#99 — Developer "Marketing"
July 31, 2025•6 min read
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The big picture: Developer tools and API companies are having a moment, but building a strong developer brand requires throwing out traditional B2B marketing tactics and understanding that developers operate fundamentally differently from other buyers.
Why it matters: Companies like Stripe, Plaid (acquired for $5.3B), and Segment (acquired for $3.2B) prove that winning over developers can create massive value — but only if you approach them correctly from day one.
The fundamental shift you need to make
Forget everything you know about B2B marketing. Traditional techniques catastrophically fail with developers because this community actively resists anything that resembles conventional marketing.
Why traditional B2B marketing backfires:
- They hate marketing: Developers are naturally skeptical and will immediately identify and reject sales tactics
- No lead magnets work: They won't download whitepapers, attend webinars, or click link-bait
- They want immediate access: Remove any barriers between them and your product — they'll evaluate it themselves
- They're natural fact-checkers: Like investigative reporters, they'll scrutinize every claim you make
- Speed matters: The two mortal sins are sharing inaccurate information and slowing them down
The core mindset shift: Think community building (goal: engagement) not marketing (goal: lead generation → sales).
The psychology behind developer loyalty
Developers are famously loyal — if they love your product, they become powerful evangelists within their communities. This happens because:
- They're online 24/7, actively engaged in technical communities
- They work through problems collaboratively with peers
- They genuinely want to help other developers succeed
- Early community investment pays massive dividends as your developer base grows and evangelizes organically
The 5 non-negotiable rules for developer marketing
Rule 1: Show, don't tell
"Talk is cheap. Show me the code." —Linus Torvalds
- Remove every barrier to product access — no lead capture forms, no demos, no sales calls
- Let them experience your product immediately and decide for themselves
- Example: Plaid put API key download links on every page of their website, regardless of where developers landed
Rule 2: Features, not benefits
This completely contradicts traditional marketing wisdom, but it's essential for developers.
- Be direct about specs and feature comparisons against competitors
- Don't make them imagine how life will be better — they want technical facts
- Skip the journey: Taking developers through emotional benefit narratives wastes their time
- Critical warning: Everything you say must be 100% accurate. In Accenture's 2017 survey of 752 developers, technically accurate and up-to-date content ranked as the most important elements in a developer ecosystem
Rule 3: Be genuinely helpful
Position yourself as a trusted technical guide, not a vendor.
- Invest heavily in documentation: Comprehensive, high-quality API docs are non-negotiable
- Create well-maintained help centers, how-to videos, and sample use cases
- Make it easy to contact you directly for help (though most won't ask)
- Key insight: Timely, knowledgeable support was the next most important factor in the Accenture survey
Rule 4: Be direct and precise
Developers are obsessed with precision — a single error in code can be fatal, so they have zero tolerance for mistakes in your communication.
- Write like you're talking to one specific developer you know personally
- Hacker News standard: If you can't say it in a tweet, cut more words
- Zero tolerance: Spelling and grammar errors instantly destroy credibility
- Avoid being salesy, but don't be so cold that you forget to be human
Rule 5: Think beyond 9-to-5
Many developers code outside work hours on side projects ranging from hacking dishwashers to building marketplaces.
- Support their personal projects and experiments
- Provide technical examples and inspiration for non-work applications
- Remember: Especially with remote work, the lines between work and personal coding time blur
- Engage across all their online communities, not just during business hours
Your hiring and team-building roadmap
Early stage (Pre-product-market fit)
Founders should handle developer engagement themselves — there's no better product expert than the creator.
- Your tasks: Answer questions on Twitter, Hacker News, Stack Overflow, community Slack channels
- Why this works: Direct founder-developer engagement is invaluable for both sides
- Don't hire yet: It's difficult to justify dedicated community hires at this stage
Growth stage (Ready for dedicated hire)
Hire from within your developer community when possible.
