DELIVERABLE 6.1 PROMOTION & OUTREACH REPORT V1 (VILABS) - STARTUP LIGHTHOUSE

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DELIVERABLE 6.1 PROMOTION & OUTREACH REPORT V1 (VILABS) - STARTUP LIGHTHOUSE

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

 Deliverable 6.1
Promotion & Outreach report v1
 (ViLabs)
 December 2018

 1

Startup Lighthouse has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020
 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 780738.

 Deliverable ID & Full Title Deliverable 6.1 – Promotion & Outreach

 Date of Delivery Contractual M12 Actual M12

 Nature Report

 Dissemination Level P - Public

 Ricardo Silva
 Lead Partner ViLabs Lead Authors:
 Vasiliki Madesi

 Donal Brady, Kate Hogan (RyanAcademy), Jone Vaituleviciute,
 Dorota Skusevičienė (Startup Division), Daniel Salgado Moreno,
 Contributor(s)
 Lydia Pohl (eSH), Sonia Magalhães, Tim Brown (FastTrack), Nuno
 Varandas, Sofia Esteves, Charlotte Tucker (F6S)

 Reviewer(s): Ricardo Silva, Apostolos Vontas (ViLabs)

 Version Issue Date Description Contributor(s)

 1.0 16/01/2018 Dissemination & Communication Ricardo Silva, Vasiliki
 Strategy Madesi (ViLabs), Sofia
 Esteves (F6S)

 2.0 10/04/2018 Reporting templates Vasiliki Madesi
 (ViLabs)

 3.0 30/10/2018 Dissemination & Communication Input from all partners
 Strategy updated – DDWs
 reporting

 4.0 28/12/2018 Final Draft Vasiliki Madesi,
 Ricardo Silva (ViLabs)

 5.0 30/12/2018 Final Version Reviewed and
 submitted by ViLabs

Legal disclaimer

The information in this document is subject to change without notice.
The Members of the Project Consortium make no warranty of any kind with regard to this document, including,
but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The Members of
the Project Consortium shall not be held liable for errors contained herein or direct, indirect, special, incidental or
consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

Table of contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 7
Document Structure ................................................................................................................................. 7
Promotion and Outreach strategy & Results ................................................................................................ 8
Key Target groups & Communication messages ...................................................................................... 9
Communication tools and channels........................................................................................................ 10
Project Branding & Visual identity ...................................................................................................... 10
Project website ................................................................................................................................... 12
Social media channels ......................................................................................................................... 16
YouTube channel................................................................................................................................. 26
F6S Platform ........................................................................................................................................ 28
Newsletters & Press Releases ............................................................................................................. 29
Startup Europe channels ..................................................................................................................... 31
Media publications.............................................................................................................................. 31
Other communication tactics ............................................................................................................. 32
Promotion and Outreach Annual report..................................................................................................... 35
Annual report per project activity .......................................................................................................... 35
Deep Dive Weeks ................................................................................................................................ 35
Europass events .................................................................................................................................. 54
Among Investors ................................................................................................................................. 57
Eastern Europe Market Discovery ...................................................................................................... 59
Annual report of events .......................................................................................................................... 65
Startup Europe Campfires & Startup Europe Summit ........................................................................ 65
Other events ....................................................................................................................................... 66
Startup Lighthouse Promotion and Outreach in numbers ......................................................................... 68
Lessons learned and Conclusions................................................................................................................ 70
Annex I Startup Lighthouse material .......................................................................................................... 71
Startup Lighthouse Brand Guide ............................................................................................................. 71
Startup Lighthouse Power Point Template ............................................................................................. 72
Startup Lighthouse Social Media templates ........................................................................................... 73

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

Startup Lighthouse Deliverable template ............................................................................................... 74
Startup Lighthouse Rollup Banner .......................................................................................................... 75
Startup Lighthouse Posters ..................................................................................................................... 76
Startup Lighthouse Name badge ............................................................................................................ 76
Startup Lighthouse Notebook ................................................................................................................. 77
Startup Lighthouse Booklet slides........................................................................................................... 79
Annex II Startup Lighthouse Paid Campaigns – Results .............................................................................. 80
Facebook ................................................................................................................................................. 80
Twitter ..................................................................................................................................................... 82
LinkedIn ................................................................................................................................................... 82
Google AdWords ..................................................................................................................................... 83

