[JUDGING] IDA x Core
Section: Social Media Strategy: Public Body
Organisation Name: IDA x Core
General Strategy Questions
Name Of Brand Client
IDA
Name Of Brand Client Copy
yes ongoing strategy for the organisation
Personpeople Who Led This Campaign
Shane Foley
Do You Use Alt Text In Your Images And Caption Your Videos
no
What Objective For Campaign
Foreign Direct Investment is critical to Ireland’s economy, supporting approximately one in five private-sector jobs. But in 2025, global FDI declined by 6%, competition intensified and investment decisions became increasingly complex.
IDA Ireland’s research showed that a typical FDI decision can involve 12–15 stakeholders, from CEOs and CFOs to CTOs, COOs and strategy leaders, often over several years. Our objective was to use social media to put Ireland into the consideration set of these global decision-makers and turn that consideration into measurable investment opportunities.
LinkedIn was central to this ambition. It allowed us to go beyond traditional audience targeting and reach people based on the signals that mattered: their company, sector, seniority, role and location.
Ultimately, our ambition was bigger than social metrics: use social to influence investment decisions that could create jobs, innovation and long-term economic growth for Ireland.
Outline Your Strategy For This Campaign
Our strategy challenged a traditional B2B assumption: there is one decision-maker. For FDI, there isn’t. Investment decisions can involve 12–15 stakeholders across leadership, finance, technology, strategy and operations. LinkedIn gave us the unique ability to reach this entire decision-making unit.
We built audiences across CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, COOs, Strategy Directors and Corporate Development Leaders, layered by market, industry, seniority, company size and job function.
But our biggest evolution was Company List Targeting. Working with IDA Ireland’s investment teams, we identified priority organisations across MedTech, FinTech, Gaming, Life Sciences and Advanced Manufacturing and used LinkedIn to reach relevant decision-makers within those actual businesses. Under Invest in Extraordinary, we then served thought leadership, economic insights, innovation stories and proof from companies succeeding in Ireland.
LinkedIn became more than a media channel: it connected IDA’s priority companies, their decision-makers and relevant content with the wider investment journey.
What Were The Outcomes For This Campaign Metrics Next Question
The strategy demonstrated that social media could influence one of the longest and most complex B2B decision journeys. Across the wider programme, we generated 240m+ impressions, 855,000+ engagements and 9,000+ actions and contact requests from international business audiences.
More importantly, FDI leads generated through paid search and social increased by 105%, despite global FDI declining by 6%. This was achieved with only a 35% increase in media investment.
Brand research also showed significant movement in consideration. Bloomberg recorded an 84% increase in familiarity with IDA Ireland and a 105% increase in perceptions of Ireland as a leading business destination.
Ultimately, IDA is a public body, so our success had to go beyond media metrics. In 2025, IDA secured 323 investment wins, 15,300 new jobs and €2.5bn in R&D investment, with investment wins increasing 38% YoY.
What Are Your Metrics For This Campaign Real Metrics Please
We measured success beyond platform metrics, connecting media performance with consideration, lead generation and ultimately IDA Ireland’s organisational objectives.
MEDIA
• 240m+ global impressions
• 855,000+ engagements
• 9,000+ actions and contact requests
LEADS
• +105% FDI leads through paid search and social
• Growth achieved with only +35% media investment
• Delivered while global FDI declined 6%
BRAND
• +84% familiarity with IDA Ireland – Bloomberg
• +105% perception of Ireland as a leading business destination – Bloomberg
• +214% familiarity with Ireland as a destination for cutting-edge investment – Reuters Japan
• 90% took a follow-on action – Economist
ECONOMIC IMPACT
• 323 investment wins
• 15,300 new jobs
• €2.5bn R&D investment
• +38% investment wins YoY
• 62% ahead of annual target
Is There Anything Else You Want To Add Be Brief
Most social strategies optimise towards what happens on the platform. Ours was designed around what happened afterwards.
LinkedIn allowed IDA Ireland to identify the companies Ireland wanted to attract, reach the multiple senior stakeholders influencing those decisions and connect engagement into a wider investment journey.This was social media being used not simply for awareness, but as a strategic tool for economic development.
And in a year when global FDI declined by 6%, IDA Ireland increased investment wins by 38%, securing 323 investments, 15,300 new jobs and €2.5bn in R&D investment. It demonstrates what social can achieve for a public body when success is measured beyond impressions and engagement and against real-world impact for Ireland.