Content Strategy
Creating content developers actually want to read
Resource Hub
Developer MarketingComplete Guide
Everything you need to know about marketing to developers. From fundamentals to advanced strategies, built on 30 years of experience at AWS, Microsoft, Meta, and beyond.
66+
Articles
6
Topics Covered
30+
Years Experience
6 BigTech
Companies
What is developer marketing?
Developer marketing is the practice of reaching, engaging, and converting software developers as customers. Unlike traditional B2B or consumer marketing, developer marketing requires technical credibility, authenticity, and a commitment to helping developers solve real problems.
The core principle is simple: Help First. Provide genuine value before asking for anything in return. Create technical content, build communities, and demonstrate your product through real-world scenarios rather than relying on traditional advertising tactics.
This hub contains everything I have learned about developer marketing from building marketing functions at Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Meta, Twitter, and Supabase. Explore the categories below or browse the complete guide.
Developer Marketing Fundamentals
Core concepts and principles of marketing to developers
I built an AI agent platform. Here's how it works.
An Agent Server, a macOS menu bar app, an iOS app, a monitoring dashboard. All built on Claude Code and the Agent SDK. Here's every piece and what it does.
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Lifecycle marketing for developers
Most lifecycle emails for developer products are spam with better targeting. The fix is behavioral triggers, not better copy.
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When communities become toxic
The Olympics remind us that fierce competition and mutual respect can coexist. Somewhere along the way, tech forgot that.
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The WBR survival guide
You just got invited to your first Weekly Business Review. Executives are talking about variance, control limits, and leading indicators. Here's how to follow along, contribute meaningfully, and not embarrass yourself.
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I wrote a novel
Many novelists are turning to AI to write their stories. I went the other way. I wrote a technothriller the old-fashioned way, and the characters surprised everyone, including me.
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API marketing strategy: how to promote your developer platform
APIs are products, and they need marketing. But API marketing differs from traditional product marketing in important ways. Here's how to build a strategy that drives developer adoption.
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Developer Relations
Building and scaling developer advocacy programs
Your docs are for AI now (and this changes everything about Developer Relations)
AI coding agents are now the biggest consumer of your docs. The necessary change in how we write docs is a harbinger of the changes necessary in Developer Relations strategy, overall.
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The power of storytelling in developer marketing
Gather 'round, and let's tell some stories. I've written posts about what the various functions in developer relations do. I've also written some practical posts about the mechanics of running events,...
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Seven tips for building your content strategy
I am often asked by founders and DevRel leaders where they should focus their content efforts. I've done this work countless times at numerous companies, big and small. Take it from me. Here are seven t...
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What kind of Developer Advocate do you need and where can you find them?
Matching the myriad things Developer Advocates do with your needs as a business is critical to determining the kind of Developer Advocacy organization you need. You may need someone to be stewards of ...
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What do Developer Advocates do?
I organize Developer Advocacy around five specific areas. That's not to say that any individual does or does not do all five. It's more that our roles can be boiled down to these core areas. 1. Capt...
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Developer Relations, where do you start?
I spoke with someone recently who didn't know where to start with their first hire in Developer Relations. As folks who know me appreciate, I think of the Developer Relations organization as the follo...
Read articleGo-to-Market Strategy
Launch planning, positioning, and market entry
Good marketing in the AI era
Everyone thinks AI makes marketing cheaper. I think it makes the gap between great marketing and bad marketing permanent. I am willing to bet my career on this.
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If Picks and Shovels had one more chapter: marketing to AI agents
I published the book in 2025. If I were adding one chapter today, it would be called Marketing to AI Agents. Here are the three ideas I would put inside it.
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The language of sales
Pipeline. ACV. NDR. Bookings versus revenue. If you came from a technical background, sales vocabulary sounds like a foreign language. Here is a practical go-to-market glossary, and why understanding these metrics makes you better at your job.
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Does positioning still matter?
AI agents can read your docs, evaluate your capabilities, and match you to customer needs without a positioning statement. So does positioning still matter? The answer changed my thinking.
