---
title: "How to advertise to engineering leaders and CTOs | daily.dev Ads"
url: https://business.daily.dev/audience/engineering-leaders/
description: "How to advertise to engineering leaders and CTOs: build your brand on daily.dev where they read #leadership, #career and #architecture."
lastUpdated: "2026-10-14"
llmsTxt: https://business.daily.dev/llms.txt
---

## How to advertise to engineering leaders and CTOs

To advertise to engineering leaders and CTOs, be where they read every day: daily.dev Ads, The Pragmatic Engineer, LeadDev and LinkedIn. daily.dev gives you a verified company page they follow and puts your posts and employer brand stories in the feed of developers who read #leadership and #architecture, in one plan we run for you.

## Who are the engineering leaders and CTOs on daily.dev?

Seniority and regions below are for all of daily.dev (daily.dev platform analytics, Q1 2026).

| Seniority | Share |
| --- | --- |
| Junior (0-3 years) | 25% |
| Mid-Level (3-7 years) | 45% |
| Senior (7+ years) | 30% |

| Region | Share |
| --- | --- |
| North America | 35% |
| Europe (EMEA) | 40% |
| Asia Pacific (APAC) | 15% |
| Latin America | 10% |

The tags that reach them (any mix can be targeted; 800+ keywords in all):

- #leadership (Leadership)
- #career (Career)
- #architecture (Architecture)
- #startup (Startup)
- #product-management (Product Management)
- #productivity (Productivity)

### Where engineering leaders and CTOs get their news

The sources that publish most on these tags, ranked by followers on daily.dev (daily.dev public API):

1. DEV
2. gitconnected
3. Tech Lead Digest
4. The Serious CTO
5. sean goedecke
6. Hacker News
7. Agentic Engineering
8. Work Chronicles

### What engineering leaders and CTOs also read

Tags on the same recent posts, as a share of them (worth adding to your targeting):

| Tag | Share of recent posts |
| --- | --- |
| #ai-agents | 17% |
| #ai-coding | 11% |
| #ai | 7% |
| #company-culture | 5% |
| #llm | 5% |
| #mcp | 4% |
| #claude-code | 3% |
| #venture-capital | 3% |

## How do you reach engineering leaders and CTOs?

Developers are the audience that taught the industry to block ads. The way in is not a louder interruption; it is the reading they chose, in the place they open every day. That is why daily.dev Ads exists: to help brands earn a place in that reading, week after week.

1. **They still read as engineers, so skip boardroom language.** Engineering leaders read the same technical posts as their team. Publish with the technical specifics intact and add the outcome; executive vocabulary reads as a message from another industry.
2. **The recommendation comes from below, so reach the team too.** Most tools a leader buys were first tried by an engineer on their team. Publish for the stack tags and for #leadership, so your name reaches the team and the person who signs at the same time.
3. **One outcome they can defend beats five features.** A leader forwards a page to a finance partner before signing. Publish one measured outcome with the team size and the period, on a page worth forwarding.
4. **Answer build versus buy in public.** Every leader has an engineer who says the team could build it. Write about the engineer-months, the maintenance and what the team would rather be doing, and the objection is answered before the meeting.

Written by the daily.dev Ads team (13K+ companies whose developers read daily.dev; 800+ targetable stacks and topics; 2,000+ content sources in the feed). The platform's view on reaching developers, with sources: [How do you reach developers at all?](https://business.daily.dev/audience.md).

> "You cannot build developer trust with agents. It needs a human." Juan Pablo Flores, Developer Experience, CodeRabbit, interviewed at DevRelCon New York 2026

Hear it from the team: [Developer marketing that works: authenticity over ads](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-z3K3pxiDs).