Table of Figures
Figure 1. Promotion & Outreach Strategy – Key elements........................................................................... 8
Figure 2. Startup Lighthouse stakeholder target groups .............................................................................. 9
Figure 3. Startup Lighthouse Logo options ................................................................................................. 11
Figure 4. Social media templates application – Instagram screenshot ...................................................... 12
Figure 5. Startup Lighthouse Website version I – Homepage..................................................................... 13
Figure 6. Startup Lighthouse Website final version – Homepage .............................................................. 13
Figure 7. Google Analytics – Audience overview lifetime........................................................................... 15
Figure 8. Social Referrals ............................................................................................................................. 15
Figure 9. Landing pages per sessions .......................................................................................................... 16
Figure 10. Social Media Strategy for Startup Lighthouse ........................................................................... 17
Figure 11. Startup Lighthouse Twitter, Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn feeds (examples) - screenshot . 19
Figure 12. Startup Lighthouse Facebook Page – Visitor’s mode................................................................. 20
Figure 13. Our story on Facebook ............................................................................................................... 20
Figure 14. Startup Lighthouse Twitter account .......................................................................................... 22
Figure 15. Startup Lighthouse LinkedIn page.............................................................................................. 23
Figure 16. Startup Lighthouse Instagram profile ........................................................................................ 25
Figure 17. indicative examples from Instagram stories .............................................................................. 26
Figure 18. Startup Lighthouse YouTube Channel........................................................................................ 26
Figure 19. YouTube statistics ...................................................................................................................... 27
Figure 20. Startup Lighthouse on F6S – screenshot.................................................................................... 28
Figure 21. Newsletters version I and II ....................................................................................................... 29
Figure 22. Newsletters version III and IV .................................................................................................... 30
Figure 23. Social media visuals for DDW Dublin ......................................................................................... 36
Figure 24. Press release for DDW Dublin .................................................................................................... 36
Figure 25. DDW Dublin on website ............................................................................................................. 37

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

Figure 26. Facebook reach for DDW Dublin................................................................................................ 38
Figure 27. Facebook posts’ reach and results for DDW Dublin .................................................................. 38
Figure 28. Twitter reach for DDW Dublin ................................................................................................... 39
Figure 29. Tweets Results for DDW Dublin ................................................................................................. 39
Figure 30. Website statistics for DDW Dublin ............................................................................................. 40
Figure 31. Isidro Laso Ballesteros – Head of Startup Europe at the EC in Block Forum EU ........................ 40
Figure 32. Startup Lighthousers and Soft-landers in Vilnius ....................................................................... 41
Figure 33. Social Media Visuals for DDW Vilnius ........................................................................................ 41
Figure 34. Information for participants DDW Vilnius ................................................................................. 42
Figure 35. DDW Vilnius on website ............................................................................................................. 44
Figure 36. Facebook reach for DDW Vilnius ............................................................................................... 45
Figure 37. Facebook posts’ results for DDW Vilnius ................................................................................... 45
Figure 38. Twitter results for DDW Vilnius ................................................................................................. 46
Figure 39. Website results for DDW Vilnius ................................................................................................ 46
Figure 40. Social media visuals for DDW Berlin .......................................................................................... 47
Figure 41. Example of ready posts for DDW Berlin..................................................................................... 47
Figure 42. Example of the info kit for startups for DDW Berlin .................................................................. 48
Figure 43. DDW Berlin on website .............................................................................................................. 48
Figure 44. Example of Twitter post for DDW Berlin.................................................................................... 49
Figure 45. Example of LinkedIn post for DDW Berlin.................................................................................. 50
Figure 46. Website statistics for DDW Berlin .............................................................................................. 50
Figure 47. Social media visuals for DDW Lisbon ......................................................................................... 51
Figure 48. DDW Lisbon on website ............................................................................................................. 51
Figure 49. Among Investors and DDW Lisbon app...................................................................................... 52
Figure 50. Facebook posts reach for DDW Lisbon ...................................................................................... 53
Figure 51. Twitter impressions for DDW Lisbon ......................................................................................... 53
Figure 52. Twitter posts from startups in DDW Lisbon ............................................................................... 54
Figure 53. Social media post for Bits & Pretzels ......................................................................................... 54
Figure 54. Europass Twitter analysis........................................................................................................... 55
Figure 55. A selection of Social Media postings over the course of Europasses ........................................ 56
Figure 56. Tweet about Among Investors – Startup Lighthouse account................................................... 57
Figure 57. Tweet about Among Investors – Participating startups account............................................... 58
Figure 58. Social media visual for Among Investors ................................................................................... 58
Figure 59. Social media visual for EEMD ..................................................................................................... 59
Figure 60. Facebook posts about EEMD ..................................................................................................... 61
Figure 61. Instagram posts about EEMD..................................................................................................... 62
Figure 62. LinkedIn posts about EEMD ....................................................................................................... 64
Figure 63. Where the applications come from? ......................................................................................... 65
Figure 64. Startup Europe Ambassadors .................................................................................................... 65
Figure 65. SE Campfire and SE Summit in Sofia .......................................................................................... 66
Figure 66. Twitter posts from the ICT event in Vienna ............................................................................... 66
Figure 67. Startup Europe Week in Thessaloniki ........................................................................................ 67

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

Figure 68. Startup Lighthouse PC opens SE Deep Tech Workshop ............................................................. 67

