Engage developers by making your product a natural discovery through community involvement, educational content, and authenticity.
Developers prefer to "discover" tools naturally rather than being sold to. To make your product appealing to developers, here's what you need to do:
- Be where developers are: Platforms like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and daily.dev are key. Developers trust these for solutions, so position your product there.
- Create useful content: Tutorials, case studies, and detailed documentation help developers understand how your product solves their problems.
- Engage in open-source projects: Contributing to or improving existing projects builds trust and visibility.
- Participate in communities: Join forums, Slack groups, or Discord channels. Offer help and insights without pushing your product.
- Offer transparency: Developers value honest communication about features, limitations, and roadmaps.
Quick Tip: Developers rely on peer recommendations, so focus on building trust and credibility instead of aggressive marketing. Let them "find" your product through authentic engagement and helpful resources.
Why Developers Ignore Your Marketing – And What to Do About It
How Developers Find New Tools
To effectively position your product in a developer's discovery journey, it's essential to understand their unique search habits. Developers don't typically rely on traditional marketing channels; instead, they gravitate toward platforms and communities that align with their workflows and preferences.
Where Developers Look for Tools
Developers favor community-driven platforms when searching for tools. These platforms form the backbone of their discovery process, with about 90% of programming professionals actively engaging with them. Among these, GitHub shines as a standout, boasting 50% more contributions on average compared to other platforms.
Stack Overflow is another key player. Developers often encounter tools here while seeking answers to specific coding challenges. A tool mentioned in a solution that directly addresses their problem carries significant credibility and influence.
Open-source projects serve a dual role as discovery hubs and validation points. Nearly 45% of developers regularly use third-party libraries, often discovering new tools through dependency chains or by examining the tools used in other projects. Notably, well-documented open-source projects attract 30% more contributors, creating a feedback loop of increased visibility and adoption.
Conferences, meetups, and peer networks like Slack and Discord also play a critical role. Over 60% of developers attend such events annually, using them to learn about tools through presentations, discussions, and workshops. These settings amplify credibility through real-world demonstrations and peer insights.
Peer recommendations in private developer communities hold considerable sway. When a trusted peer endorses a tool, it often carries more weight than any marketing campaign. As Eric Raymond famously said, "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow", a sentiment that also applies to how developers validate and adopt tools.
What Developers Want in a Product
When developers evaluate tools, functionality takes precedence over flashy features. They seek solutions that address their specific needs and demand honest, transparent communication about what a tool can and cannot do.
Transparency is a top priority. Developers expect tools to openly share details about their architecture, limitations, and future roadmap. They are naturally skeptical of overly promotional messaging and prefer straightforward, technical explanations.
Seamless integration with existing workflows is another critical factor. Tools that fit effortlessly into a developer's current tech stack are far more appealing than those requiring significant changes. As Neeraj Ipe from Accenture Song puts it:
"Evaluate how well the technology tool aligns with the skills, expertise, and preferences of your development team. Consider factors such as learning curve, training requirements, and potential impact on team productivity and collaboration."
High-quality documentation can make or break a tool's adoption. Developers want detailed, accurate guides that not only explain how to use the tool but also delve into its inner workings. Poor documentation often discourages adoption before a tool even gets a fair chance.
Community support is another essential aspect. Developers look for active, engaged communities where they can seek help, share feedback, and contribute. A thriving community often signals the long-term viability of a tool.
Testing capabilities are non-negotiable. Developers insist on trying tools in sandbox environments to evaluate their performance and suitability. Harsha K, a Senior .NET Full Stack Developer, highlights this approach:
"Before evaluating any new tool, I would clearly define the requirements and goals that the tool needs to address. This could involve gathering input from stakeholders, understanding the project's constraints, and identifying the specific problems or pain points that the new tool aims to solve."
Ultimately, developers follow a "trust, but verify" mindset. Even when a tool comes highly recommended, they rely on hands-on testing and peer feedback to confirm its effectiveness before fully committing. This thorough evaluation process ensures they choose tools that genuinely meet their needs.
Placing Your Product on Developer Platforms
Get your product in front of developers by positioning it on platforms they already trust and frequent. The key is to make your product a natural part of the content they consume daily.
