Developer advocacy
deh-VEL-uh-per AD-vuh-kuh-see
Representing developer interests within a company while helping developers succeed with the company's products.
Developer advocacy is a two-way street. Outward, the advocate helps developers understand and use the product. Inward, the advocate represents developers' interests to the product team, engineering, and leadership.
The outward part is visible: conference talks, blog posts, tutorials, live coding streams, and community engagement. The inward part is less visible but equally important: filing bugs, prioritizing developer pain points, influencing the roadmap, and pushing for better documentation.
The best developer advocates are credible engineers who happen to be good communicators. They can build a demo app on stage, debug a community member's code on Discord, and present a data-driven case to the VP of Product for why the SDK needs a rewrite.
Examples
A developer advocate gives a conference talk.
The talk is not about the company's product. It is about a real engineering problem (managing API rate limits) with practical solutions. The advocate mentions their company's approach as one example among several. The audience learns something useful. The company earns credibility.
An advocate champions a developer concern internally.
Community feedback consistently shows that the authentication flow is confusing. The advocate compiles the feedback, records a video walking through the pain points, and presents it at the engineering all-hands. The team dedicates a sprint to fixing the auth UX.
A developer advocate builds in public.
The advocate livestreams building a real application using the product. Viewers see the actual developer experience, including rough edges. The advocate files bugs in real-time. This authenticity builds more trust than any polished marketing video.
In practice
Frequently asked questions
Is developer advocacy the same as developer marketing?
No. Developer advocacy prioritizes the developer's success with the product. Developer marketing prioritizes driving awareness and adoption. They overlap but the orientation is different. Advocacy is developer-first. Marketing is company-first. The best programs blend both.
What skills does a developer advocate need?
Technical credibility (can build real things with the product), communication skills (can explain complex concepts clearly), empathy (understands developer frustrations), and public speaking ability. The combination of engineering skill and communication ability is rare, which is why good advocates are hard to hire.
Related terms
The practice of building relationships between a company and its developer community through advocacy, content, and support.
A role that combines engineering skills with communication ability to help developers succeed with a product.
How easy, productive, and enjoyable it is for developers to use a product, from documentation to API design to error messages.
A presentation at a developer conference where a speaker shares technical knowledge, experience, or insights with an audience.
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.