How to buzz with XING - Ambuzzador

How to buzz with XING
Vienna, August 2009
© ambuzzador marketing gmbh

Intro
Welcome to our latest ambuzzador social media guide. This time we focus on the well
known business network Xing.
On the next few pages we show why social media and business networks are important and
why Xing is an important player in this area. Furthermore we will show you the first – basic –
steps in Xing. Explaining a profile, the basic functions of your dashboard and how to use
Xing from a company‘s point of view.
Since we do explain some steps in particular, we do not explain every single site or step on
Xing. We believe that everybody is able to handle the very basic steps himself. If we did
miss some points or simply did not mention some important facts, please feel free to get
back to us any time. Since it is our first „Xing guide“ we know that there might be missing
something– but we are keen to learn and do better next time
ambuzzador marketing gmbh, August 2009
2

Agenda
• Social Media
• Xing
• Business Networks
• Social Media Map
• Why Xing
• You @ Xing
• Dashboard
• Profile
• Enterprise Solutions @ Xing
• Conversation @ Xing
• Tools @ Xing
• Conclusion
3

Agenda
• Social Media
• Xing
• Business Networks
• Social Media Map
• Why Xing
• You @ Xing
• Dashboard
• Profile
• Enterprise Solutions @ Xing
• Conversation @ Xing
• Tools @ Xing
• Conclusion
4

Why Social Media?
Social
Gamers
Virtual
Worlds
MMO
Publish
Social
Media
•Study: Wave 4 – Power to the people, July 2009
The graphic contains only an example of social media platforms
Share
Livecast Microblog
Lifestream
Discuss
Social
Networks
• Social Media enables Companies
and Brands to become more
personal.
• Social Media is the best way to
upload, create and share content.
• There are many possibilities to
participate within social media
(networks, sharing, casts, publishing,
etc.)
There are 625 million active
internet users worldwide. About
71% of them uses social media.*
5

Why Social / Business Networks
Social Networks
• Opportunity for companies / interested parties to communicate directly
• Exchange possibilities with other members
• Social Networks become the focus of Social Media since they embed more
and more social media features within their platforms (e.g. video & media
sharing).*
• Since people tend to use Social Networks, Business Networks are becoming
more and more common too.
• Business Networks help to connect people of similar interests with each other
– without being actively on the search.
• But looking actively for interessting contacts won‘t hurt either, of course ;-)
* Study: Wave 4 – Power to the people, July 2009
6

Social Media Map | Germany
Userzahlen
+
-
+
Special Interest
> 4,6 Mio
Update: June 2009
> 1,2 Mio
> 5,3 Mio
> 2,3 Mio
> 3,2 Mio
Business
Networking
> 470.000
>300.000
> 60.000
> 3,1 Mio
Zielgruppenspezifisch
> 5,7 Mio
> 4,9 Mio
Private
Networking
> 870.000
> 300.000
> 5,2 Mio
> 3,2 Mio
> 900.000
> 430.000
> 240.000
> 7,0 Mio
Sharing
Platforms
> 2.6 Mio
> 1.3 Mio
-
7

Social Media Map | Austria
Users
+
-
+
Special
Interest
> 375.000 Mio
> 30.000
Update: July 2009
> 170.000
Business
Networking
> 300.000
> 150.000
> 60.000
> 6.600
> 813.640
> 550.000
specific target audience
> 65.000
Networking
> 630.000
> 450.000
> 30.000
> 175.000
> 470.000
> 25.000
Sharing
Plattforms
>570.000
> 560.000
> 180.00
-
8

Social Media Map | Switzerland
Users
+
-
+
Special Interest
> 290.000
>84.000
Update: June 2009
> 190.000
> 72.000
> 290.000
Business
Networking
> 110.000
Special interest
> 40.000
> 350.000
> 120.000
> 1,5 Mio
Private
Networking
> 42.000
> 430.000
> 350.000
> 1,3 Mio
Sharing
Platforms
> 760.000
> 150.000
> 140.000
-
9