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Developer marketing vs traditional B2B marketing: 7 critical differences
Developer marketing isn't just B2B marketing for a technical audience. It's fundamentally different in approach, tactics, and mindset. Here are the seven differences that matter most.
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10 developer marketing best practices for 2026
Developer marketing continues to evolve. Here are the ten practices that separate successful developer marketing programs from the rest in 2026.
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Community Building
Growing and nurturing developer communities
Never fake it: public speaking to further your career
Your career doesn't hinge on keynotes and conference talks. It hinges on Tuesday afternoon conversations where you have ninety seconds to make your point.
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Seven steps to get great customer feedback
Staying close to your customers and routinely obtaining quality, actionable feedback is essential oxygen for your business. Everyone in the organization is responsible for constantly listening to cust...
Read articleFrequently asked questions
What is developer marketing and how is it different from B2B marketing?
Developer marketing is the practice of reaching, engaging, and converting software developers as customers. Unlike traditional B2B marketing where you market to procurement officers who never touch the product, in developer marketing the buyer and user are often the same person. Developers can detect marketing BS immediately and will call you out publicly if your product does not deliver on its promises.
What are the most effective channels for reaching developers?
The most effective channels include technical content (documentation, tutorials, blog posts), developer communities (Discord, Slack, forums), social media (Twitter/X, LinkedIn), conferences and meetups, open source contributions, and developer advocacy programs. The key is authenticity and providing genuine value rather than traditional advertising.
How do you measure developer marketing success?
Use a combination of leading indicators (developer signups, documentation traffic, community growth, content engagement, social sentiment) and lagging indicators (revenue influenced, customer acquisition, Developer NPS, brand awareness). Build multi-touch attribution models and accept that some activities like community building will never be perfectly measurable.
What is the role of developer relations in marketing?
Developer relations (DevRel) represents developers internally by bringing feedback to the product team and represents the company externally by building relationships and trust. Developer advocates create technical content, speak at events, and engage with communities. Great DevRel teams combine technical credibility with communication skills.
How should startups approach developer marketing with limited resources?
At seed through Series A, focus on positioning and messaging, core content like documentation and getting started guides, initial community building, and launch execution. One or two people can handle this initially. As you scale to Series B and beyond, hire specialists for developer advocacy, content marketing, product marketing, community management, and events.
What tools do developer marketers use?
The core toolkit includes analytics platforms like Amplitude or Mixpanel for product usage data, CRM systems like HubSpot or Salesforce for pipeline tracking, content management systems for documentation and blogs, community platforms like Discord or Discourse, social listening tools, and increasingly AI tools for content creation, competitive analysis, and campaign optimization. The specific stack depends on your company stage and whether you are product-led or sales-led.
What is the difference between developer marketing and developer relations?
Developer marketing focuses on creating demand and driving business outcomes: positioning, messaging, campaigns, content strategy, and pipeline generation. Developer relations focuses on building trust and community: advocacy, developer experience, documentation, events, and feedback loops. The best organizations treat them as complementary functions with a shared foundation of helping developers succeed.
How much should you budget for developer marketing?
Most developer tools companies spend between 20 and 40 percent of revenue on sales and marketing combined. Within that, developer marketing typically gets 15 to 25 percent of the marketing budget. Early-stage companies should allocate more toward content and community, less toward paid acquisition. The biggest mistake is underfunding developer relations and technical content in favor of traditional demand generation tactics that do not work with developer audiences.
How do you market to developers without being annoying?
Lead with value, not pitches. Create technical content that solves real problems. Build genuine relationships in developer communities before asking for anything. Respect developers' intelligence and time. Never gate basic documentation behind forms. Show your product working in real scenarios instead of making claims about it. The principle is simple: Help First. If your marketing helps a developer do their job better, it is not annoying. It is useful.
Explore more topics
This is one piece of the developer marketing puzzle. Explore our other resource hubs.
Want the complete playbook?
Picks and Shovels is the definitive guide to developer marketing. Amazon #1 bestseller with practical strategies from 30 years of marketing to developers.