Using daily.dev Ads for Developer Targeting
daily.dev is a standout platform for reaching developers. With over 1 billion developer interactions, it provides unmatched access to your audience. The platform emphasizes visibility, intent, and trust, ensuring your product is presented in a context that resonates with developers.
It connects with 1 in 50 developers globally, including 40% power users. This makes it a perfect space to target specific audiences based on factors like seniority, programming languages (e.g., JavaScript, Python, Java, Swift, Go), and tools they use (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, Jupyter Notebook, Visual Studio Code).
daily.dev Ads offer three types of native ad placements that integrate smoothly with the platform's content:
- In-feed native ads: These appear directly in the content stream, ensuring high visibility and engagement.
- Post page ads: These target developers during active discussions.
- Personalized digest ads: Coming soon, these will deliver tailored content based on individual developer interests.
If you're new to developer advertising, daily.dev provides a $500 ad credit when you spend $2,000. For larger campaigns, you can tap into their precision targeting with a minimum spend of $5,000.
"daily.dev is different from anything you've tried in the past as no other developer platform offers the same level of visibility, intent, and trust."
Next, let’s dive into how to design ads that developers actually appreciate.
How to Create Non-Intrusive Ads
Once your product is positioned on the right platform, the next step is crafting ads that feel helpful, not pushy. Developers are naturally skeptical of overly promotional content, so your ads need to strike a balance - educating while being upfront about their purpose.
Start by focusing on educational value. Ads that teach new skills or solve common challenges are more likely to capture attention. Show how your product fits seamlessly into existing workflows and solves real problems. Highlighting practical use cases can make your tool’s value immediately clear.
Pay attention to visual design. Use colors that complement the platform’s look, helping your ad stand out without being jarring. Featuring real people in your visuals can make your message feel more relatable, and demonstrating your product in action helps developers grasp its utility in seconds. To keep engagement high, refresh your visuals frequently to avoid ad fatigue.
The best-performing ads often include valuable resources like free tools, technical guides, whitepapers, or tutorials. These extras not only provide immediate benefits but also establish your brand as genuinely helpful.
On platforms like daily.dev, your ads should blend naturally with the surrounding technical content. For example, they should look and feel like the articles and discussions developers are already engaging with. Keep in mind that 83% of conversions on Stack Overflow ads happen without a click - developers often evaluate tools through multiple interactions before making a decision.
Finally, ensure your ads align with a broader strategy that spans various developer platforms and communities. By delivering consistent, useful messaging, you’ll build trust and keep your product top-of-mind when developers encounter a relevant need.
Building Content That Developers Want
Developers engage with content differently than most audiences. They prioritize substance over flashy design, practical solutions over marketing jargon, and educational value over promotional hype. To connect with them, your content needs to feel like a helpful resource rather than a sales pitch.
Here’s an interesting insight: 87% of developers have a preferred way of learning and typically interact with more than four types of content. This means your strategy should include a variety of formats to effectively meet their needs.
Long-form content is king when it comes to developer education. For example, 62% of developers turn to long-form recorded videos, and 57% prefer long-form text for learning purposes. This preference for detailed content is an excellent opportunity to showcase your product’s capabilities in-depth.
Social media, however, plays a different role. While only 31% use it for learning, 56% rely on it to stay updated on tech news. This means social platforms are better suited for raising awareness, while more comprehensive formats are ideal for deeper engagement.
AI tools are also changing the way developers find solutions. 51% now use AI chatbots to solve problems, but 45% still prefer forum threads. Younger developers and those in regions like Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are especially inclined to use AI tools.
Next, let’s dive into content formats that developers find particularly engaging, such as tutorials and case studies.
Writing Technical Tutorials and Case Studies
Technical tutorials are a fantastic way to introduce your product. They should focus on solving specific problems with clear, concise lessons. A well-structured tutorial outlines what readers will learn, the skills they need, and the problem being addressed.
Developers appreciate context alongside code. It’s not enough to provide working examples; you need to explain why certain steps are taken. Breaking code into manageable chunks and providing detailed file structure information can demonstrate expertise and build trust.
Case studies, on the other hand, highlight technical challenges and measurable results. 79% of buyers consider case studies during their purchasing process. To resonate with developers, your case studies should include a clear problem statement, an in-depth explanation of the solution, the technologies used, and specific outcomes. Notably, 92% of case studies incorporate hard data to showcase their success.