- Look for people who are already engaged with your product
- Minimum requirement: Conversational fluency in technical language used by your developers
- Role evolution: Transition from mostly responding to requests to facilitating discussion among community members
- Gold standard: Patrick McKenzie (patio11) formerly at Stripe and John Cutler formerly at Amplitude exemplify best-in-class developer relations
Scale stage (Building full teams)
Create dedicated developer advocacy and evangelism teams.
- Technical requirements: Should be able to navigate and edit documentation
- Core competency: Working knowledge of technical language, but not necessarily deep engineering skills
- Essential trait: Genuine passion for helping developers succeed in their jobs
- Reference: Check out first-hand accounts from Twilio "devangels" for role inspiration
Measuring success and ROI
The hard truth: Like brand marketing, developer relations ROI is difficult to measure and often comes years later in unexpected ways.
Metrics that matter:
- Developer satisfaction scores
- Community engagement levels (tweet by tweet, event by event)
- Developer retention rates
- Long-term conversions to paid versions
- Upsell tracking over time
The patience requirement:
Building developer communities happens incrementally with little immediate reward. Most brands either:
- Abandon efforts too early, or
- Continuously delay starting (most common mistake)
Key insight: You're building relationships, and relationships can't be rushed or easily quantified.
The business case for developer marketing
The numbers speak for themselves:
- Stripe: America's most valuable private tech startup
- Plaid: $5.3 billion acquisition by Visa
- Segment: $3.2 billion acquisition by Twilio
Market trend: More successful exits of developer tools will create more new startups and investors wanting to fund them, but the demand for skilled developer marketers far exceeds supply.
Common pitfalls to avoid
- Applying B2B playbooks: Traditional lead generation tactics will backfire spectacularly
- Hiring too early: Wait until you can justify dedicated community resources
- Rushing the process: Community building requires immense patience
- Accuracy shortcuts: One false claim destroys years of credibility building
- Forgetting the human element: Balance directness with genuine helpfulness
- 9-to-5 thinking: Developers code around the clock across global time zones
Your next steps
- If you're technical: Start engaging directly with developers using your product across all relevant online communities
- If you're non-technical: Learn this audience immediately — it's a massive career opportunity as demand exceeds supply
- Before hiring: Ensure any marketing hires understand the fundamental differences between developer and traditional B2B marketing
- Set expectations: Prepare for a long-term investment with delayed but potentially massive returns
The bottom line: Developer marketing isn't just different from B2B marketing — it's the opposite in many ways. Success requires genuine technical credibility, authentic helpfulness, and the patience to build relationships one developer at a time. But for companies that master this approach, the potential for creating massive value is proven.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it actually take to see results from developer marketing efforts?
Building developer communities happens tweet by tweet and event by event with little reward in the beginning. The main thing to understand is that this requires immense patience - payback often comes years down the road. Many brands abandon their efforts too early or continuously delay their start. Successful developer-focused companies typically see meaningful engagement in 6-12 months, but significant business impact may take 2-3 years as developers evaluate thoroughly before committing.
When exactly should I hire my first developer relations person instead of doing it myself as founder?
Founders should handle developer engagement themselves at the earliest stages when it's difficult to justify dedicated community hires. Once you have consistent developer inquiries and community discussions that consume more than 20% of founder time, consider hiring. Most successful companies make their first DevRel hire between 20-100 employees, with technical fluency being more important than traditional marketing experience.
What's the biggest mistake B2B marketers make when transitioning to developer marketing?
The biggest mistake is applying traditional B2B lead generation tactics. Traditional B2B marketing techniques fail spectacularly because developers are resistant to anything that looks, sounds, or smells like marketing. They won't download whitepapers, attend webinars, or click link-bait. The core mindset shift required is thinking community building (goal: engagement) not marketing (goal: lead generation → sales).
How do successful companies like Stripe and Plaid actually measure developer marketing ROI?
