Time for private equity to improve its social life?

Social media is not just a consumer play – it’s a powerful tool for private equity firms to build brand equity with a new generation of investors, business owners, and employees. In fact, with the $124 trillion Great Wealth Transfer underway, staying silent is no longer a smart strategy – it’s a missed opportunity. Bladonmore’s Director of Strategy, Shreena Patel, explains.

From closed doors to digital windows

Private equity firms have long prided themselves on staying “under the radar.” But in today’s market, keeping quiet can hold you back.

The Great Wealth Transfer is putting money and power in the hands of younger generations, who learn, socialize, discover, entertain themselves – and invest – online. They’re driving a wider cultural shift away from traditional media and towards digital platforms that enable direct, on-demand engagement. For private equity firms, this is creating a valuable opportunity to bypass traditional gatekeepers and build relationships with wider audiences.

Take YouTube. According to Ofcom’s 2025 Media Nations report, it’s now the most popular first TV destination for Generation Alpha in the UK. Its appeal isn’t limited to younger audiences. Viewers aged 55+ nearly doubled their YouTube TV viewing time in 2024, from six to 11 minutes per day. The most popular format? Short videos.

Recognising this shift, forward-thinking private equity firms are stepping up their digital presence – meeting audiences where they are, with content and messages they control.

Why it matters now: capital and opportunities

The digital transition, a tougher fundraising environment, and fresh sources of capital are combining to create a new status quo in which social media is no longer just marketing – it’s a competitive weapon. 

Bain’s Global PE Report 2025 likens the current fundraising environment to “a game of haves and have-nots”. With capital increasingly flowing to the largest, most established funds or those with the strongest track records, “winning…demands both a clearly articulated value proposition and a means to communicate it.”  

For smaller firms, this is even more critical:  

“The best…recognize that staying smaller carries its own set of demands. It requires drawing an even sharper definition of what makes the firm stand out.” 

Meanwhile, LPs are taking a more active role. As McKinsey’s 2025 Global Private Markets Report puts it, “LPs are moving from being passive allocators to investing in general partners themselves”. They expect transparency, thematic positioning, and operational maturity – and they are using digital communications, including social media, to assess those qualities before a meeting even happens.  

And who are these LPs?  

Private equity’s capital base might be rooted in large institutions, but it’s changing. Bain estimates that individual investors hold roughly 50% of global capital but currently represent just 16% of AUM in alternative investment funds. As regulations and legislation change, it predicts private wealth will account for approximately 25% of growth in alternative assets under management (AUM) over the next decade.  

To tap that growth, to raise the next fund, GPs must change their approach.  

That includes investing time and effort into building a strong and strategic social media presence – one that engagingly encapsulates their firm’s strategy and points of difference.  

According to recent data from Charles Schwab, use of social media and financial influencers – or ‘finfluencers’ – among UK investors rose from 39% in 2024 to 43% in 2025. Among younger cohorts, usage is even higher. 60% of Millennials and over 70% of Gen Z in the UK use social media and finfluencers when making investment decisions. LinkedIn outranks Instagram, TikTok and Reddit as Gen Z investors’ top social media platform. 

Furthermore, for firms in the mid-market – where brand awareness is typically lower and firms compete across a fragmented sourcing landscape – strong digital visibility can act as a beacon for potential portfolio companies, signaling credibility, cultural fit, and strategic alignment. So, when business owners begin looking for a private capital partner, you’re already on their radar. 

In short, a firm’s LinkedIn page now plays a much more strategic role in accessing capital and opportunities. 

Competing for top talent 

Social media isn’t just for investors and business owners – it’s also a powerful recruitment tool. 

As private equity responds to changes in the investor landscape, the competition for new hires is hotting up. Bain comments that firms are “investing heavily in private wealth teams to provide frontline coverage, sales support, and investor services, which is creating a war for talent.”  

On the other side of the fence, Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey reveals that younger professionals are looking for more than salary. They want opportunities to grow, a healthy work/life balance, and meaningful work. Culture and values matter – and they expect employers to prove both. 

Gen Z are forecasted to make up over a quarter of the global workforce this year, so connecting with this younger crowd is critical. According to LinkedIn’s Future of Recruiting 2024, employer branding is the recruitment function expected to receive the biggest increase in spend for the second year running.  

But as Hung Lee, editor of the Recruiting Brainfood newsletter, points out, it’s not just about spending more. It’s about changing your approach.  

“Gen Z isn’t interested in snazzy marketing collateral. Employer branding efforts need to go away from post-production towards revealing employees’ work and experience at the company to a wider audience.” 

In other words, don’t just say you have a great culture – show it.  

Highlighting real people and raw moments beats slick videos and glossy promotional brochures almost every time. Platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn give firms a powerful way to pull back the curtain and share a glimpse of how they work, what they value, and who they really are.  

Take Blackstone. Its LinkedIn page is brimming with emoji-laden posts and candid video snippets that capture insights from its leaders in their more relatable moments, like a morning run.  Its annual Holiday videos may divide opinion, but they rack up millions of views, and showcase the firm’s personality in a way few others attempt. 

In a market where top talent can choose between PE, tech, hedge funds and startups, that kind of visibility makes a difference. 

It starts with a single step 

The digital bar is rising fast – and the firms that move early will have an advantage. 

The goal isn’t to go viral. It’s to be visible, credible, and human.
Start small. Stay consistent. Don’t try to be something you’re not.
Because in private equity today, social media isn’t a trend. It’s a test of relevance. 

 

Looking to grow your social media presence?  Get in touch.