Take Dragons Lake’s case study on porting Square Enix's Life is Strange: True Colors to the Nintendo Switch. They detailed technical challenges like managing dynamic lighting, reworking high-polygon models, and addressing visual artifacts. Their case study served as a practical guide for developers tackling similar projects.
Adding storytelling elements can make technical content more engaging. Sharing personal challenges, successes, and lessons learned helps make your case studies relatable and memorable.
Now, let’s explore how contributing to open-source projects can further establish your credibility.
Contributing to Open-Source Projects
Open-source contributions are one of the most genuine ways to connect with developers. By actively participating in open-source communities, you can showcase your expertise without coming across as overly promotional.
Instead of creating new projects, focus on improving existing ones. This demonstrates respect for the tools and workflows developers already rely on. When your contributions make their lives easier, developers naturally become curious about your expertise.
Providing detailed documentation and tutorials can further position your brand as a trusted resource. Community involvement is also key. As Mike Bursell puts it:
"The community aspect of open source is actually a driver towards building distributed trust…Once you become a part of the community around an open source project, you assume one or more of the roles that you start trusting once you say that you 'trust' an open source project."
Start small by contributing to projects that align with your company’s strengths. Make meaningful contributions that showcase your skills without overtly promoting your products. Engage with the community by attending meetups, participating in discussions, and being open to feedback.
Honesty is key. Address issues transparently and take feedback seriously. Share updates about your open-source involvement through your website, social media, or newsletters. Recognizing contributors and celebrating community milestones can create a welcoming environment that developers want to join.
Developers value authenticity and technical skill above all else. By contributing to open-source projects, you build trust and create the kind of organic discovery process that resonates deeply with this audience.
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Participating in Developer Communities
Developer communities are vibrant spaces where professionals come together to share insights, solve problems, and inspire one another. However, participating in these spaces requires a careful approach - one that prioritizes genuine contributions over self-promotion. Developers join these communities to learn and collaborate, not to endure constant sales pitches. If they sense even a hint of aggressive marketing, they’ll disengage immediately. The key is to contribute in a way that adds value without pushing a product.
How to Help Without Selling
The best way to build trust in developer communities is by offering meaningful contributions before identifying yourself as a company representative. Developers are far more likely to trust advice from their peers than a flashy marketing campaign. Begin by engaging in relevant forums and discussions, focusing on answering questions in your area of expertise. Avoid mentioning your product - let your knowledge and willingness to help speak for itself.
Consider hosting Q&A sessions aimed solely at addressing technical challenges. These sessions allow you to establish yourself as a helpful resource without any sales agenda.
Leaders in these spaces are those who actively share their expertise, facilitate discussions, and connect community members. For example, you might share industry news, lead conversations on emerging trends, or even feature community members’ stories in blog posts or podcasts. Recognizing others’ contributions not only builds goodwill but also strengthens the sense of community. As Kin Lane succinctly puts it:
"Be part of your community, do not just sell to it".
Creating an inclusive environment is equally important. Make sure your community welcomes participants of all skill levels, offering guidance to junior developers while maintaining a zero-tolerance policy for harassment or discrimination. When your contributions are seen as genuinely helpful, you establish trust and build lasting relationships.
Building Trust Through Transparency
Trust is the cornerstone of any successful community interaction. It’s hard to earn, easy to lose, and requires consistent effort to maintain. Transparency, honesty, and authentic engagement are essential. Be upfront in your communications - own your mistakes, celebrate achievements, and clearly explain your intentions. Following through on promises and consistently providing helpful, relevant content will further solidify your credibility.
Sharing personal experiences, including challenges and lessons learned, can also create a sense of connection and authenticity. Hamza Malik, Lead Software Engineer, highlights this approach:
"Contributing openly is a powerful way to build credibility and trust as a programmer... By contributing openly, you demonstrate not only your technical skills but also your generosity and commitment to the community, which fosters trust and respect among your peers.".
Stay up-to-date with industry trends and share insights on new tools and frameworks that might interest your community. Monitor engagement levels and address any signs of declining activity early. Proactive involvement shows you care about the community’s health and growth.
Andrei Balabanov, Senior Software Engineer, underscores the importance of ethics in these interactions:
"Always maintain integrity in your work and interactions. Ethical behavior is crucial for building a reputation that others can trust and respect.".
