If I had to use one word to describe the growth of the European technology industry in recent years, it would be “disruptive”. Although it sounds like a cliché, I chose this word for many reasons.
From a positive perspective, European technology has disrupted many key sectors in the early 2020s, most notably life sciences, energy transition and DeepTech – which are themselves quite “disruptive” industries, with the aim of creating a positive impact on the world. It is worth noting that while DeepTech is an area of significant opportunities for Europe, it also faces challenges, largely due to a lack of government funding in certain countries.
Younger venture-backed companies are also starting to “disrupt” the funding landscape by narrowing the gap between US and European tech. Europe’s digital startup ecosystem has grown twice as fast as the US over the past seven years, and the annual number of new tech founders entering the market has surpassed North America’s over the past five years. After rapid growth in 2020-2021 and a decline in funding from 2022-2024, we are now entering a “normalization phase” that will be characterized by more stable growth and larger rounds.
The European tech industry itself has also been “rocked” by a number of significant challenges, including a global economic downturn. This has led to rising inflation and interest rates, while venture capital funding has declined, meaning start-ups and scale-ups have had to do more with less. While many companies stripped back to the essentials during this period, those that prioritized strategic, lean marketing and communications activities and focused squarely on results and ROI are now better equipped to position themselves for growth.
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In this article, I will first reveal some insights and learnings from conversations I recently had with some of Europe's fastest growing companies and some exciting US brands at the top of their markets. I will then explain how marketing and communications can give European tech companies a competitive edge in a highly competitive market with potentially limited budgets.
Insights into the European market
Over the past few months, I've seen a significant shift in the demands brands are making of us when they turn to us for marketing and communications support. They increasingly want more messaging, audience insights and strategic advice to prepare for a recovering market.
Brands recognize that the world has changed significantly and continues to change significantly year on year, so they need to reevaluate who their audiences are, what they want and how to reach them in meaningful ways.
In line with industry data, we are also seeing a rise in exciting activity from Eastern Europe, particularly Estonia and Lithuania. We have worked on numerous large integrated campaigns for Estonian organisations over the last year and have seen how these brands balance the opportunity of being the world's first digital nation with the challenges of funding and recruitment. Lithuania is also growing its international presence and it was interesting to see their stand at London Tech Week where they touted the benefits of working for Lithuanian tech companies.
Lessons from the USA
Compared to Europe, the lion's share of global financing continues to flow to the US and we can see how it is being invested to stimulate growth in a still difficult market situation.
Implementing technologies to reduce silos and improve productivity and ROI across the business is a common thread. In marketing and communications, this means tools and platforms that support better campaign management, reporting and analytics. AI is also becoming a key part of many brands' investment strategies.
While lead generation and sales are top priorities for U.S. companies, there is also significant investment in communications to support reputation and crisis management. Because the U.S. has a litigation-focused culture, issue management is made more proactive to prevent crises before they happen. Big tech brands also seem to be dealing with new crises on a daily basis, so midsize and smaller companies are taking note to ensure they are prepared for whatever comes their way. This also means that Chief Communication Officers in the U.S. are often the right-hand man to their CEO and even sit on boards of directors.
As European technology companies continue to develop, these trends could spread across the continent.
How European technology companies should use marketing and communication today
MarComms encompasses various strategies and services aimed at effectively communicating a company’s marketing messages to its target audience and motivating that audience to take a desired action – be it purchasing a product or investing in a company.
According to a survey of a sample of our FINITE community of B2B marketers, while 85% of B2B brands have higher lead generation goals in 2024 than in 2023, the majority are operating with the same or lower marketing budget. This reflects the attitude of some companies who, faced with challenges, are wondering if their money might be better spent on R&D, staffing, or simply keeping operations up and running. In reality, MarComms should be considered the power source behind those lights.
With rapid digitization, MarComms has become a precise, data-driven tool that helps companies achieve their business goals, from revenue growth to increasing ROI. Modern MarComms has broken down silos with a unified team and supporting tech stack, working as one to deliver results like these:
- Use communications, SEO, thought leadership and brand marketing to raise awareness and build trust in solutions.
- Nurture existing prospects with paid advertising, social media and email marketing.
- Use attractive sales offers, website content and reviews to generate conversions.
Every part of this approach is insight-based, so companies know what they're saying resonates with their audience, and it's easily measurable to improve performance.
In parallel with the sales funnel, MarComms also supports crisis preparation and management. When leaders are extremely busy, they need to know that their company is fully prepared if something goes wrong, such as a cyberattack or an internal problem.
Dive deeper at the TNW Conference with Bloom & Wild and Breggz
Want to learn more about the topics covered in this article? I will be giving two sessions at the Next Web Conference in Amsterdam and would love to see you there.
On the first day (June 20th) at 4pm I will be interviewing Xander de Buisonjé, co-founder of the “world's first truly wireless, custom-built in-ear computer” Breggz. In our Q&A “From Pitch Perfect to Sustainable Growth” we will talk about how startups can go from a great first impression to sustainable audience growth. Xander is a famous musician himself and even Stevie Wonder was impressed by the quality of Breggz, so I can't wait to hear the thinking behind the company's bold strategy.
On day two (June 21) at 11:50 am, I'm excited to speak to Aron Gelbard, co-founder and CEO of Bloom & Wild, Europe's leading D2C flower platform, about the brand's growth trajectory. Bloom & Wild is a leader in using data to improve the customer experience and has grown recently through M&A activity, so Aron will no doubt share key insights with us in our conversation.
See you at the TNW Conference 2024!
