Developers are not just tech users. With their technical expertise, they’re the key decision-makers in any organization’s process of tech product adoption. Therefore, it is critical for businesses to understand their evolving behaviors, to tailor the most effective marketing strategy within the allocated budget.
As 2025 is right around the corner, this article is to help you rev up the planning process – with a complete view of what’s trending and what’s coming next in the developer community. Shall we dive right in?
Developer marketing: 2024 insights
Focus on AI and Sustainability
In 2024, the AI industry continues to accelerate with remarkable growth, projected to reach $184 billion, up by $50 billion compared to 2023 (Statista). However, developers are proven to view AI as a tool to enhance productivity rather than a job threat. According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2024, 76% of respondents are currently using or plan to use AI tools in their workflows. Interestingly, a similar percentage – 70% -do not see AI as a threat to their jobs, underscoring the perception that AI complements rather than replaces human skills.
At the same time, sustainability in software development is also becoming a priority for the tech community. The same Stack Overflow report points out that developers are most frustrated by technical debt – the extra work caused by choosing quick, short-term solutions. This signals the need for a more sustainable and strategic approach to software development and project management.
Asynchronous, Hybrid, and Multichannel Engagement
2024 is also the year when marketers realize the importance of meeting developers where they are and with what they need. Asynchronous means such as on-demand webinars, tutorials, and self-paced learning resources offer developers the flexibility to access content and engage with learning materials on their own time. Similarly, hybrid events offer the flexibility of both in-person and virtual participation. This is especially important in a global developer ecosystem where time zones, work schedules, and personal preferences vary widely.
Developers interact with a variety of channels throughout their day. In addition to the usual tech stack, they frequent YouTube and Twitch for tutorials and live sessions; Twitter, Discord and LinkedIn for discussions and feedback; publications and newsletters for industry updates.
Factors that influence developer product adoption
A BCG survey asked developers what factors they consider most important when onboarding and scaling new solutions, and here is what they found out:
Technicalities
Developers prioritize technical aspects like ease of integration, performance, and scalability when adopting new tools, preferring products with a clear roadmap and regular updates to ensure long-term stability and smoother workflow integration.
Documentation & Support
As the majority of developers use documentation as their primary guide, resources such as API references, hands-on tutorials, and code examples are crucial for reducing the learning curve and keeping developers engaged as products evolve. When trying out a new product, they also value a well-rounded testing environment and direct vendor support
Community Endorsement & Engagement
Mention from an industry peer is the highest-ranked factor for product adoption with 25.8%. Meanwhile, an active developer community encourages knowledge sharing, discussions, and contributions, while providing a platform for support, mentorship, and continuous product feedback.
From insights to actions: Developer Engagement Tactics
Now that you know what is going on in the developer industry and a developer’s mind, let’s take a look at the top tactics – widely used by tech companies all around the world – to help with your developer marketing strategy. According to the State of DevRel Report 2023, Content Marketing takes the cake as the most effective tactic (55.3%), followed by Events and Online Community Engagement.
The Content Strategy to Communicate with Developers
To truly engage developers, your content needs to do more than promote – it must provide value, foster trust, and address their real challenges.
Create Educational, Not Promotional Content
Your marketing materials are no longer sales decks or flashy videos. Instead, they should focus on what developers truly care about – code samples, API use cases, architecture diagrams, and comprehensive technical guides. Why? Because developers want solutions that solve real problems and enhance productivity, not a sales pitch. Additionally, hosting a community for peer education allows developers to share knowledge, and learn from one another. while maintaining engagement with your product.
Open-Source Contributions
GitHub saw continued growth in open-source projects, and an explosion of AI experimentations, as detailed in its Octoverse 2023 report. Open-source refers to software with source code that is freely available for anyone to view, modify, and distribute. Supporting or contributing to open-source projects can significantly enhance a product’s credibility by demonstrating a commitment to transparency and innovation. As it signals that the product will continue to evolve through collaborative input, developers are more encouraged to engage with it long-term, ultimately benefiting the product and its community.
Online Programs to Attract Global Developers
Learning Programs
Hosting webinars, bootcamps, and workshops are essential educational initiatives for developers to gain skills and knowledge related to your product. Webinars offer virtual and global access, bootcamps provide intensive training in specific areas, and workshops create space for interaction and collaboration. By offering these learning opportunities, companies can establish themselves as reputable experts and build lasting relationships within the developer community.
Running these programs requires careful planning, content development, and resource allocation for learning support and post-learning engagement. Take a look at how Hedera managed to onboard over 5,000 developers with one learn & earn campaign as a part of a multi-tiered program. The learning experience equipped participants with an in-depth understanding of Hereda’s concepts and tools to be applied later on, culminating in 7 high-potential projects to expand the ecosystem.
Developer Quests
Developer quests guide users through step-by-step challenges to learn and apply a technology or product. These hands-on experiences foster a deeper understanding, leading to quicker onboarding and higher engagement with the technology. On StackUp, one of the leading platforms for developer quests with over 150,000 users, you can find various programs that reward developers with prizes like cash or crypto, making the entire process engaging and competitive. Developing quests involves technical content creation, prize management, and coordination between teams to ensure the challenges align with real-world applications and provide value to participants.
Bounty Programs
Bounty programs incentivize developers to build solutions or solve technical problems in exchange for rewards. The goals are to enhance product security and improve product quality, leveraging the expertise of external developers.
Effective bounty programs call for clear guidelines, competitive rewards, as well as a secure, versatile platform to manage the program. Circle’s Bounty Challenge is a great example, where developers were tasked with building programmable wallets using Circle’s SDK. This initiative engaged over 2,600 developers to integrate Circle into their apps, resulting in over 15,000 API calls and 2,000 transactions in chain activity.
