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# Case Study: Taikun and DevRel As Service

Taikun is a Kubernetes management and cloud-native platform designed to streamline infrastructure operations. Over a six-month engagement, Taikun partnered with [Devrel As Service](https://devrelasservice.com) to elevate brand awareness, drive inbound interest, and enhance community engagement among Kubernetes and cloud-native audiences. This case study highlights how [Devrel As Service](https://devrelasservice.com) developed and executed a holistic developer relations and marketing strategy to produce tangible outcomes for Taikun.

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## Goals

- **Increase brand visibility** within the Kubernetes and cloud-native communities
- **Generate quality leads** by showcasing Taikun’s capabilities at conferences, meetups, and online communities
- **Establish strategic partnerships** with key ecosystem players
- **Enhance content marketing efforts** through high-value blog posts, webinars, and demos
- **Refine marketing operations** to enable sustainable scaling

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## Key Achievements at a Glance
- **Web Traffic**: 750% new active/unique users, total 1300% page views, event counts
- **Event Participation**: Organizer/Speaker presence at KCD UK 2024, Sustainability Week London 2024, and DevFest London 2024; Startup Sponsorship at KubeCon EU 2025; multiple speaking slots at top-tier industry events
- **Partnerships & Collaborations**: Initiated and reestablished collaborations with notable organizations (Loft Labs, Fermyon, CNCF, Ferret DB, Exoscale)
- **Marketing Tools Implementation**: Introduced 15+ tools, including Navattic for live demos and Mintlify for advanced docs
- **Content Strategy**: 30+ blogs published covering Kubernetes, platform engineering, vCluster integrations, and more; expanded reach through LinkedIn, X, Devto, Reddit, Hacker News, and personal newsletters
- **Recruitment & Leadership**: Interviewed and onboarded marketing specialists; improved internal marketing workflows and communication channels

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## Delivering an Outcome-Based Engagement***

### Strategizing Community Visibility

From day one, [DevRel As Service](https://devrelasservice.com) and Taikun established success metrics to measure tangible impact:

1. **Event Presence**: Target a predetermined number of speaking opportunities, both online and in-person.
2. **Partnership Development**: Grow Taikun’s collaboration network to position it as a go-to Kubernetes solution.
3. **Content Production**: Publish regular thought-leadership material to build credibility and drive new user adoption.

Within the first month, we secured a vCluster Marketing Collaboration with Loft Labs, laying the foundation for further partnerships. Onboarded the European Cloud partner named Exoscale. We also reignited previous conversations with Fermyon and brought CNCF in as a promotional partner, ensuring Taikun’s name reached the cloud-native community in a credible way.

### Phase 1: Brand Awareness

**Conferences and Meetups**
- Organized and/or spoke at Kubernetes Community Days (KCD) UK 2024, Sustainability Week London 2024, DevFest London 2024, and more, demonstrating Taikun’s industry thought leadership.
- Secured KubeCon EU 2025 Startup Sponsorship at a reduced cost (half the value of Silver Sponsorship), delivering immediate ROI on event investments.

**Community Engagement**
- Published 24 high-value blogs on Kubernetes best practices, sustainability tech, and emerging trends like Wasm.
- Reshared detail-specific posts to multiple developer communities (LinkedIn, X, DailyDev, Devto, Reddit subreddits, Hacker News), avoiding platform violations through platform-tailored descriptions.

### Phase 2: Deeper Ecosystem Integration

**Strategic Partnerships**
- Activated collaborations with Ferret DB and reestablished ties with Fermyon for future marketing campaigns.
- Introduced Taikun to new contacts (**Nscale, Senser, Exoscale, JP Morgan, etc**.) to expand potential user base.

**Marketing Infrastructure**
- Implemented **Navattic** for interactive product demos, boosting lead engagement.
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- Secured a complimentary Mintlify subscription from founder, saving approximately US $1,800/year, woven into [Taikun’s docs ecosystem](https://docs.taikun.cloud).
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- Implemented **[Ghost Blogging Platform](https://blog.taikun.cloud)** for a fast, user-friendly publishing experience.
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- Replaced a paid analytics tool with a free Plausible and PostHog plan integrated into HubSpot, cutting operational costs.

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## Results
0. **Leadership Activities**
- Led the **vCluster Native** Integration in Taikun CloudWorks Platform.
- Led the **Product Management and Marketing Activities** for Taikun CloudWorks.
- Led the **Import Clusters Feature Launch** that competes with Industry Leaders for Kubernetes Management Solution.
1. **Traffic & Engagement**
- Achieved **750%** new active/unique users, total **1300%** page views, driven partly by conference appearances and online content.
- Recorded record highest event counts, reflecting high levels of user interaction and interest in Taikun’s services.
- Grew social following significantly with LinkedIn increasing 600% and Twitter expanding 250%.

2. **Enhanced Reputation**
- Over **24** blog posts strengthened Taikun’s image as a knowledge hub on Kubernetes.
- Partnerships with leading OSS projects & Cloud Providers (**Loft Labs, CNCF, Exoscale, Ferret DB**) legitimized Taikun’s brand.

3. **Expanded Operations**
- Successfully onboarded new marketing operations personnel who streamlined Taikun’s internal communication, social media, and HubSpot workflows.
- Introduced new tools and processes, demonstrating a significant upgrade in the marketing tech stack and documentation practices.

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## Suggestions for Ongoing Success

- **Marketing Goals**: Define clear, measurable objectives to guide partnership, event, and content decisions.
- **Clear Reporting Lines**: Clarify responsibilities (e.g., for newsletters) to optimize collaboration between marketing and leadership teams.
- **Enhanced Web Pages**: Finalize ecosystem, partner, and webinar/event pages to mirror Taikun’s market presence.
- **Social Media Cadence**: Aim for at least five posts per week to maintain engagement.
- **Live Demos & Livestreams**: Integrate more real-time product showcases to keep the community involved.
- **Navattic Improvements**: Elevate the interactive demos with user feedback in mind.
- **Revamp Old Content**: Refresh existing blogs to align with current keywords, best practices, and branding.

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## Looking Ahead

Our partnership with Taikun exemplifies [DevRel As Service](https://devrelasservice.com)’s commitment to enabling high-growth companies to connect with valuable developer audiences. By focusing on concrete objectives and leveraging specialized industry connections, we successfully boosted Taikun’s brand awareness, facilitated strategic partnerships, and improved marketing operations—all within six months.

We look forward to continuing our relationship with Taikun to further expand their community reach and deepen their industry impact.

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You can choose of our pre-designed plans available on [website](https://www.devrelasservice.com/pricing) or design your own partnership with [DevRel As Service](https://devrelasservice.com) by reaching out to us today.

We connect fast-growing DevOps and cloud-native companies with the most valuable audiences in tech.
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