Finally, provide multiple ways for members to connect - whether through Slack or Discord channels, online forums, hackathons, or in-person meetups. When members feel they’re gaining value, recognition, and honest engagement, they’ll not only stay but also invite others to join. This organic growth reinforces your role as a trusted and valuable part of the community, all without resorting to overt sales tactics.
Tracking and Improving Your Results
Once you've put your strategies into action, it's time to measure how developers are engaging with your efforts. A solid tracking system is essential for identifying what’s working and where there’s room for improvement. This data-driven approach ensures you can fine-tune your marketing tactics for better outcomes.
Measuring Developer Engagement
Start by setting clear goals and identifying the metrics that align with them. As Sunil Gupta, a professor at Harvard Business School, puts it:
"It isn't enough to measure the final outcome alone. You also need to track leading indicators to understand where consumers might be getting stuck - essentially bottlenecks in the marketing funnel."
Rather than focusing solely on surface-level metrics like clicks, aim to track indicators that reflect genuine engagement. For example, conversion rates, time spent exploring technical documentation, and return visits to your resources can provide a clearer picture of how developers are interacting with your product.
Tools like daily.dev Ads come with built-in analytics that reveal where developers discover your product and which channels drive the most qualified traffic. This data helps you understand behavior patterns and pinpoint the touchpoints that matter most in a developer’s journey.
To dig deeper, use unique URLs with UTM codes for different campaigns and platforms. This method lets you track exactly how developers are landing on your site and which channels are delivering the best leads. Additionally, call tracking software can monitor inquiries by assigning unique phone numbers to specific marketing channels.
For a closer look at how developers interact with your content, behavior analytics tools like Hotjar (starting at $39/month) and Mixpanel (starting at $24/month) can be invaluable. These tools provide insights into how users respond to elements on your site, helping you identify obstacles or areas for improvement .
Refining Your Approach Based on Data
Data isn’t just about numbers - it’s a tool for continuous improvement. Companies that rely on data-driven decision-making report revenue growth that’s 2-3 times higher than those that don’t. Regularly analyzing your engagement metrics will help you spot trends, uncover opportunities, and refine your strategy.
Dive into your data to see what’s working. Which content formats are generating the most interest? When are developers most active? Which platforms are delivering the highest-quality traffic? Use this information to adjust your campaigns before they lose their impact.
Dan Dipiazzo, Chief Marketing + Experience Officer at Georgia Aquarium, highlights the synergy between data and creativity:
"I think there's a misnomer that data and creativity are somehow contradictory. In fact, I have found that data helps sharpen my creativity. First, data helps define problems that we attempt to solve with creative messaging. Then, on the flip side, we can test the effectiveness of our creative executions with research and data analysis, to ensure our campaigns really resonate."
Personalizing your efforts based on data insights can significantly boost engagement. For instance, personalized emails can increase open rates by 26% and click-through rates by 14%. For developer audiences, this could mean tailoring your messaging to specific programming languages, experience levels, or areas of interest.
Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing and stay informed about industry trends. This doesn’t mean copying their strategies, but rather adapting successful approaches to highlight your product’s unique strengths.
Real-time monitoring is another powerful tool. By setting up alerts for sudden changes in key metrics, you can quickly respond to shifts in developer behavior or market conditions. Whether it’s addressing an issue or seizing an unexpected opportunity, being proactive can make all the difference.
Josh Wilson, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Whitefish Credit Union, shares a practical example of using data to refine campaigns:
"We build creative campaigns to reach this audience and meet our objectives, and then we test the creative concept, typically with a smaller market or audience. We use the results from this test to refine the concept and then go to a larger audience."
Running A/B tests is another way to refine your approach. Test different messaging, content, or platform strategies, but change only one variable at a time. This method helps you pinpoint what’s driving results based on actual user behavior, not guesses.
Lastly, remember that 74% of consumers find irrelevant ads frustrating. Timing and relevance are key to keeping your audience engaged. Use your data to deliver messages that resonate with developers and meet them where they are in their journey.
Building a Developer Marketing Strategy That Works
To create a developer marketing strategy that resonates, you need to embrace a simple truth: developers value education, empowerment, and inspiration over a traditional sales pitch. Ceci Stallsmith and Paige Paquette from Calyx capture this perfectly:
"The tools developers choose and use become part of their identity."