Table of Tables
Table 1. Key Target groups and communication messages ........................................................................ 10
Table 2. Selection of the appropriate social media channels ..................................................................... 18
Table 3. Facebook Post Data per quarter ................................................................................................... 21
Table 4. Twitter results per trimester ......................................................................................................... 22
Table 5. Twitter audience analysis .............................................................................................................. 23
Table 6. LinkedIn demographics ................................................................................................................. 24
Table 7. LinkedIn results per month ........................................................................................................... 24
Table 8. Summary table of platforms and tools adopted for animating the community beyond Startup
Lighthouse ................................................................................................................................................... 31
Table 9. Partners’ accounts and audience size ........................................................................................... 33
Table 10. Participants’ testimonials ............................................................................................................ 34
Table 11. Promotion and Outreach results for year 1 ................................................................................ 68
Table 12. Visibility KPIs – Project global...................................................................................................... 69
Table 13. Facebook paid campaigns – Results ............................................................................................ 81
Table 14. Twitter paid campaigns - Results ................................................................................................ 82
Table 15. LinkedIn paid campaigns - Results .............................................................................................. 83
Table 16. Google AdWords paid campaigns to gain website traction - Results ......................................... 83

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

Introduction

Startup Lighthouse project funded under the Startup Europe Initiative seeks to develop cross-border
connections within and beyond Europe. The project lights the way for startups within Europe by organising
8 Deep Dive Weeks in 4 ecosystems, meeting over 1,600 different ecosystem players in specific themes
and culminating with a Lighthouse Award each year.
In this respect, key for the achievement of the ambitious objectives of Startup Lighthouse is the
implementation of a highly effective promotion and outreach strategy that will ensure:
• The wider promotion and outreach of the project to critical stakeholders to speed up its wider
use and impact to the economy and the society.
• The communication of the benefits and opportunities offered through our programmes and
activities.
• The engagement and involvement of key stakeholders in the project’s activities.
• The development and sustainability of an ongoing Startup Lighthouse community of startups,
entrepreneurs, ecosystem builders, investors and other relevant stakeholders.
• The promotion of startup job opportunities and support of talent matchmaking and acquisition.
• The promotion of Startup Europe offered opportunities and the democratization of the startup
phenomenon.
• The exploitation of the project results and the sustainability of the proposed activities and overall
approach.
This deliverable provides an overview of the project’s promotion and outreach strategy focusing on the
project’s target groups, the development of appropriate communication messages, the dissemination
channels and tools that were used and will be used as well as the planning and monitoring procedures to
ensure the quality and effectiveness of the communication activities. This plan will be reviewed and
updated on a regular basis for assessing new and possible dissemination opportunities that would emerge
during the course of the project. Finally, this deliverable acts as a report for the promotion and outreach
of the project for its first year (M1-M12).

Document Structure
This document is organized in the following sections: It begins with a presentation of the overall
promotion and outreach strategy of the project highlighting its main phases and elements. It is followed
by the description of the project’s communication tools and channels and their results for the first
reporting period. Then, it presents the project’s activities for the first year with the numbers associated
with them and some lessons learnt accompanied with some conclusions.

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

Promotion and Outreach strategy & Results

Promotion in Startup Lighthouse is targeted at raising awareness of the project, reaching the target
audiences and maximising the outreach of the project activities and results thereby contributing to
develop cross-border connections and democratising the Startup phenomenon in Europe.
The target is to ensure that information is shared with appropriate audiences on a timely basis and by the
most effective means and to prepare the ground for ensuring sustainability after its completion by finding
potential collaborators to ensure the optimal use of Startup Lighthouse results and speed up the potential
of their wider use and impact to the economy and society.
Therefore, emphasis is given at the project’s promotion and outreach strategy in order to provide clear
guidelines for all the communication activities including all operational elements of dissemination and
thus ensure that project results will be disseminated to reach relevant target groups with appropriate
content and on time.
To this end the core elements that formulate the communication strategy of Startup Lighthouse are the
objectives, target groups, key messages, channels and methods, timing and evaluation.

 Figure 1. Promotion & Outreach Strategy – Key elements

Communication activities will transition between two different phases; the first phase will roughly cover
the first 12 months when the first DDWs are organised and a strong community needs to be built.
Therefore, the first phase includes preparatory activities such as to identify and approach the target
audiences, develop the dissemination material, attract high quality participants to events as
startups/mentors/investors/media, etc.
The second phase will cover the remaining 12 months, when the objective of the project turns to
promoting its results, not only to attract even more and better participants, but to maximise the impact

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

to all participants. The two common targets of both phases will include the systematic use of a variety of
dissemination activities to reach and involve the target audience groups and the integration of knowledge
coming from relevant support actions and projects.

Key Target groups & Communication messages
The Promotion and Outreach strategy in Startup Lighthouse draws upon target group needs and interests
in order to define the communication goals for each subgroup and employ the most effective
communication means to reach them. To this end, the following figure presents the project’s target
groups, while the table below presents our offer and the key messages to approach them.