Agenda
• Social Media
• Xing
• Business Networks
• Social Media Map
• Why Xing
• You @ Xing
• Dashboard
• Profile
• Enterprise Solutions @ Xing
• Conversation @ Xing
• Groups
• Direct Msg
• Guestbook
• Tools @ Xing
• Conclusion
10

Why Xing
http://www.xing.com
A B
C
Basic Xing idea
• B knows A
• B knows C
• C needs what A offers
• B introduces A to C
• A & C start networking
• fastest growing and biggest business network
in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and most of
Europe
• more than 8.0 millon users worldwide
• more than 90% of all members log in
regularly
• Xing is available in 16 languages – leading to
international contacts
• possibility to embed own files on profile and
to offer interaction possibilities
• applications for work
Sources: http://blog.freshnetworks.com/2009/02/facebook-is-the-most-visited-social-network-and-twitter-is-third/, http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
11

Xing Dashboard
First Contact
• When logging in to Xing, the first screen that
appears is the one on the right side. From here
you can coordinate every action on Xing. The
1 menu bar at the top enables you to browse
through different sections and the dashboard
itself gives you a brief overview about what‘s
going on in your network
• The focus lies on the biggest box called „what‘s
2 new in your network“. Here you can see what
has changed at your contacts‘ profiles – as long
as they did not disable this feature in their
privacy settings.
• Beyond the big box there are two further boxes
3 showing a) the latest Xing members and
4 b) members you may know based upon your
(former) companies and your contacts. This is
thought to get networking started. So try it out by
clicking through some profiles.
• On the right hand side there are some smaller
boxes leading you to your inbox or pending
5
contact requests or to the lately released Xing
6
applications.
2
1
3
My personal dashboard – yours might differ
depending on the boxes you selected to
appear and your personal order of them
4
12
5
6

Xing Dashboard
Info boxes
1
2
3
• Further down on the front page there
1 are even more boxes with even more
information. If this is to much for you
simply delete the boxes you don‘t want
to see. Of course it is also possible to
rearrange all of those boxes until your
dashboard looks the way you want it to.
• On the right hand side you get the
2 chance to invite friends or business
contacts to become a contact on Xing.
• Beyond the quick invite box and the
Xing ad (if your are a free member)
there is a box showing your contacts.
3
Direct contacts, contacts of contacts
and 3rd degree contacts are shown.
Especially the last number is mostly
pretty impressive
13

Xing Dashboard
More info boxes
• Even more info boxes ;-) Just have a look
1
what you need or want to see and decide by
yourself what makes sense the most
• The boxes at the bottom of the dashboard
represent, in this case, the new invented Xing
2 applications. There is, once more, the chance
to drag them wherever you want them to be on
your dashboard.
2
1
14

Dashboard @ Xing
Applications
• As mentioned before applications are shown in
boxes as well.
• Since Xing just started the applications channel
a few weeks ago, it is expected that the amount
of available applications will increase as time
goes by.
• Most of the applications that are not
developed by Xing, need a registration with
their provider. (can be done right away)
15

You @ Xing
Your Profile
When your done with setting up your dashboard it
comes to you! How would you like to be found at
Xing? That is exactly what it is all about. Your
personal profile.
This is a Xing Profile how it looks like when you‘re
looking on it without being logged in. It shows a lot,
but not everything (e.g. address).
Of course you can choose what you want to be
displayed and what should stay hidden.
We will walk through this on the next few pages
Furthermore Xing offers two different
memberships. A free membership and a
premium membership. I will try to mention the
differences right where they appear so that you can
decide whether becoming a premium member would
be worth it or staying free is enough.
16

