ジーナ・アバティエロ
アートディレクター
Rebooting Dev on TikTok
Before March 2025, Microsoft Developer’s TikTok had a small following and only a handful of posts. After being recommended by our Education and Xbox clients, Microsoft tapped us to reboot the channel and build a developer community from the ground up. None of us were developers ourselves, but we dove in, learning the culture, finding the humor, and collaborating closely with our in-house dev team.
The ask: create always-on content that spoke the dev language while making Microsoft feel approachable and human.
The results
Within the first six months....
53K+
followers from just over 1K at launch
1.7M+
First-week views across videos
145K+
channel likes
9.5M+
total views
The channel’s scope more than tripled, scaling from 3 custom posts a month to 8+, plus 15 influencers onboarded in just one half.
Role: Art Director + Designer, Copywriter: Cailyn Wesstrom, Associate Creative Director: Justin Calubayan, Agency: Ayzenberg Group, Project Type: Social / Always-on Social
As an Art Director, I helped relaunch Microsoft Developer’s TikTok from the ground up, taking it from a few custom posts to a full, always-on channel. From concept to production, I shape edits, memes, and hype content that connect with developers and turn the account into one of Microsoft’s fastest-growing communities.
How it started
Within two weeks, even before content officially dropped, community management alone added 700+ followers.
Comments often outperformed months of engagement on Microsoft’s other platforms. Developers were surprised to see Microsoft show up in their space, and they noticed.
Our fantastic copywriter and community manager, Cailyn Wesstrom, did these.
Relaunch
We then relaunched with a handful of light, playful posts, simple edits, POV jokes, and culture-driven content.
Our launch content immediately resonated, with videos pulling in up to 84K+ views and double-digit engagement rates as high as 14%, proving that developers were ready for content that spoke their language.
How it's going
Momentum built quickly once we leaned into content that felt hyper-relevant to developers. What some call “brain rot,” the scroll-stopping, meme-driven edits Gen Z loves, turned out to be a powerful way to connect with our audience.
By speaking their language, we showed junior developers and students that Microsoft Developer isn’t just a resource, it’s their hype team.
The results back it up: videos like Commit: To Yourself pulled in over 330K views and a 15% engagement rate. The 1 a.m. video edit hit 168K views with 19K likes at 14% engagement, and our Steve Ballmer remix soared past 270K views and 20K likes. Each piece outperformed benchmarks and reinforced the idea that even lighthearted content can motivate when it’s authentic to the culture.
These aren’t just quick hits, they’re helping us build a stronger bond with the next generation of developers, making them feel seen, supported, and celebrated.
Today, and everyday
From community memes to everyday dev humor, Microsoft Developer now shows up daily in ways that feel human, approachable, and in tune with the culture.
