“Developers hate being marketed to”
I think that's a myth
Image generated by AI Midjourney. Prompt: Female software developer hate marketing octane render.
“Developers hate being marketed to.”
I think that’s a myth.
Developers love being marketed to. They don’t like bad marketing, just like every other human. And most technical product companies do a bad job of marketing to developers.
They talk “at” developers. They start with their product, rather than with the problem. They talk about their features, rather than why they matter.
They shout, “Look at us. Look at what we built. It’s the best thing ever! Use it! Pay for it!”
The reason why many DevRel practitioners believe that developers hate marketing is because their concept of “marketing” is incomplete. They have an inside-out perspective of marketing – where marketing is rooted in aggressive self-promotion, self-serving content, and relentless sales pitches with questionable credibility.
I’ve been fortunate to serve countless developers and work alongside amazing developer marketing leaders during my 4+ years at database startup Timescale. Those experiences taught me a new perspective on developer marketing, one that debunked the traditional wisdom that “developers hate being marketed to”, and showed me how to do marketing that developers love.
Good developer marketing is outside-in. It starts with the developer – their world, their goals, their problems – and works backwards. Good developer marketing is a practice rooted in empathy, authenticity and a genuine desire to help the developers you seek to serve. It’s not about trying to increase your top of funnel, get signups, or increase usage of the product. Those are happy by-products.
Good developer marketing makes the developer the hero of the journey. Your product is just the sword that helps them slay the dragon. Good developer marketing earns trust by being technically credible, acknowledging trade-offs, and scenarios where your product might not be the best option. It’s showing that change is possible and how your product offers a better way.
If you put in the work to understand your developer audience, meet them where they are, and earn their attention and trust by being helpful, then developers will love being marketed to by you.
Now you know that it’s possible for developers to love your marketing, not simply bear it.
How will you rise to the challenge?
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As a developer with experience of many platforms, this resonates! Marketing that comes with deep understanding of your customers experience is so basic and yet so hard