Many companies are aiming to expand into the German-speaking market, particularly through targeting German-speaking business professionals. In addition to using LinkedIn Advertisement, it is vital to amplify your business’s presence on the leading and most significant platform in the DACH market—XING.

XING is a direct competitor of LinkedIn in Germany

With 16 million users, it boasts a bigger user community than LinkedIn. Focusing only on the DACH markets, XING is a staple in online networking for German speakers. 47% of XING members hold various executive positions, providing a way to reach German decision-makers. Therefore, establishing your presence on this platform can really differentiate your business from others that are trying to penetrate the same markets.

On XING, users can create personal profiles as well as employer profiles. They can browse their feed, add contacts, and participate in various forums, groups, and events. Naturally, as the majority of users are German speakers, it is expected that communication and content creation on the platform are done in German.

The advertising options on XING are very similar to those on LinkedIn 

To start promoting, you need to register a business account and apply for XING AdManager. Once you gain access to this tool, you can create three types of paid promotion:

1. Sponsored posts - post ads displayed on the XING homepage (on desktop and mobile) among organic posts.
2. Lead Ads - iOS/Android-only ads to collect contact information and ask up to 3 additional questions to users. Ad headline, copy, motive, and call-to-action text all customizable.
3. Video Ads - Video post ads displayed on the XING homepage (on desktop and mobile) among organic posts.

With all these formats, you can target your audience based on job title, industry, activities, company size, region, and more. Additionally, there is no minimum spend required to start advertising with these formats which operate on either CPC or CPM buying modes.

XING also offers more premium formats of advertising

These are advertising options available to opt into outside of the XING AdManager, and they are communicated and bought directly from the XING team. As such, all these listings are co-branded with XING:

• Sponsored Mailings: brand message sent directly to the XING user’s mailboxf; from 30,000€ (for 3 mailings); have a retargeting option.
• Content Teaser: prominent banner displayed on the XING homepage; from 3,000 to 5,000€.
• Sponsored Articles: publication of customer articles on the XING homepage and in the XING industry newsletter; from 10,500€ (max. 3 articles); targeting through industries.

While the XING AdManager has its own dashboard for reporting, it is possible to connect your campaigns to Google Analytics using UTM tags.

Entering a new market can be a challenging task. If you would like to get direct help with expanding into the German-speaking market through XING and other related platforms, do not hesitate to contact MGWW.