## What do engineering leaders and CTOs read, and what should your brand say?

Examples of popular posts on these tags that engineering leaders and CTOs read and talk about on daily.dev, each linked to its page and discussion:

- [12 things I miss since coding died](https://daily.dev/posts/12-things-i-miss-since-coding-died-3gqfg5xk2) (from Manager.dev: 23 comments, 143 upvotes on daily.dev)
- [Stop building side projects. Nobody cares — and here's the uncomfortable math.](https://daily.dev/posts/stop-building-side-projects-nobody-cares-and-here-s-the-uncomfortable-math--azxnbhn3v) (from DEV: 20 comments, 48 upvotes on daily.dev)
- [AI Writes My Code Now. Here’s What I Actually Do With My Time.](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-writes-my-code-now-here-s-what-i-actually-do-with-my-time--r53wrdkhc) (from Medium: 8 comments, 26 upvotes on daily.dev)
- [**Data-Driven vs Event-Driven Architecture: How to Pick the Right One**](https://daily.dev/posts/data-driven-vs-event-driven-architecture-how-to-pick-the-right-one--hhq5msjoy) (from SitePoint: 5 comments, 113 upvotes on daily.dev)
- [You should all be asking way more questions](https://daily.dev/posts/you-should-all-be-asking-way-more-questions-5neiot4rc) (from sean goedecke: 3 comments, 7 upvotes on daily.dev)

What that means for your message (takeaways):

- **Team throughput:** Publish cycle time before and after, on a team of a stated size
- **Retention and hiring:** Write about what changes in an engineer’s week, not the org chart
- **Build versus buy:** Count the engineer-months it replaces, honestly, in a post a leader can forward

Does it work? Two advertisers in their own words: [Postmark](https://business.daily.dev/customers/postmark.md) (How daily.dev Ads became Postmark's always-on developer channel.); [context.dev](https://business.daily.dev/customers/contextdev.md) (How a pre-YC founder turned a first In-Feed test into a channel he plans to run again.).

Guides on reaching engineering leaders and CTOs: [How CTOs and VPs of engineering evaluate developer tools](https://business.daily.dev/resources/developer-tools-marketing-engineering-leaders-ctos-vps-evaluate.md) | [Marketing to engineering managers](https://business.daily.dev/resources/marketing-to-engineering-managers-developer-gtm.md) | [Target developers by programming language: a marketer’s guide](https://business.daily.dev/resources/target-developers-by-programming-language-marketers-guide.md) | [Tech stack targeting: reaching developers by the tools they use](https://business.daily.dev/resources/tech-stack-targeting-reaching-developers-based-on-tools.md) | [Best developer advertising platforms](https://business.daily.dev/resources/best-developer-advertising-platforms.md) | [Developer marketing platforms compared: the channel mix](https://business.daily.dev/resources/developer-marketing-platforms-comparison-channel-mix.md)

## How do you target engineering leaders and CTOs on daily.dev?

- Tags: #leadership, #career, #architecture, #startup, #product-management, #productivity
- Seniority: Junior, mid-level, senior and leadership, from on-platform activity
- Region: Global, or by region and country
- In your plan: Your verified company page; Your posts in the feed of senior and leadership readers; Your logo on the daily.dev homepage; A weekly report and a campaign manager
- Creative: our team works with you to shape, finish and test it; [creative specs for every placement](https://business.daily.dev/creative-specs.md) (1024 × 512 px image and a headline up to 80 characters for the feed; 680 × 512 px for the newsletter)

Targeting is built on what developers read on daily.dev, not a self-declared profile. Your plan runs it: daily.dev Ads is one monthly plan in three sizes: Starter, Growth and Scale. Every size includes the same work: we run your company page, promote your content to developers, put your brand on the daily.dev homepage and run your campaigns. The size sets your reach. Prices are quoted per company, and you can resize any quarter. [How plans work](https://business.daily.dev/pricing.md).

- **Starter** (Be present): We verify and run your page; We promote your new posts; We put your logo on the homepage; We run a campaign every month
- **Growth** (Be seen often): Everything in Starter; We promote 3× more of your content; We reach 3× more developers; We keep your logo on the homepage
- **Scale** (Be the default): Everything in Growth; We promote your whole library; We feature you on the homepage; We run your biggest campaigns

## What do teams build with engineering leaders and CTOs on daily.dev?

- **Build your brand with them:** Show up every day in the reading engineering leaders and CTOs chose, with your posts, releases and point of view, so yours is the name they know when they pick a tool.
- **Grow a community around your product:** Your verified company page is where engineering leaders and CTOs follow you, discuss your posts and come back for your next release.
- **Strengthen your employer brand:** Share engineering stories, culture and open roles with engineering leaders and CTOs where they already discover tools and ideas.

