Thought leadership

Clicks to capital: How top IPAs leverage digital marketing to win foreign investors

Top IPAs are using data-driven digital tools and targeted content to attract and engage investors more effectively. From interactive dashboards and GIS mapping to podcasts and social media, digital marketing is now central to successful investment promotion. This blog explores how leading agencies are cutting through the noise to win FDI.

April 02, 2025
By Jonathan Wildsmith

Executive summary

Investment attraction is an increasingly competitive field within the foreign direct investment (FDI) lifecycle. The world’s top investment promotion agencies (IPAs) are able to cut through the noise by leveraging digital marketing to target and engage with investors.

As a part of the fDi Strategies team, I work directly with IPAs to develop and implement effective digital marketing strategies for investment attraction. Insights from our surveys of global investors and in-depth research into the online presence of the world’s leading IPAs highlight the importance of delivering data-backed, impactful and targeted selling messages and image building activities. To achieve this, successful IPAs combine investor-centric interactive tools, engaging content and strategic digital outreach.

Investor-centric digital tools

Leading IPAs prioritise tailored digital experiences. Dubai FDI offers a real-time dashboard, powered by FT Locations’ fDi Markets database, that tracks investment trends by sector, source country, project type, jobs created and capital expenditure. This allows Dubai FDI monitor to track and showcase FDI activity, assess economic trends and refine its investment attraction strategies. Invest in Canada also uses data-rich dashboards offering an economic snapshot of its provinces and sector-specific microsites to offer targeted insights. The 2024 Economic Development Marketing & Priorities Report by FT Locations highlights websites as one of the top three Economic Development Organisation (EDO) marketing strategies. It also emphasises that data-driven websites are critical with demographic reports, labour force availability/wages, land/sites and buildings inventory, and major industries/businesses/clusters amongst the most important features.

Use InvestmentMap to showcase investments in your location, measure your organisational performance and the quality and economic impact of investment

Several IPAs are also leveraging geographic information systems (GIS) tools to not only improve site selection capabilities but also enhance digital marketing efforts by providing highly visual, data-driven content that investors can engage with. A survey of European executives conducted by C Studios found that a searchable database of available sites and buildings ranked as one of the top three most useful features on an IPA website and yet less, outside of the US less than 10% actually have this functionality built on their website. Belfast City Council, Invest Glasgow, Invest Porto, and Invest in Murcia use FT Locations’ ZoomProspector tool to offer a smart business location tool that allows investors to analyse potential investment sites as well as economic and demographic data.

Use ZoomProspector to highlight investment-ready sites and opportunities in your area. Backed by reliable data, it’s an effective way to attract interest and support informed decision-making

Leading IPAs also use our tools to position their locations as hubs for investment by showcasing who’s investing, from where, and in which sectors. Dubai FDI and Invest Qatar use FT Locations’ InvestmentMap, a powerful platform that allows IPAs to track and showcase investments in their region. By visualising sector-specific investment projects, these maps enable potential investors to see other companies in the region.

InvestPorto launch WhatsApp chat feature on their website

Interactive tools like chatbots are being adopted to further empower investors. InvestPorto’s WhatsApp chatbot exemplifies this, delivering real-time support and simplifying investor interactions. IPAs are also developing interactive calculators that invite investors to estimate the cost of a project or available incentives.

Engaging content and digital channels

Nowadays, most IPA websites host up-to-date marketing assets, for example market reports, value propositions and one-pagers. Invest Chile’s e-book platform and Invest Lithuania’s reports & insights hub provide projections and opportunities in sectors with high investment potential.To access the reports, users must provide their details and agree to communications, ensuring the IPA can nurture leads.

Technology is redefining how IPAs engage investors. More and more IPAs are turning to online channels to reach investors. According to the IEDC State of the Industry Report 2022, 32% of EDOs adjusted their strategies to prioritise social media and digital marketing. A WAIPA-WBG survey further highlights this trend, revealing that 44% of IPAs allocate up to $10,000 annually on social media, while 23% invest over $100,000. Social media platforms like LinkedIn facilitate the identification of investors, hyper-targeted ad campaigns and the sharing of video content while email marketing tools enable personalised outreach and seamless lead nurturing. InvestHK complements its efforts with consistent newsletters and high-quality social media updates, ensuring a steady stream of information for investors.

Content innovations, such as IDA Ireland’s collaboration on The Leader’s Room podcast, and Invest in Türkiye’s podcast also spotlight success stories and thought leadership, increasing brand visibility. CINDE’s website uses dynamic visuals to highlight target sectors which enhances the investor’s user experience.

The power of collaboration

Collaboration among national and regional IPAs has long been a feature of the FDI landscape, but the success of the partnerships relies on a well-defined, measurable and actionable digital marketing strategy. Networks like COMESA RIA in Africa and Pacific Trade Invest, CAIPA in the Caribbean serve as examples of regional IPAs working to assemble a unified message, enhance reach and visibility, generate leads and pool resources. Economic Unions such as ASEAN have also moved toward a more collaborative approach to investment promotion with the launch of its Regional FDI Action Plan 2025-2030, which calls for a unified branding strategy, content distribution via website and social media, and the development of sector-specific marketing materials.

This collaboration is also present at a national level, with the likes of SelectUSA, Invest in Canada, Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) and Invest in Spain collaborating with sub-national agencies.The effectiveness of these networks hinges on the active participation of all stakeholders to ensure members benefit from coordinated branding and a broader reach.

However, aligning national and regional priorities can be challenging. National IPAs often focus on attracting high-tech industries, while regional agencies - particularly in the developing world - prioritise more employment intensive sectors which can complicate joint marketing efforts. One effective approach we’ve implemented is starting with a sector prioritisation study, combining stakeholder consultations and data-driven analysis to identify industries with the highest potential for inward investment and strongest alignment between national and regional priorities.This ensures efforts are strategically focused to foster collaboration and maximise impact.

For more insights on sector prioritisation and other key strategies for driving FDI success, check out a recent blog by my colleagues Joy Priya Somasundram and Henry Loewendahl on Strategic Actions for IPAs and EDOs in 2025.

For IPAs, the FDI marketing playbook is clear: be digital-first and collaborative. Those that integrate digital marketing as a core pillar of your strategy, enhancing rather than replacing traditional investor engagement strategies, will gain a decisive advantage in the global race for investment.

Is your IPA’s digital marketing strategy truly cutting through the noise to attract investors or just blending in?

The investment promotion landscape is evolving rapidly, and those who embrace a data-driven, digital-first approach will gain a decisive edge. As global competition intensifies, the real differentiator is not just having digital tools, but knowing how to use them effectively to tell a compelling investment story.

At FT Locations, we’re driving innovation in digital investment promotion, equipping leading IPAs with cutting-edge tools and strategies to increase investor engagement. Get in touch to learn more about how we can help your organisation stay ahead.