Communication

Successful communications are ones that are clearly heard and understood by the target audience. As simple as it sounds, this requires a joined-up strategy which traverses the creation of compelling content and the development of clear lines of communication to the target.

Invest Europe is fortunate enough to have huge reserves of potential content its disposal, which the Communication team was able elevate into material to promote our industry across Europe, and indeed the world. In 2024, we extended our strategy of developing content in close collaboration with members to reinforce our message on the industry’s positive social and economic contribution. We produced 24 leader interviews, as well as 11 industry voices penned by members and high-level experts. These engaging pieces highlighted the important role that private equity, venture capital and infrastructure investment plays in Europe, as well as its potential benefits for the future.

Our content was distributed via the communication channels we have successfully built – and contributed further to their development by telling stories that audiences clearly wanted to engage with. The campaign of expert voices has achieved over 404,000 YouTube views to date, while the social media posts that accompanied them had average engagement rates on LinkedIn that were 9x higher than the benchmark. Our broader digital content reached a staggering 1.9 million views on YouTube (+79%) and picked up 13,000 new subscribers (+4130%). It also generated a 47% increase in engagement on LinkedIn and 466% more impressions on LinkedIn and YouTube combined.

Just as compelling and powerful for messaging are the comprehensive and authoritative reports produced by the Invest Europe research team, which we supported with extensive social and traditional media campaigns. These efforts enabled us to reach mainstream media, trade press, commentators, consultants, analysts and policymakers in Europe and beyond. The measure of this success is that we secured 262 editorial mentions for Invest Europe in some of the most respected and widely read publications in Europe – including Financial Times, Börsen-Zeitung and Les Echos – frequently citing latest research, as well as legacy publications. This reflects both the compelling quality of the industry data being communicated and our successful engagement with journalists and editors.

Furthermore, we witnessed a 46% increase in positive articles about European private equity and venture capital, illustrating how taking control of the message and its means of communication can create a positive halo effect that shifts visibly perceptions of private capital in Europe.

At the same time as strengthening Invest Europe’s voice externally, we bolstered our internal communications for members. In 2024, we improved our website functionality by creating a personalised landing page for members, incorporating featured content recommendations based on user preferences, recognising the crucial role that our website has for reaching members and distributing essential information.

Our efforts also reflected Invest Europe’s responsibility to relay what is happening in the media world and how that impacts members. Our Daily Media Monitor, which boasts almost 10,000 subscribers and provides a snapshot of reputational stories and coverage of high interest to the industry, saw an almost 50% increase in email open rates in 2024.

Over time, we have built an integrated communication platform. It is a platform that enables us to lift our head above the crowd and tell the story of how private equity and venture capital benefits Europe’s economy and society. The engagement data that we collect tells us that people who matter are listening... and they appreciate what they hear.