What are the top three most important factors when marketing to developers (i.e. robust documentation, etc)?

Authenticity

Developers have a keen eye for marketing fluff. They really value straight talk - so get to the point! What does your product do, how it works, and why it’s better. No hype, just facts.

Robust Docs

This can’t be overstated! Developers rely on clear, comprehensive, and accessible docs. It’s often their first point of contact with your product, so it needs to be readily available (think SEO) and provide clear answers.

Community Engagement

Developers thrive in communities. I really believe that having an active, helpful community around the product is critical - I have seen this work well through forums, GitHub, and community events.

1. Have the right foundations. Build basic getting started and 101 content, including easy-to-access documentation. It doesn't have to cover everything you offer right away, but it needs to be good enough for developers to follow and for you to promote. If possible, keep testing the quality and quantity of your documentation and tutorial content with select developer champions. If you are starting fresh, map out your ideal developer journey, map your content gaps, and prioritize what you need to build before spreading the word.

2. Be authentic. Developers will cut through marketing noise really fast. Start with the 'why' but never forget the 'how'—spend more time on the 'how.' Get subject matter experts to write and present content, e.g., getting your engineers to talk through how they built and tested a particular feature live on a webinar. Don't worry about writing the perfect copy and making picture-perfect slides; developers know that the 'demo gods' are not always in our favor, and things can go haywire anytime. They will appreciate your honesty and authenticity in every communication you orchestrate.

3. Engage the community. They say every movie has an audience - I believe every product has its community. Find it, grow it, and nurture it. Get your developers to learn from each other and experts at your company - whether this is on your proprietary developer portal, Slack, Discord, or other channels. Identify and recognize your customer developer advocates and encourage them to mentor new developers. This will help build trust and improve product adoption.

1. Use cases- Document how developers can use your product in different situations.See Ask Your Developer for a really good take on how important use cases are to developers.  
2. Data- developers tend to be highly skeptical. Use empirical data and engage their "problem-solver" mind. 
3. Memes- levity has been highly effective for Woven. Humor helps with awareness and makes Developers less resistant to marketing Messages.