If I had to use one word to describe the growth of technology in Europe over the past few years, it would be “disruptive.” It may sound like a cliché, but I chose this word for a number of reasons.
On a positive note, European technology has “disrupted” many key sectors in the early 2020s, especially life sciences, energy transition and deep tech. These are fairly “disruptive” industries in their own right, with the goal of making a positive impact on the world. It is also worth noting that while deep tech is an area of great opportunity for Europe, some countries are facing challenges, mainly due to a lack of government funding.
Younger venture-backed companies are also starting to “disrupt” the funding landscape by narrowing the gap between US and European technology. The European digital startup ecosystem has grown twice as fast as the US over the past seven years, and the annual number of new technology founders entering the market has outpaced North America for the past five years. After rapid growth in 2020-2021 and a drop in funding in 2022-2024, we are now entering a “normalization” phase, classified as more stable growth and larger rounds.
The European technology industry has itself been “disrupted” by a series of significant challenges, including the global economic downturn. This has led to rising inflation and interest rates, while venture funding has declined, forcing start-ups and scale-ups to do more with less. Many companies have reverted to bare bones operations during this period, but those that have prioritised strategic, lean marketing and communications activities, and focused on results and return on investment, are now better positioned to re-adjust for growth.
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In this article, we first reveal some insights and lessons learned from recent conversations with some of Europe’s fastest growing companies and some fascinating, market-leading, US-based brands, then share how marketing and communications can give European tech companies an edge over their competitors in a tough market with limited budgets.
Insights from the European Market
Over the past few months, we’ve seen a significant shift in what brands are looking for when they contact us for marketing and communications support. More brands are seeking messaging, audience insights and strategic consulting as they prepare to take advantage of a recovering market.
Brands know that the world has changed significantly and continues to change significantly year after year, and they need to reevaluate who their customer base is, what they want, and how to reach them in a meaningful way.
Consistent with industry data, we’ve also seen an increase in exciting activity coming out of Eastern Europe, particularly Estonia and Lithuania. We’ve worked on a number of large, integrated campaigns for Estonian organisations over the past year and seen how these brands balance the opportunity of being the world’s first digital nation with the challenges of funding and recruiting. Lithuania is also growing its international presence and it was interesting to see their booth at London Tech Week promoting the benefits of working for a Lithuanian tech company.
Lessons from the US
The US continues to account for the majority of global funding compared to Europe, and we have witnessed how that capital is being invested to drive growth in a market that remains challenging.
Adopting technology that reduces silos and improves productivity and ROI across the business is a key priority across all sectors. In marketing and communications, this translates to tools and platforms that support improved campaign management, reporting and analytics. AI is becoming a key part of many brands’ investment strategies.
For US companies, lead generation and sales are the number one goal, but there is also a lot of investment in communications to support reputation and crisis management. The US has a litigious culture, so they are more proactive in managing issues to prevent crises before they happen. Large technology brands also seem to be dealing with new crises every day, and mid-sized and smaller organizations are taking care to be prepared for any situation. This means that US Chief Communications Officers are often the right-hand man to the CEO and also sit on the board of directors.
As European tech companies mature, this trend could spread across the continent.
How European tech companies should use marketing and communications today
MarComms includes a range of strategies and services aimed at effectively communicating a company’s marketing message to its target audience and motivating them to take a desired action, such as buying a product or investing in the company.
But according to a survey of B2B marketers in our FINITE community, 85% of B2B brands are setting higher lead generation goals for 2024 than they did in 2023, yet the majority are keeping their marketing budgets the same or lower. This reflects the attitude of some companies that, when faced with challenges, would those funds be better spent on research and development, staffing, or simply staying in business. In reality, MarComms should be seen as the power behind those lights.
Rapid digitalization has made MarComms a precise, data-driven tool that helps organizations achieve their business goals, from increasing revenue to improving ROI. With a cohesive team and an enabled technology stack, modern MarComms breaks down silos and works as one unit to drive outcomes such as:
- Leverage communications, SEO, thought leadership and brand marketing to drive initial awareness and trust in your solution.
- Nurture existing leads using paid advertising, social media, and email marketing.
- Use compelling sales, website content, and reviews to generate conversions.
Every part of this approach is insight-driven, so businesses know if what they’re saying is resonating with their target audience, and it’s easily measurable to drive performance.
Alongside the sales funnel, MarComms also supports crisis preparedness and management. As leaders get busy, they need to ensure their business is fully prepared in case something goes wrong, be it a cyber attack or an internal issue.
Dig deeper at the TNW Conference with Bloom & Wild and Breggz
Want to learn more about the topics discussed in this article? Join us at The Next Web Conference in Amsterdam for two sessions.
On the first day (June 20th) at 4pm, we will be interviewing Xander de Buisonjé, co-founder of Breggz, “the world’s first completely wireless, custom-made in-ear computers.” In the Q&A session, From the perfect pitch to sustainable growth We’ll discuss how the startup can go from a great first impression to sustainable audience growth. Xander is a famous musician himself, and even Stevie Wonder has been impressed with Breggz’s quality, so we can’t wait to hear the thinking behind the company’s bold strategy.
On day two (June 21st) at 11:50 AM, we look forward to speaking with Aron Gelbard, co-founder and CEO of Bloom & Wild, Europe’s leading D2C flower platform, about the brand’s growth trajectory. Bloom & Wild has been ahead of the curve when it comes to using data to improve customer experience and has recently grown through M&A activity, so we’re sure Aron will have some great takeaways to share in this conversation.
See you at TNW Conference 2024!