 Figure 2. Startup Lighthouse stakeholder target groups

The principle guidelines for the development of the project’s key messages are:
• To be clear, simple and easy to understand. The language should be appropriate for the target groups.
• To be tailored to the target groups; it is very important to carefully consider what they should know
 about the project. Avoid sending the same messages to different target groups. Each time revise the
 relevance of the message to the target groups.
• Provide correct and realistic information. Don’t promise something that the project cannot offer in
 order to attract your target audiences.
• Encourage longer term participation (i.e. be part of the Startup Lighthouse community beyond the
 end of the project).
Based on these principles the table below presents an indicative list of communication messages that
have been defined for the different target groups. A careful coordination among partners who act as
spokespersons or information sources for the project is essential in order to avoid inconsistencies that
may negatively affect the achievement of the project broader goals.

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

 Stakeholder category Offer Communication messages
 - Improved deal-flow by scouting top
 Quality international startups
 Investors /Corporates/VCs
 deal-flow - Expand geographically and enlarge
 talent pool
 - Engage in Startup Lighthouse and
 Exclusive
 Startup Europe (be part of the exclusive
 Entrepreneurs/ internationally-
 group of SE)
 Startups/SMEs minded networking
 - Grow with EU-level innovation support
 and support
 - Enjoy qualified networking opportunities
 - Enlarge own network through Startup
 High quality
 Ecosystem builders/ Lighthouse’s reach and activities
 internationalisation
 Accelerators/Mentors, etc. - Reinforce own activities
 services to members

 Support local • Support policy directed at tech
 Public officers/Policy entrepreneurship entrepreneurship and investment
 stakeholders success stories and • Economic and societal impact of Startup
 impact Lighthouse in a larger scale
 • Entrepreneurship opportunities to get
 Learn about involved including job positions to top
 General Audience entrepreneurship and startups/scaleups.
 upcoming companies • Success stories and inspiration to get
 involved with the entrepreneurial world
 Table 1. Key Target groups and communication messages

Communication tools and channels
To reach the target audiences, Startup Lighthouse employs various offline and online communication
channels and tools. Communication channels include the means through which the project activities and
results are made available to the target groups such as the Internet (website, emails etc.), mass media
and networks (social networks, partners’ networks etc.) Multiple tools will be used to communicate with
the project’s audiences always considering which of them match the behaviour of the targeted user group
in the most appropriate way.
The following chapters describe in detail each channel and tool employed by the project and present the
progress achieved so far.
Project Branding & Visual identity
The development of the Startup Lighthouse branding was a key priority from the beginning of the project
in order to create a single visual identity for the project and make it easily identifiable by the target
audiences. All project material developed include in prominent position the EU Funding visibility and the
Startup Europe logo.
The branding pack prepared by F6S and ViLabs used by all project members includes:

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

• Project Logo
• Brand guide
• PPT & Word templates (presentations, deliverables, minutes)
• Social media templates
• Startup Lighthouse Poster
• Roll up Banner
• Name Badge
• Notebook
• Booklet
Project logo and Brand guide

Figure 3. Startup Lighthouse Logo options

A project logo was designed at the start of the project. The specific logo was selected by majority voting
of partners among a number of suggested logos during the Kick Off Meeting presented in the figure above.
The logo was selected for its clarity as well as for the different meanings that were reflected. The logo
selected, and its accompanied brand guide can be found in Annex I.
Graphical Templates & Social media templates
A set of graphical templates have been developed in order to ensure a professional level of quality in
terms of design and presentation in all project documents and communications. Specifically, Word and
PowerPoint (PPT) templates were designed and shared among all partners. These templates will be used
for all project deliverables, reports, minutes, etc. and whenever the consortium needs to share specific
information of the project in external events, conferences, etc. Those templates are presented in Annex
1 of this document. In addition, apart from the graphical templates to ensure the internal consistency, we
also developed social media templates to communicate the different project activities in ppt form to be
easily adaptable to the different project needs and ensure a consistent visual result displayed on our social
media accounts (example in the figure below). All the templates are presented in Annex I of this
document.

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

Figure 4. Social media templates application – Instagram screenshot

Communication material to be printed and used for on-site activities
Posters and roll ups are mainly used in events that are either organized by the project or by third parties.
These can be conferences, workshops, seminars etc. In Annex I, all material including Startup Lighthouse
Posters, Roll up Banner Name Badge, Notebook, Booklet are presented as they were developed after
discussing with partners what would be useful for our target audience, especially when it comes to the
participants of our Deep Dive Weeks.
Project website
The project website is one of the main sources of information about the project available to all
stakeholders. It is the main communication tool of the project, especially in relation to fostering
applications for the main project activities, the Deep Dive Weeks. In particular, the Startup Lighthouse
website aims at:

• Providing information about the project and help stakeholders understand the reasons to get
involved and how they can participate in the project’s activities.
• Directing potential participants to the Startup Lighthouse applications and the Deep Dive Weeks;
• Providing a common refence for interested stakeholders to all the content produced, including
the Hall of Fame, details of activities, selected startups, partners, etc.
The project’s website is available at: http://www.startuplighthouse.eu/
The website was established immediately at the start of the project (M2) and will be maintained for at
least two years after the project ends. The following figure presents the first general layout of the website
homepage and the main sections that were part of it.