You @ Xing
Let‘s start with the first impression – photo and current position.
1 2 3 4
• In Addition to the points named before, there are also some
interesting links on top of your profile. Those links show
3 different results. For example who came to your profile
because auf your latest changes. Which other member fits
best your wants or haves. etc. But more on this, later on
• On the very right hand side there is a box showing your
status message (if you are a premium member), the
4
reasons why you joined Xing and some editoral options.
• Everything that is shown here can be, of course, edited and
deleted. Everytime.
• On top of each profile there is a name
1 and a picture. Just to get to know the
person one is talking to. Of course there
is no need to put a picture on Xing – but
it definitely makes a profile more
personal.
2
• Furthermore the current position is
displayed so that everybody can see
what you are doing and where you are
working – unless you don‘t want to
provide this information.
Take home message
Take your time to complete your
profile. Don‘t hurry. You will have the
advantage afterwards
17

1
2
3
You @ Xing
Your Profile
• When looking down there appears a
navigation bar. Here you can choose
1 between the available subpages. But
obviously, the pre selected business
detail page, is the most interesting.
• When staying on the business detail
page, this is the first time you can specify
2 what you are looking for, what you are
offering and what your interests are. No
need to hurry. Be as exact as you like.
This makes matching way more easy.
• Beyond your information goes your
background. Current Position at the top.
Same over here: Be precise, so that
3 everybody knows what you‘re talking
about
18

1
2
3
You @ Xing
Your Profile
As mentioned in the beginning: Xing gives you full control of your data (everything
else would be disappointing). So you can choose what should be found on the web
and on your profile. All this can be edited in the „privacy“ settings section which we
will focus on in a few pages (page 21)
• The next step in your CV is, if you are a
premium member, to enter your references
1 & awards. Tell the world how good you are
– that‘s what Xing is for ;-)
• A little deeper you can add and display your
educational background in order to show
your expertise.
•2 The last point on this photo shows you the
„web section“. A place where you can add
other web presences you would like to be
found by people that are interested in you.
You can provide profiles to Communities,
Websitelinks, Blogs or even your Twitter-
Site.
• On the very bottom there is a field „contact
details“ showing all of your entered contact
3
possibilities. Whether it is your working
address, icq, msn, skype or your private
telephonenumber.
19

You @ Xing
Your Profile
As mentioned in the beginning: Xing gives you full control of
your data (everything else would be disappointing). So you
can choose what should be found on the web and on your
profile. All this can be edited in the „privacy“ settings section
which we will focus on in a few pages (page 21)
• On the very right hand side, beyond the ad (if
you are a free member) pop up three further
boxes.
• The first box shows the number of your
contacts and 7 of them with pictures. This is
1 pretty random so do not worry about who is
being displayed and who not.
• The next box tells whether you are a free or a
premium member, shows profile hits, your
2 entry date and your „activity meter“ which
basically represents how often you log in to
your Xing profile.
• The last box gives a short excerpt of all of
your groups. Once more do not worry about
3
the way they are displayed
20

You @ Xing
Privacy Settings
• Remember when I was telling you on the
last pages „you can edit this and edit
that“? Right here is the place to do so
• Under „home > settings“ there are all
the pages that you need in order to pimp
your profile. You can edit your login
data, your personal data, the
notification settings, your language
and, of course, your privacy settings.
• As you can see in the photo on the left,
the privacy settings page gives you a
lot of space to customize your profile. It
is recommended to take your time and
think about what you want to be
displayed in public and what not. But, of
course, changes can be made
everytime.
21

Agenda
• Social Media
• Xing
• Business Networks
• Social Media Map
• Why Xing
• You @ Xing
• Dashboard
• Profile
• Enterprise Solutions @ Xing
• Conversation @ Xing
• Tools @ Xing
• Conclusion
22

Xing enterprise solutions
• Xing enterprise solutions is the
place to go for companies in
order to use Xing as professional
tool
• Xing devides its solution into 4
parts:
• Recruting
• Advertising
• Market
• Community
23

Recruiting @ Xing
• Xing Jobs makes it possible to reach
highly qualified and actively searching
people
• The Xing matching system displays
suitable jobs on candidates‘ home page.
• 1 job searchers can search active using the
job listings and search functions.
• 2 job searchers can receive latest job listings
by email or browse them
3
• Job searcher sees tags that match his
profile as well as the most recent offers and
the most active companies.
1
2
3
24

