtube. Gavin helps brands across the world to utilise Facebook in a way that not only builds their audience, but turns that attention to revenue.

Gavin speaks at conferences, expos and workshops across the world on marketing, Facebook ads and entrepreneurship.

Tell us a bit about your background. How did your education influence your career?

I grew up in the Shetland Islands till I was 18, and instead of going to University, I went to the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy. It was set up by Dragon’s Den star Peter Jones as a way to give people a practical education into creating a business.

I had to go to Manchester with a business idea and whilst at the academy, had to set it up. It was there that I started to gain a passion for digital marketing.

When did you realise that you were onto something?

My first business, where I ran corporate wellbeing sessions, failed. But whilst running that business, I connected with a lot of personal trainers. I came to realise that they were typically terrible at marketing themselves, so I went out to help them. It was when we began to see incredible results, I thought I could roll this out to more people.

You’ve got some great testimonials for your speaker appearances. What’s the secret to keeping your audiences engaged?

It’s taken me a long time to get comfortable on stage but it’s just a continuous thirst for getting better and better. You start to see things that work and things that don’t. 

Are there any platforms that should digital marketers should be utilising to increase engagement?

I don’t see any better platforms than Facebook and Instagram just now. The most powerful tactic (and the one that allowed me to get 2million views on my vlogs last year) is combining Facebook video and Facebook ads.

What’s the future looking like for Facebook for businesses?

It’s an interesting time in the world of Facebook business with the recent scandal and GDPR. Facebook will continue to dominate for the foreseeable future and marketers are going to have to continue working harder and harder to be seen. The cream rises to the top.

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