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

 Figure 5. Startup Lighthouse Website version I – Homepage

Based on feedback gathered by project partners the project website was redesigned on M7 to be visually
attracting and the current homepage is showcased in the figure below. Partners agreed during the Kick-
off Meeting that the project website should follow a simple but clear structure and have an informative
character and a clear tone that directs to applications from high quality startups and other stakeholders.

 Figure 6. Startup Lighthouse Website final version – Homepage

The main sections of the website are:
 • Homepage (http://startuplighthouse.eu/): This page provides a brief and direct message for
 startups to scale up or at least to check more information about it. It also includes the main

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

website menu bar and presents in a dynamic way the latest news and a video from a past Deep
Dive Week. Finally, it showcases the project social media channels and it has Startup Europe in a
prominent position.
• Deep Dive Weeks (http://startuplighthouse.eu/deep-dive-weeks/): If someone clicks on the Deep
Dive Weeks, then a full page of information appears regarding what a Deep Dive Week is, the
concrete benefits of participation and the different destination options as well as testimonials
from other participants.
• Beyond The DDW (http://startuplighthouse.eu/deep-dive-weeks/beyond-the-deep-dive-
weeks/): This section is mainly dedicated to all the other project activities, which go beyond the
EU and beyond the locations of the Deep Dive Weeks so as to startups/scaleups which would like
to learn more about the programme, which goes beyond the week of activities provided to Deep
Dive Week. This is an information, we are giving emphasis on, since we would like to make clear
that a startups journey starts with an application and it never ends as they are part of a wider
programme and a wider community.
• Ecosystem Builders (http://startuplighthouse.eu/ecosystem-builders/): This section is mainly
dedicated to ecosystem builders, investors and other relevant stakeholders willing to investigate
options to get involved in the project activities.
• Hall of Fame (http://startuplighthouse.eu/hall-of-fame/): This is a section containing all the
Startup Lighthouse startups participated at the Deep Dive Weeks. The Hall of Fame is divided by
Deep Dive Week and vertical, for an easier search of startups. In total, 45 startups have filled in
the required details to be featured in the Hall of Fame portfolio.
• News (http://startuplighthouse.eu/news/): This page links all dynamic information related to the
news and events of the project into one space. Secondly, startup success stories are being
collected and shared on the project blog (news), newsletters and other communication channels.
A dedicated link has been created, for these stories to stand out from the project news:
http://startuplighthouse.eu/success-stories/.
• About (http://startuplighthouse.eu/about/): This section provides details about the project, its
objectives, the expected results. It is also the access point for the talent matchmaking page which
contains job positions from the alumni startups. Finally, it contains information such as the project
partners, Startup Europe and the project resources, while the user can access any contact
information or subscribe to the project mailing list to receive the latest news.
In order to assess how well the website is reaching stakeholders and acting as a source of information,
the website uses standard web traffic analysis tools to track the number of visitors and similar metrics
over the life of the project. The website will be continuously updated throughout the course of the project,
and thus will act as a dynamic and up-to-date source of information for stakeholders.
Website results for M1-M12
During the course of the project, the results regarding the project website are tracked through a Google
Analytics account. In order to attract attention from startups and relevant stakeholders for our Deep Dive
Weeks and for the project in general, we performed some Google AdWords promotional paid campaigns
(results in Annex II).

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

 Figure 7. Google Analytics – Audience overview lifetime

In the above figure, the results from the first reporting period are presented with an audience overview.
The terms used in this figure as well as the results are described here:

 • 7,351 Sessions. A session is the period time a user is actively engaged with your website, app, etc.
 All usage data (Screen Views, Events, Ecommerce, etc.) is associated with a session.
 • 4,819 Users. Users have initiated at least one session during the date range
 • 15,512 Page Views. Pageviews include the total number of pages viewed. Repeated views of a
 single page are counted.

 Figure 8. Social Referrals

Another important figure imported from Google Analytics depicts the social networks, where significant
traction for the website comes from. It is obvious that Facebook holds a significant percentage of 60.32%,
which is estimated to be linked with the paid promotional campaigns used during the promotion of the
open calls for applications for the Deep Dive Weeks. Twitter and LinkedIn follow, while Instagram is the

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

last one as it is impossible to link Instagram stories with certain website links at the moment, if the account
has not a special badge which requires more than 10K of followers.