Like brand marketing initiatives, it's difficult to measure ROI on developer relations because payback often comes years down the road in unexpected ways. Companies track developer satisfaction, engagement, and retention to gauge performance, plus eventual conversions to paid versions and upsells over time. Focus on engagement metrics over traditional MQLs - API calls, documentation page views, GitHub stars, and community participation are better indicators than email signups.
What technical skills do I actually need to hire effective developer marketers?
Your developer marketing hire should have conversational fluency in the technical language used by your developers at minimum. They should be able to navigate and edit documentation, but don't necessarily need deep engineering skills. Most importantly, they need genuine passion for helping developers succeed in their jobs. When possible, hire from within your developer community - Patrick McKenzie at Stripe exemplifies best-in-class developer relations.
How do I avoid the 'accuracy trap' that kills credibility with developers?
Everything you say about your product must be 100% accurate and stand up to scrutiny. In Accenture's 2017 survey of 752 developers, technically accurate and up-to-date content ranked as the most important elements in a developer ecosystem. Developers are natural fact-checkers who will scrutinize every claim. One false claim destroys years of credibility building. Zero tolerance for spelling and grammar errors is also critical - developers are obsessed with precision.
Should I focus on paid advertising or organic content for developer marketing?
Start with organic content and community building as developers are naturally resistant to paid advertising. Focus on creating comprehensive documentation, technical tutorials, and code examples that rank for developer-specific search queries. When you do use paid advertising, target technical keywords with precise, feature-focused ad copy rather than benefit-driven messaging.
What are the most effective content types for ranking in Google for developer marketing in 2025?
Create technical tutorials, comprehensive API documentation, and code examples that answer specific developer problems. Focus on long-tail keywords like 'how to integrate [your API] with [popular framework]' rather than broad terms. Include practical code snippets, troubleshooting guides, and comparison content - developers search for precise technical solutions, not marketing fluff.
How do I create developer content that actually ranks on Google and drives adoption?
Focus on technical precision and specific implementation details developers actually search for, like supported programming languages, frameworks, and integration patterns. Create comprehensive tutorials with working code examples - these perform exceptionally well in search results. Use developer-specific language in headings and include FAQ sections that answer technical questions directly.
What's the difference between developer advocacy and developer evangelism roles?
Developer advocacy focuses on gathering feedback from developers and communicating it to product teams, leading to improvements and new features. Developer evangelism involves facilitating discussion among community members and helping developers succeed with your product. Many companies eventually build large teams dedicated to both functions, with technical chops for navigating documentation but primarily working knowledge of technical language plus genuine passion for helping developers.
How do I optimize my developer marketing content for Google's AI search features in 2025?
Create content that directly answers specific technical questions developers ask, as Google's AI features favor concise, authoritative answers. Structure content with clear headings, include code examples, and answer common implementation questions directly. Focus on unique, non-commodity content that provides genuine value rather than generic marketing copy.
What are the biggest challenges when scaling developer marketing from startup to growth stage?
The main challenges include maintaining authenticity as you grow from founder-led engagement to team-based community management. Many companies struggle with preserving the personal, technical credibility that made their early developer relationships successful. Additionally, balancing content volume with technical accuracy becomes critical - one inaccurate tutorial can damage trust across your entire developer community.
How do developer marketing budgets typically break down for successful startups?
While specific budget breakdowns vary, successful developer-focused companies typically allocate 60-70% to content creation and documentation, 20-25% to community events and developer relations salaries, and 10-15% to tools and platforms. Unlike traditional B2B marketing, paid advertising usually represents less than 10% of total developer marketing spend, with most budget going toward creating genuinely helpful technical resources.
What are the warning signs that my developer marketing strategy isn't working?
Key warning signs include low engagement on technical content, developers asking the same basic questions repeatedly (indicating poor documentation), declining community participation, and high churn rates among developer users. If developers aren't organically sharing your content or mentioning your product in technical discussions, that's a major red flag that your approach may be too sales-focused rather than genuinely helpful.
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