US tech start-ups outstrip Europe in self-promotive arts

Research finds transatlantic outfits better at using PR and SEO

US start-ups are far more active in promoting business via PR, SEO and other means than their European counterparts, research has suggested. However, firms on this side of the Atlantic report greater satisfaction with the backing they get from government in growing their company, according to the Tech Trailblazers Tech Startup Index.

The research quizzed 200 leaders or founders of young businesses, with respondents split fairly evenly between North America (44 per cent) and Europe (41 per cent). Social media is seen as the most effective promotional tool for start-ups, being used by 83 per cent. Just one in 10 uses print advertising, although this figure rises to one in four for businesses aged six years and older. No firms that have been in existence for less than a year use print advertising.

Seventy-four per cent of US companies use PR to promote their company, with just 46 per cent in Europe doing so. There is a similar disparity in the use of SEO techniques, with 68 per cent of US start-ups employing these, compared with 38 per cent in Europe.

In the US just 15 per cent of respondents feel local and national government does enough to support start-ups, with 46 per cent answering "do not know", which Tech Trailblazers claims speaks to a lack of expectation for government backing. Thirty per cent of European outfits are content with the support they get from governmental bodies, with 53 per cent believing the public sector could do more to help young firms, and 15 per cent saying they did not know one way or the other.

Rose Ross, founder of the Tech Trailblazers Awards, said: "Across the board US start-ups used more promotional tools than their European counterparts, suggesting a more mature or perhaps a better funded start-up culture. However, European start-ups' investments in indirect activities such as channel events and strategic partnerships was comparable to the US."