 Figure 9. Landing pages per sessions

It needs to be noted that the Google Analytics account lacks information for the period after July until
early October as an attempt to set it up from the beginning and link it with Google AdWords account
resulted in data loss. To better understand the abovementioned results and to justify the successful
promotion of the project for the first year through the website, we also need to take into account the
results of the paid AdWords campaigns (Annex II). Overall, the promotion and communication of the
project and its activities was successful, especially since the main aim was to showcase and attract
audience for its Deep Dive Weeks, which were the most popular urls as shown in the figure above.
Social media channels
Social media channels are an integral part of our promotion and outreach strategy as they provide the
chance to get connected and reach regions and stakeholders all over the world. The aim of this section is
to present the basic elements of the social media strategy and the results of the first reporting period
(M1-M12) per social media channel.
Social Media Strategy and Results
Our overall approach was based on the figure below, which represents our specific strategy using social
media as a modern tool, which is constantly updated with news changes and features, to help us promote

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

the project and its activities by adapting our communication messages to any given new features and
explore new possibilities for reaching relevant audience.

 • Design a tailored social media strategy
 • Define the appropriate channels, tools, feautes, hash tags, etc.
 Boot up • Design the first set of social media templates, visuals, etc.

 • Set up all project accounts
 • Set up analytics, tools and apps, if needed to capture reach, outreach and connections
 • Invite contacts and liaise with relevant accounts for communication partnerships
 Set up
 • Introduce the channels to world and reach relevant audience

 • Constatly exlore new possibilities
 • Implement social media strategy with monthly check of analytics and results
 Grow up • Community engagement techniques to be implemented to ensure engagement
 • Quality of information given in a direct way tailored per social media channel

 • Continuous check of analytics & results for growth
 • Assess and reassess techniques based on the latest trends
Manage up • Rebuild strategical component, if needed

 Figure 10. Social Media Strategy for Startup Lighthouse

The channels were carefully chosen by F6S and ViLabs and they were presented to the Consortium during
the kick-off meeting to finalise the decision and our targeting based on the partners experience from their
individual accounts and networks. The following table was developed as initial thoughts before setting up
the accounts and it was discussed as a basis with the Consortium:
 Channel Rationale Frequency of posts
 Facebook • The most popular network; • Twice a week
 • Startup Europe maintains a Facebook group with can • More if the available
 provide us our first audience; content is critical or
 • Many features to capitalize on including video if the open calls are
 posting, events, photos, carousels, promoting the closing
 open calls in different ways without a limitation in
 characters;
 • There is the option to use advertisements to
 promote the page and the open calls;

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

Twitter • A popular network with short and concise messages; • Almost in a daily
• Easy to use; basis, depending on
• Many startups and relevant stakeholders use it; the content.
• Startup Europe has an account with many followers • Two tweets per
and it is one their main channels; week, if there is no
• Based on past experience, Twitter is a successful tool occasion.
for projects;
• Helps to live blogging during events;
Instagram • Quite popular for personal accounts rather than • Not necessary to
project accounts and it is gaining a lot of attention update the feed in a
because of the stories feature and the strong frequent manner. It
influencers communities; is more important to
• It will help during the DDWs and other events by establish presence
uploading stories and videos; by live blogging
• It will help during the open calls for startups by through stories on
posting stories and photos with the opportunities; events and on-site
• We may explore the possibility of influencers in the activities.
startup world to promote the project;
LinkedIn • Add useful content e.g. articles, public calls, etc. • Once a week;
group or • Tag the DDWs participants so they are able to share • More in events’
page? the news with their professional network; occasions;
• Closed LinkedIn group with invitations only for the
alumni members to motivate the community;
• LinkedIn Business Page to post news and grow the
audience;
YouTube • Useful to share the success stories; • When a video is
channel • No wide dissemination of the channel per se, but available;
of the individual videos;
Table 2. Selection of the appropriate social media channels

All the project accounts were set up the first project month except for the YouTube channel and the
LinkedIn group, which came at a later stage due to lack of content and participants. After the first Deep
Dive Week in Dublin, a YouTube channel was linked with the project, while the closed LinkedIn group was
created after the Deep Dive Week in Vilnius. More details about each account and what happened the
first project period can be found in the following sub-chapters. All social media accounts are frequently
updated and their results are quite impressive. They are showcased on all project material and on the
website to attract a wider audience.

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

 Figure 11. Startup Lighthouse Twitter, Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn feeds (examples) - screenshot

Facebook Page
Startup Lighthouse has a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/startuplighthouse/) which currently
counts 463 followers and it is also linked with the Startup Europe Facebook group. The project logo was
used as a profile image, while the cover page has a short 15’’ video of the Deep Dive Week in Vilnius to
promote our activities and showcase to new visitors what we are doing giving a positive, entrepreneurial
vibe. On the featured photos, we are showcasing photos from past Deep Dive Weeks, especially from
networking sessions and public events such as the EU Block Forum (co-organised with Soft-landing for the
Deep Dive Week in Vilnius).