Recruiting @ Xing
• If your business is in the need for more
job postings, Xing offers contact
possiblities in order to negotiate about
bulk postings
• Posting vacant jobs on Xing is quite
simple and easy to handle
• It‘s all on a pay per click basis
• One click is 0,49 EUR
• You can limit the clicks (e.g. to
200 so that you don‘t have to pay
more than 200 x 0,49 EUR)
• When a job posting reaches the limit,
it will be deactivated
• In order to post jobs, you have to be
premium member & you have to have
„jobs account“ on Xing
• Each premium member receives 10
free clicks per month
• Repeated clicks in a certain span
25

Advertising @ Xing
• Xing offers highly targeted advertising
opportunities.
• In order to use this opportunities you have to
get in contact with Adconion Media Group
since they are managing all ads on Xing.
• Adconion offers a variety of advertising
media (basically banners). If you are
interested you can download their specs and
have a closer look at it.
26

Market @ Xing
• Xing best offers is a possibility to bring
exclusive deals to the Xing audience.
• Most exclusive deals are for premium
members, but some are for basic members
too.
• If you want to offer your services / products
at Xing you need to apply online. Xing will
then get back to you.
27

Community @ Xing
• Xing enterprise groups enable to create
communities within Xing.
• Easy to manage, develop and monitor
• Enterprise groups biggest advantages may be:
• Networking & information gathering
• Talk to customers , colleagues or other
related members
• Employer branding
• Stay focused on talents and keep in touch
with applicants and alumni
• Exclusivity
• You decide who can join the group
• Brand presence
• Represent your brand
• Let high potentials and decission makers
network
• Organization
• Organize events with the Xing event tool
28

Xing Enterprise Groups
• Key features of Xing enterprise groups are:
• Individual design
• Embed your own logos
• Multilanguage forums
• Implement content via HTML or iFrame
• Embed external RSS Feeds
• Play video – or audio files & upload
documents
• Easy handling
• Search within the group
• Export member data as xls or csv
• Html newsletter
• Organization via Xing Calendar Tool
• Services
• Microsite in brand design & with own URL
(http://groupname.xing.com)
• Tracking & Statistics
• Workshops
• Best Practice Documents
29

Xing Enterprise Groups
Best Practice (Germany)
• http://vwi.xing.com
• CI Branding
• Custom Header
• People can join Xing
group from microsite
30

Agenda
• Social Media
• Xing
• Business Networks
• Social Media Map
• Why Xing
• You @ Xing
• Dashboard
• Profile
• Enterprise Solutions @ Xing
• Conversation @ Xing
• Tools @ Xing
• Conclusion
31

Communication @ Xing
Direct Messages
• When you are on Xing there are different
communication possibilities. First of all you can
write in a guestbook when you are on a profile. This
might be not the best way to contact somebody
since those entries are not very likely to be read in
time du to the fact that there is no information email
sent to a user when he receives a new entry.
• Another way is to write a direct mail to a user you
just identified as an interesting contact. The only
problem on this: You need to be a Premium Member
in order to write to other members. Once the
conversation is started, you can reply without a
premium membership.
• Next possibility is to send contact requests. With
each contact request you have the chance to add a
few lines explaining why you want to connect (when
your are a premium member, there is more space for
explanations).
Messaging with different options on the right hand
side (blocking, showing contact details, etc.)
32

Communication @ Xing
Groups
Xing Group – https://www.xing.com/net/buzzattack/
• Furthermore there is the chance to get in touch via
groups. Xing offers a variety of groups. By joining
them and participating actively you will get in touch
with interesting members automatically.
• Xing groups are a perfect place to start
conversations. There are groups for almlost
everybody‘s taste. Professional groups focusing on
business details, fun groups, sports groups,
website testing groups, etc….Of course there are a
lot of groups that do not make sense at all. But
that‘s the thing with social networks ;-) But, as
mentioned before, there are even more that make
sense. So simply join and have fun. It‘s going to
be worth it – most times ;-)
33