For your strategy to succeed, transparency and authenticity must be at its core. Developers are quick to spot marketing gimmicks, so be upfront about what your product can and cannot do. Share realistic timelines and openly discuss any limitations.
Once you’ve established trust through transparency, shift your focus to education. Developers are constantly learning - 75% of them regularly explore new technologies. Use this to your advantage by creating resources that teach rather than sell. Build comprehensive learning hubs, host live coding sessions, and produce content that empowers developers with knowledge. A great example of this is TwilioQuest, an educational video game that turns learning into an engaging experience. This approach has not only boosted product adoption but also cultivated a loyal developer community.
Another essential pillar is fostering a community-first mindset. Developers thrive in environments where they can connect, share ideas, and collaborate. With 65% of companies incorporating online forums or communities into their developer relations strategies, it’s clear that creating these spaces is non-negotiable. Whether it’s starting a Discord server, managing GitHub discussions, or building dedicated forums, ensure your development team actively participates. Developers appreciate when teams engage authentically - answering questions, gathering feedback, and contributing to meaningful conversations.
Open source is another powerful way to build trust. By sharing your code or open-sourcing parts of your tool, you demonstrate a genuine commitment to the developer community. Open-source initiatives are highly valued, with 72% of Fortune 50 companies leveraging open-source software. Programs like DigitalOcean's Hacktoberfest have shown how open-source contributions can increase visibility and strengthen community ties.
Make sure to align with developers' technical preferences. For example, highlight your product’s command-line interface (CLI) features, as 89% of developers use the command line at least occasionally. Optimize performance - 79% of developers spend at least 10% of their time troubleshooting performance issues. And integrate with popular tools to ensure your product fits seamlessly into their workflow.
Developer advocates play a pivotal role in connecting your product with the community. These advocates should be passionate developers who genuinely love your product and can engage authentically with their peers. Microsoft has excelled in this area, leveraging its advocacy team and the Microsoft Learn platform to make its products approachable and drive adoption.
Additionally, share case studies with clear metrics, provide working code examples, and offer sandbox environments where developers can experiment. This is particularly important as 67% of B2B buyers now rely more heavily on content to guide their research and purchasing decisions than they did in the past.
Finally, measure what truly matters to developers. Instead of focusing solely on traditional marketing metrics, track engagement with technical documentation, monitor participation in your community spaces, and assess the quality of interactions. Tools like daily.dev Ads can provide precise analytics, helping you identify which channels bring in the most qualified traffic.
FAQs
How can I make developers feel like they discovered my product on their own?
To make developers feel like they’ve stumbled upon your product naturally, focus on offering real value through developer-focused content and interactions. Share things like hands-on demos, detailed tutorials, and practical examples that clearly show how your product addresses specific challenges. Developers value honesty, so make sure your resources are technically accurate and easy to understand.
Get involved in developer communities on platforms such as forums, open-source repositories, or social media. Share meaningful advice and resources without being overly promotional. By building trust and providing useful knowledge, you can position your product as a solution that developers genuinely want to explore and recommend.
How do open-source contributions help build trust within the developer community?
Open-source contributions offer an incredible opportunity to connect with developers and establish trust. By openly sharing your work, you're not just showcasing your technical skills - you’re also emphasizing transparency and a willingness to collaborate.
These contributions allow others to see your expertise in action, offering a direct way to validate the quality of your work. This builds credibility and shows you're an active, dependable part of the developer community. On top of that, getting involved in open-source projects creates meaningful relationships and fosters a sense of shared goals among developers.
How can I measure the success of my developer marketing efforts and improve them using data?
To gauge how well your developer marketing efforts are performing and make smarter, data-driven changes, it's essential to focus on key performance indicators (KPIs) that match your objectives. Metrics like conversion rates, return on investment (ROI), and customer lifetime value (CLV) can provide insight into the overall impact of your campaigns. Beyond these, keep an eye on engagement stats such as website traffic, session duration, and lead response rates to fine-tune your approach.
Dig deeper with attribution models to pinpoint which touchpoints are driving conversions. Regularly analyzing this data will help you spot opportunities for improvement. By staying on top of these metrics, you can ensure your strategies connect with developers and deliver measurable results for your business.
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