The tech world is challenging and characterized by rapid changes, so it can be hard to succeed as a lone wolf. Communities give developers the support they need, be it in terms of the latest tools and processes or by learning what worked for others, for example.
While it can be tempting to push for a sale when interacting with developers, devs join communities to solve problems they may be having, develop their skills, network with peers, find a mentor, contribute more easily to open-source projects, and more. Not to be sold to.
In order to win the hearts and minds of your developer community, you must first provide them with value. Give before taking – this way, you’re more likely to engage people and have them try your product.
You can read more about why developer communities matter in our blog, but, for now, we leave you with some of the benefits of belonging to a dev community as a marketer:
The opportunity to rifle through an encyclopedia of knowledge that’ll help you gain product insights.
Become more trustworthy – this is key when marketing to developers, since they tend to listen to their peers. If you don’t possess the necessary tech knowledge or haven’t built your credibility, you won’t get the results you’re looking for.
You can boost your brand awareness more easily if you belong to a dev community, since you’re able to showcase your company and products.
Many developers join communities because they want to network with others – you can do the same when you join a dev community. You get the chance to build relationships with people and connect with key people in the tech world, which might give you the edge you need when it comes to developing or marketing your product.
Increase product adoption rates. Belonging to a community can get your product in front of more developers, and you can also have developer champions that help you further promote your product.
Get product feedback – the opportunity to ask for feedback from developers is invaluable, as it can help you improve your product, tweak features, and get an idea of what’s missing in the market. Testimonials and case studies, for instance, are also great for social proof and showcase to other devs how your product works and the benefits it offers.