How to communicate – Xing Cheat Sheet
dm / contacts
• dm = direct message
• youse dm with care.
No commercials!
• Do not add people if
you only want to sell
• always bring
something to the table!
• even though it‘s a
network, it‘s still
business!
polite
groups
• select groups of
interest
• participate!
• add value to the
conversations
• do not youse groups
to self-promote
• it‘s ok to present your
stuff once in a while as
long as you‘re active
participate
enterprise groups
• do not spam with
product information
• create a place to talk
and have conversation
• have input for
conversations
• specials for group
members will help to let
them stay happy ;-)
no commercials
profile
• provide as much
information as you want
– the more the better
• stick to relevant
information
• always respond in
time! There is no need
to let people wait.
relevancy
do not „do“ social media – be part of it – live it
overall
• don‘t consider Xing as
just another network
• it‘s still business
• stick to „normal“
language. (no rofls, lols
or whatever)
• it’s about give-andtake
participate
actively
34

Agenda
• Social Media
• Xing
• Business Networks
• Social Media Map
• Why Xing
• You @ Xing
• Dashboard
• Profile
• Enterprise Solutions @ Xing
• Conversation @ Xing
• Tools @ Xing
• Conclusion
35

Example for applications – Twitter Buzz
• As mentioned in the „dashboar section“ at the
beginning of this guide, there are a lot of applications
that can be added to your profile.
• Twitter Buzz (screenshot) is just one of them.
• With Twitter Buzz Xing searches twitter‘s public
timeline for topics of your interest. Usually it takes the
topics out of your profile – but you can delete or add
topcis of course
• When seeing someone talking about topics your are
interested in, you can contact them via twitter – just
another way to do networking
• Twitter Buzz is only one very good example of how
usefull Xing applications can be if you take your time
to get into it
Twitter Buzz
36

Agenda
• Social Media
• Xing
• Business Networks
• Social Media Map
• Why Xing
• You @ Xing
• Dashboard
• Profile
• Enterprise Solutions @ Xing
• Conversation @ Xing
• Groups
• Direct Msg
• Guestbook
• Tools@ Xing
• Conclusion
37

• Xing is definitely a platform to be on. At least in Europe there is no other choice for
• Business Networking.
• Do not think of Xing as just another social network. It is still business.
• It might take some time to get into it, but it will pay out.
• If you want to learn more about how to act on XING, in Social Media in general or what‘s it
all about this thing called buzz marketing – join our group, we‘re looking forward to seeing
you there!
• https://www.xing.com/net/buzzattack/
38

Glossary XING
• Link
Connection between two websites. When clicking on a link the „linked“ website will be
opened.
• Live Networking Events
Live Events organized via Xing. Social get togethers
• Moderators
Xing-Members, that have an eye on selected Xing groups.
• Networking
What you‘re doing on Xing ;-)
• Personal Data
Information like age, gender, ethic background, etc.
• Posting
What you say in a group or forum
• Premium-Membership
Membership for which you‘ll get billed
39

Glossary XING
• Professionals
People with experience in a certain field of work
• Professional Networking
Networking on a professional basis
• Social Networking
Creating social contacts within networks
• Web 2.0
Web 2.0 means the interactive techniques and services offered through use of the
internet. Furthermore it is the change of how the internet is experienced. Focus on Social
Communities and platforms. Web 2.0 puts the user in the central place of the focus.
• Webbased
Applications that don‘t need to be installed. They are running on the server of the
application provider and do not need local installation.
40

Sources
• http://www.checkfacebook.com/
• http://www.openpr.de/news/318553/AGOF-01-2009-KWICK-legt-groesstes-Wachstum-im-
Community-Bereich-hin.html
• http://www.deutsche-startups.de/2009/06/08/zweinull-trends-twitter-ist-nur-einvoruebergehender-hype/
• https://www.google.com/adplanner/planning
• http://agof.de/
• http://www.openpr.de/
• http://www.christian-laux.de/2009/03/19/wer-kennt-wen-fuhrende-community-in-der-agof/
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© ambuzzador marketing gmbh