#85 Jeff Fritz: 3 Ways Microsoft is Thinking Creatively to Drive Partner Engagement

Microsoft has built a lot of great alliances, but they’re not stopping there.

They’ve come up with quite a few innovative ways to go one step further, driving engagement for their partners and making sure their partner ecosystem serves its clients well.

On the latest episode of Ecosystem Aces, Jeff Fritz, Senior Program Manager on the Microsoft .NET team, joined us to tell us all about it.

Meet customers where they are

Most of us consider support as writing support articles or responding to forum posts.

Millions of folks are using their development tools — people who are building applications, whether for the web, their mobile devices, their desktops … whatever it might be. Microsoft wanted to get their partners to support whenever and wherever they need it.

Here’s what they did.

Microsoft started hosting morning talk shows on Twitch

Yes, the gaming platform!

During these talk shows, Microsoft would show off their technology. They taught folks how to interact with new product features, and gave customers a chance to demo the technology and ask questions.

They also started hosting ‘code parties’

Conferences are infamous for the parties that come with them. Brands set up interactive experiences, all designed to showcase their products. That's nice for attendees that are in-person, but what about for those watching online?

Microsoft wanted to do something that drove engagement for those customers tuning in from afar.

So, at this year’s .NET conference, they hosted a “code party.”

The goal? 

To open up the doors and encourage interaction with their partner's products. 

Oh, and the hosted a scavenger hunt

How Microsoft used a scavenger hunt to promote their partners

As a kid, did you ever go on a scavenger hunt? Maybe you had to run to the local gas station and bring back a pack of M&Ms, or maybe you had to hunt down a four-leaf clover.

Well, that’s exactly what Microsoft did for their channel partners — they put together a scavenger hunt.

They put together 10 little challenges with clues that would read something like this:

"Hey, go try out this company's product. Install it, and perform this task. Oh, and because you're using the special version for this event, there's going to be a secret code that pops up when you try the product. Come back to the chat room and tell us what that code is to receive a prize.”

This scavenger hunt drove tons of engagement — and not just web page viewership. People downloaded the products and demoed them. 

Real engagement.

Listen to the podcast here.

To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast, or visit our dedicated Ecosystem Aces page. 

To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about alliances, he can be reached by:

• Email: chip@workspan.com
• Twitter: @chiprodgers
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chiprodgers