Developer Outreach and Marketing

by Marthe Rana | Jul 12, 2018 | Developer Community, Developer Marketing, Developer Outreach, Developer Relations, DevRelate, Social Media, Uncategorized, Women in Computing |

On first look, software developers appear to be a more distinct and well-defined market segment than most others, which should make it easier to market to them. It’s always simpler to create messaging and positioning for a target market that is uniform and cohesive than it is for a very diverse market. And so developers give the appearance of being easy to market to.

After all, there are important primary characteristics that set developers apart from the general population. They write programs professionally, and as a result a very particular type of mental acuity and skill set is more likely to be found among this group than the general population. The very act of programming requires certain characteristics. The successful developer is logical, has a keen eye for detail, and responds to mental challenges with a kind of inquisitiveness that can be associated with analytical and creative mindsets. Developers are usually more cerebral, curious and way more literal than others.

However, while there is a measure of homogeneity amongst developers that can aid marketing professionals who are trying to reach and persuade them, there is also a level of divergence from the general population that makes developer focused marketing unique. Developers frequent and place confidence in different media than the general public; they appreciate different forms of touch, and different elements in messages are more likely to resonate with them. In addition, there is not just one form of development and the types of development this group of people engage in can be so diverse that reaching out to them requires a special understanding of what they do, in addition to an understanding of who they are and what media they trust.

You can do research to find out the specifics of today’s developer and we do. We can tell you lots of data that can aid in your development of a marketing campaign and strategy. For example, developers answer to a variety of titles in their jobs, the most common being programmer, development manager, or project lead, though titles vary considerably by company size. They are overwhelmingly male. Although the female contingent is growing, males still comprise at least three out of every four developers – the ratio varies according to geography, but both mean and women developers think there should be more women involved.

Their median age is 36 in most places in the world. They tend to be married, and to have one or two children. The typical developer has between three and 10 years of experience, and has a high-level academic degree — a bachelor’s degree or higher — though there many developers who continue to learn on the job in order to keep up with the ever changing technology.

These are valuable fundamentals on which to build a strategy, but you still need the insights that only experience in marketing to developers can bring.

Providing that insight and understanding for marketing success is what motivates us at Evans Data to host our annual Developer Marketing Summit. This year it’s on September 17 and 18 in San Jose. We’ve got two full days filled with insights, networking and knowledge headed by the top developer marketing professionals from virtually all of the major players in the industry. Intel, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Salesforce, and many more will provide powerful insights into how to successfully reach and motivate software developers. Don’t miss this very important event. https://devmarketing.evansdata.com/