Events for In-person Engagement
Hackathons
Hackathons are distinct competitions where developers work on solving challenges within a set timeframe, typically 24 to 48 hours. Companies can host or sponsor hackathons, with specific challenge statements related to their products or industry. This encourages developers to generate and build innovative solutions relevant to the company’s objectives.
Organizing or sponsoring hackathons demands significant investment in logistics, technical support, and offering attractive prizes to incentivize participation. However, the return on investment (ROI) is exceptionally high, as these events drive engagement and innovation at the greatest speed. Take hackglobal as an example: with over a decade of experience running in more than 100 cities worldwide, the global hackathon consistently attracts thousands of developers every year, alongside partners from both tech and non-tech industries. The global reach and long-standing reputation have made it a powerful platform for connecting with highly skilled talents and fostering game-changing solutions in various sectors.
Networking & Community Events
Meetups, discussions, summits, and expos are vital for fostering connections between developers and organizations. Meetups and discussions encourage knowledge sharing and informal networking, while summits and expos allow for deeper engagement with a much larger audience. Hosting or sponsoring these types of events involves venue coordination, speaker management, and marketing efforts, but also provides valuable opportunities to create lasting relationships and foster community engagement.
For instance, Ethereum builders have Devcon – the official annual conference with both virtual and on-site options. DevCon brings together the entire community of developers and Web3 enthusiasts (60,000 participants in its last Devcon VI!), posing an unparalleled opportunity to share knowledge, collaborate, and generate innovative ideas together.
Measuring Success in Developer Marketing
Tracking success in developer marketing goes beyond just sign-ups; it’s about fostering long-term engagement, community participation, and continuous improvement.
Developer Activation and Retention Rates
Activation means getting developers to start using your product, while retention means keeping them engaged over time. Here are the key metrics to track:
- API Usage: Monitor how often developers use your APIs to assess adoption and product utility.
- Developer Retention: Track the rates of return usage to understand how often developers come back after activation.
- Community Contributions: Gauge how often developers access and contribute to forums, GitHub repositories, or documentation.
Feedback Loops for Continuous Improvement
Gathering developer feedback is absolutely vital to refining your product and marketing strategy. You can do so via:
- Surveys and Focus Groups: Collect direct feedback to understand how developers want to be communicated, as well as their needs and pain points with the product
- Bug Bounty Programs: Offering bounties encourages developers to engage deeper with the product and help identify critical product issues.
Budgeting for your Developer Marketing Strategy
There are many factors to consider when setting your budget for developer marketing: Company size, industry and business model, developers as the primary or secondary target group, etc. However, Developer Marketing Alliance’s 2023/24 report highlighted that the medium budget for SMEs is from $25,000 to $100,000, while big corporations’ spend can range from $100,000 up to $1 million for developer marketing activities.
In terms of budget allocation, a developer marketing strategy usually consists of the costs for the three pillars mentioned above: Content, Programs and Events, along with operation costs for Headcount and Softwares. There is no one-size-fits-all format that we can recommend, but you can follow the steps below to tailor a budget that works best for the company’s goals and available resources!
- Define Your Objectives – Set clear goals and measurable KPIs to guide your developer marketing strategy.
- Assess Past Campaigns (if applicable) – Review previous efforts to understand ROI and identify areas for improvement.
- Identify Key Marketing Tactics – Choose what tactics to use based on your objectives and audience.
- Consider The Developers – Segment your audience and focus on channels where they are most active and engaged.
- Estimate the Resource Requirements – Calculate the budget for Headcount and Softwares needed to execute your marketing strategy.
- Allocate The Remaining Budget Based on Priority and ROI Potential – Once you’ve identified your key marketing tactics, prioritize them based on their potential to deliver results. Allocate more budget to high-impact activities that align closely with your goals.
- Content marketing like blog articles, technical guides, newsletters and social campaigns – when executed and targeted correctly, will have strong and consistent ROI over time. Estimate about 15-20% of your budget for this category, with and additional 20-25% for content distribution through paid channels.
- Events like Hackathons or Networking typically require a larger budget due to prize money, promotion and logistics, but they can deliver substantial ROI through product adoption, community growth and potential partnerships. We would suggest allocating 25-30% of your total marketing budget here.
- Online programs are less expensive but still provide significant value in terms of developer education and onboarding, so we advise an assignment of 15-20% of your budget for these initiatives.
- The remaining budget should be spread across smaller activities for community management and contingency funds.
- Track and Adjust in Real-Time – Continuously monitoring the performance of each tactic is essential to maximize your developer marketing strategy. Here are a few examples! If you’re running developer quests or learning programs, track metrics like completion rates, time spent on tasks, and feedback scores. For instance, if you notice that only a small percentage of participants are completing a quest, consider simplifying the challenges or breaking them down into smaller, bite-sized steps.
- For content marketing, measure key metrics like views, clicks, time spent, or downloads. If a particular content type is driving better engagement, shift more resources toward promoting it.
- Track the activities in your developer community such as the number of active members, questions answered, and feedback received. If you notice a drop in statistics after launching a new product feature, consider offering incentives for engagement, like a small bounty for feedback.
Final words
From what 2024 has told us so far, the budget for developer marketing in 2025 must place greater emphasis on trust-building, community-driven initiatives, and interactive product experiences. It’s no longer about just selling your product—it’s about cultivating lasting relationships by offering developers consistent, high-value content and avenues for meaningful engagement.
Stay ahead of the competition by starting to plan and budget for your 2025 developer marketing strategy now. AngelHack, with over a decade of experience in hackathons and developer marketing, is happy to guide you through the process. Reach out for a free consultation today, and let us help you craft a plan that fosters true connection, growth and success.