## Where else can you reach engineering leaders and CTOs?

| Channel | Format | Target by stack | How you buy | Best for |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **daily.dev Ads** | Your verified company page, your posts in their feed, the newsletter they chose, the homepage | Yes: #leadership, #architecture and related tags, leadership and senior seniority, region | Managed monthly plan | Building a brand developers follow, every week, with creative and reporting done for you |
| Leadership newsletters (Software Lead Weekly, The Pragmatic Engineer) | One sponsor slot per issue | By list | Per issue | Launch-week spikes |
| LinkedIn Ads | Sponsored posts and message ads | By job title, company and self-declared skills | Self-serve | Reaching managers and buyers by title |
| LeadDev and QCon | Booths and talks | By event | Sponsorship packages | Enterprise relationships |
| CTO communities and peer groups | Sponsored sessions and community partnerships | By community | Sponsorship packages | Peer recommendation |
| Hacker News | Show HN and Launch HN posts | None; the front page decides | Organic | One-off launches with a technical story |

Channel facts from each channel's own public pages. Prices are not compared. Head-to-head: [LinkedIn Ads vs daily.dev](https://business.daily.dev/alternatives/linkedin-ads.md).

Hiring engineering leaders and CTOs instead? [See them on recruiter.daily.dev](https://recruiter.daily.dev/).

Related audiences: [Backend developers](https://business.daily.dev/audience/backend-developers.md) | [SRE and platform engineers](https://business.daily.dev/audience/sre-platform-engineers.md) | [Security engineers](https://business.daily.dev/audience/security-engineers.md) | [All audiences](https://business.daily.dev/audience.md)


### Frequently asked questions

**How many engineering leaders and CTOs can I reach on daily.dev?**

daily.dev reaches millions of developers, and engineering leaders there read about architecture, hiring and team practice alongside their own stack. We do not publish audience sizes per segment; tell us the regions and seniority you need and your plan proposal comes back with the reach it buys. 75% of active developers across the network are mid-level or senior.

**Can I reach decision makers?**

Yes. Seniority is part of every plan, so your posts can reach only developers whose on-platform activity places them in the senior or leadership bands, on tags such as #leadership, #architecture and #startup. Leaders on daily.dev read as engineers first, so write with the technical detail intact and the outcome added.

**How would a daily.dev plan build our brand with engineering leaders and CTOs?**

Your verified company page comes first, with engineering posts, outcomes a leader can forward and employer brand stories. Your plan puts them in the feed of senior and leadership readers on #leadership, #architecture and #startup. Lead with a post that makes the business case, and keep publishing over a quarter.

**Can we build a following of engineering leaders and CTOs on daily.dev?**

Yes. Every plan includes a verified company page that developers follow. What you publish there (releases, tutorials, engineering posts) reaches your followers, and your plan puts it in the feed of engineering leaders and CTOs who read #leadership, #career, #architecture. The following stays yours between campaigns.

**Can we use daily.dev for employer brand with engineering leaders and CTOs?**

Yes. Engineering stories, culture and open-source work published on your company page reach engineering leaders and CTOs where they already read, which is what makes an employer brand stick. To hire them directly, recruiter.daily.dev matches roles to developers who opt in.

**What does it cost to advertise to engineering leaders and CTOs on daily.dev?**

daily.dev Ads is one managed monthly plan in three sizes, Starter, Growth and Scale. Every size includes your verified company page, your posts and releases in their feed and newsletter, creative made with you and a weekly report; the size sets the reach. Prices are quoted per company, so tell us the audience and regions you need and we come back with a size and a quote.

[Explore your options](https://business.daily.dev/schedule/?ref=audience-engineering-leaders&audience=engineering-leaders) | [How pricing works](https://business.daily.dev/pricing.md) | [Creative specs](https://business.daily.dev/creative-specs.md)