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

 Figure 12. Startup Lighthouse Facebook Page – Visitor’s mode

Apart from the basic information about the project, which are all filled in to provide the audience with all
the needed details, we decided also to showcase what is the aim of the project with a story.

 Figure 13. Our story on Facebook

In general, this project account is used to promote the open calls with promotional paid campaigns on
Facebook and the linked account on Twitter, as well as to post project news, relevant articles, showcase
the Startup Lighthouse friends’ opportunities, etc. The table below indicates the great success of the

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

account for the first reporting period, when more than 440K impressions were gained and more than 5K
users were engaged with our content.
Date Total Reach1 Total Impressions2 Engaged users3
January-April 51858 109937 1021
May-August 205706 325245 4378
September-December 4474 6622 329
Total 262038 441804 5728
Table 3. Facebook Post Data per quarter

As it was already mentioned, we also used paid advertising and the results can be found in Annex II. The
results from the paid campaigns were quite impressive, while something worth mentioning is that we
were unable to promote any post or the open call for the Deep Dive Week in Vilnius due to hash tags and
words related to blockchain, fintech, etc. Facebook flagged the posts as suspicious and attempts to
contact them for approving the posts were made, but they were not successful. Last but not least, from
the website analytics (Figure 8), it is shown that Facebook is the top referral for traction on the website.
Startup Lighthouse Twitter
Another successful communication tool for Startup Lighthouse is its Twitter account
(https://twitter.com/eu_lighthouse) with more than 658 followers and equal number of tweets, Twitter
was mainly used to promote the open calls and for live blogging all the sessions during our on-site
activities. It is a great tool to connect with the entrepreneurial world as most of our relevant stakeholders
have already established a strong presence and they are very enthusiastic about our tweets. A screenshot
below presents the Twitter profile with the logo on the profile image and a tailored cover page, which
showcases the SE Initiative. Another important element is the text “about” with the following message
“Lighting the way for European #scaleups ⚡️ @startupeu initiative taking #startups to #Berlin #Lisbon
#Dublin #Baltics #US #Israel and much more ”, which contains a lot of relevant hash tags and tags the
Startup Europe Twitter account. In addition, the number of photos and videos and their collection are also
visible to this page and they are more than 203. Startup Lighthouse goes by @eu_lighthouse as a brand
name for Twitter when our supporters want to tag us in relevant tweets.

1
The number of people who had your Page's post enter their screen. Posts include statuses, photos, links, videos
and more. (Unique Users)
2
The number of times your Page's post entered a person's screen. Posts include statuses, photos, links, videos and
more. (Total Count)
3
The number of unique people who engaged in certain ways with your Page

Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

 Figure 14. Startup Lighthouse Twitter account

Two very important features we use on Twitter are the moments, which accumulate and present all the
tweets from our profile and from accounts tagging us and present them in a consistent manner, so
participants and interested audience are able to go back and check our activities. The other important
feature is the Twitter lists, which we use in public and private mode; public mode to showcase friends and
relevant accounts and give people the chance to subscribe to the lists and check the latest updates; private
to accumulate the participants accounts of on-site activities, so when someone is posting can easily track
the accounts to tag or the relevant tweets to retweet and keep in the loop with what those participants
are doing after the on-site activities.
 Date range Impressions Engagement rate Link clicks Retweets Likes Replies
 19/1-18/4 (90 days) 198.3K 2.9% 4.5K 217 488 10
 19/4-17/7 (90 days) 170.2K 4.3% 4.9K 433 818 10
 18/7-15/10 (90 days) 126.5K 0.9% 183 179 345 6
 16/10-29/12 (75 days) 111.4K 58.6% 4.1K 191 395 14
 Total 606.4K 31.8K 1020 2046 40
 Table 4. Twitter results per trimester

In order to understand the success of this social media channel, we are showcasing the results per
semester as they were presented on Twitter analytics. We managed to attract more than 600K of
impressions, while users clicking on our links were more than 31.8K. The outreach is huge is someone
considers that are tweets were retweeted 1020 times and the likes were more than 2046. It is also

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important to highlight that we also used paid advertisement on Twitter mainly to promote the account
and the open calls. The results are shown in Annex II.
 Followers Organic audience
 Gender Gender
 • 67% Male • 67% Male
 • 33% Female • 33% Female
 Countries: Ireland 11%, Germany 11%, Spain 7%, Countries: Ireland 10%, Greece 8%, Spain 8%,
 United Kingdom 7%, Portugal 6%, Greece 5%. Italy United Kingdom 7%, Germany 6%, United States
 5%. United States 5%, France 3% 6%, Belgium 6% , France 6%, Italy 5%
 Table 5. Twitter audience analysis

Last but not least, it is important to understand where our audience comes from to ensure the widespread
of our messages and especially the open calls. Table 5 indicates that our audience quite varies, and it
comes from different European countries, mainly from the countries are partners are based but not only
limited to them.
LinkedIn Page and Closed LinkedIn Group
LinkedIn has a dual purpose for Startup Lighthouse. It is mainly used to promote professional content and
to promote the project activities, but it is also used to motivate and accumulate the Startup Lighthouse
alumni together in a group to help them stay in touch with each other and also connect with startups,
mentors and investors from other DDWs; and give them a space to share any news and initiatives with
the group.

