Developer Marketing and Developer Relations – Education, Skills, Reporting

On the road to my August 2017 DevRelate webinar, “Developer Marketing & Developer Relations – Similarities & Differences“, August 8 & 10, I am putting together background research and information about several high level aspects for each team member. In this blog post I am starting with a focus on education, skills and organizational reporting. Take a look at each of the aspects and let me know what you think about the details related to your own experiences and knowledge of industry experts you interact with. In subsequent blog posts I’ll drill down into roles, responsibilities, work done, audiences, metrics, ROI and other aspects.

Education

In looking at a wide range of Developer Marketing and Developer Relations practitioners active in the technology products, devices, platforms and services, I’ve found common characteristics, degree attainment, and focus areas. Of course there are many journeys that we take to get to a specific Developer Marketing and Developer Relations position. Do these educational backgrounds resonate with you and others you know?

• Developer Marketing: BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA and/or PhD in Marketing, Communications, Business Administration, Economics, Public Relations, Journalism, Computer Science, Software Engineering, International Business, Management, Finance, Creative Writing.
• Developer Relations: BA, BS, MA, MS and/or PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mathematics.

Skills

In the wide array of skills and experiences, you can often find some of the following listed for Developer Marketing and Developer Relations team members. There can be a wide range of past experiences, job history and interest areas. Some differences can be traced to the industry, product, service, device, platform or other positions held by each member of the developer outreach team.

• Developer Marketing:  Messaging, Writing, Demand Generation, Marketing Campaigns, Go To Market Strategies, Budgets, Branding, Social Media, Events, PR, AR, Advertising.
• Developer Relations: Programming, Public Speaking, Demonstrations, Webinars, Videos, Developer Advocacy/Evangelism, Technical Writing, Blogging.

Ideal Report To

Depending on the size and complexity of the company, products, services, devices, platforms and other technology areas, Developer Marketing and Developer Relations leaders and team members would ideally like to report to one (or more) of the following executive level members and organizations.

• Developer Marketing – report to the CMO as part of the Corporate Marketing organization.
• Developer Relations – report to the CTO and be part of the Software Engineering organization.

Are there other education, skills and organizational reporting aspects that you’ve experienced or found?

There is never a college degree, experience level, job history and organizational structure that fits neatly for all Developer Marketing and Developer Relations professionals in each industry and company for today’s software, devices, platforms and services world. In looking at my network of friends and job requirements postings, I’ve found any number of additional aspects that could be (should be) included. Send me an email with your own experiences and history and I’ll consider them for the  upcoming DevRelate webinar in August.

David Intersimone “David I”
Vice President of Developer Communities
Evans Data Corporation
davidi@evansdata.com
Blog: https://www.devrelate.com/blog/
Skype: davidi99
Twitter: @davidi99
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidi99/