 Figure 15. Startup Lighthouse LinkedIn page

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

At the moment, Startup Lighthouse LinkedIn page has 139 followers coming from different location all
over Europe.
 Followers: 139
 Top locations: Lisbon Area, Portugal 12.9%, Berlin Area, Germany 11.83%, Brussels
 Area, Belgium 5.38%, Madrid Area, Spain 5.38%, Barcelona Area, Spain 4.3%,
 Coimbra Area, Portugal 4.3%, Paris Area, France 4.3%, Stuttgart Area, Germany
 3.23%, Porto Area, Portugal 3.23%, Munich Area, Germany 2.15%
 Table 6. LinkedIn demographics

During this reporting period starting from March when the account was used for the first time, the results
were quite impressive, while LinkedIn advertising was used but it was limited (results in Annex II). In total,
more than 611K impressions were attracted to our posts, while post likes were 292 with shares reaching
the number of 76.
 Reporting period Impressions Social engagement Post Shares Post Likes
 March 2,344 6% 4 7
 April 3,691 5% 14 21
 May 7,437 6% 9 21
 June 585 3% 3 6
 July 5,394 3% 21 65
 August 2,395 5% 9 45
 September 2,553 13% 9 36
 October 1,623 7% 6 53
 November 1,045 9% 1 38
 December Not applicable
 Total 27,067 76 292
 Table 7. LinkedIn results per month

Instagram Profile
Instagram is mainly used to promote the project to a growing, mostly young, community of entrepreneurs
through posts about the open calls and the activities as well as through posting Instagram stories during
the different on-site activities. At the moment, the account has 170 followers and 21 posts, while a
scouting mission for potential influencers is being made by ViLabs to be used for the second reporting
period.

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

 Figure 16. Startup Lighthouse Instagram profile

All the Instagram stories are being kept in the profile for future reference and to showcase what we were
up to during the Deep Dive Weeks, the Eastern Europe Market Discovery, the Startup Europe Week in
Thessaloniki and the results in numbers from the first year of the project. An example is shown below:

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

 Figure 17. indicative examples from Instagram stories

The analytics for Instagram are quite limited at the moment as the tool recently presented the feature of
advertising, so for the moment, we cannot estimate the overall impressions reached during this reporting
period.
YouTube channel
YouTube channel was created to cover the need of publishing the project videos in a platform other than
our Facebook Page. So far, six (6) videos have been published, while a few of them have been promoted
along with the channel itself, due to the clash of activities with Facebook. This will be solved during the
second reporting period from its very beginning, since the main aim of the videos developed is to
showcase in a quick and attractive way the activities performed during the first project period and
therefore to attract high quality participants for our next set of activities. In addition, the YouTube channel
will also act as the space where broadcasted success stories from our startups will be published to ensure
their wide dissemination, so more increased traffic and activity is expected the following months.

 Figure 18. Startup Lighthouse YouTube Channel

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Deliverable 6.1: Promotion & Outreach report v1

Videos presentation
Deep Dive Week - Dublin - Travel Tech - Startup Lighthouse 2018: A summary of Startup Lighthouse's
mission to Dublin, where a group of startups from across Europe came for their next step in scaling up to
a global success. The video describes the main take-aways from our key mentors as well as the impressions
from the startups.
Deep Dive Week in Vilnius #Blockchain: Vilnius Blockchain Week is over – what a blast! This Soft-Landing
and Startup Lighthouse initiative brought around 40 participants to deep-dive into the city’s startup
ecosystem with the main focus on understanding what part blockchain plays in it and build connections
with blockchain leaders in Lithuania. Get a glimpse!
Promo videos

• DDWs: Meet the local ecosystem: Startup Lighthouse's DDW Dublin Promo #1: Meet the local
ecosystem.
• DDWs face to face mentorship: Startup Lighthouse's Deep Dive Week in Dublin promotion video
on mentorship.
• DDWs Matchmaking: Startup Lighthouse's Deep Dive Week in Dublin put startups in front of over
20 investors and more than a handful of key potential clients from the travel industry.
• DDWs generated over 100 leads: Startup Lighthouse's Deep Dive Week in Dublin generated over
100 leads for our startups: potential investors, clients, partners, etc.
More videos are expected to be prepared and published during the second reporting period. For the
moment, a video is on the making about the Deep Dive Week in Lisbon and the Among Investors activity
to promote what happened, what can be gained and attract high quality startups and other relevant key
players to the next versions.

Figure 19. YouTube statistics

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