%% date:: [[2022-11-02]], [[2024-08-06]] %% # [[Developer Relations]] Developer relations is an interdisciplinary field that encompasses [[Marketing]], [[Product Management]], and [[Software Development]]. People employed in this field are often called [[Developer Advocate]]s, Developer Evangelists, or even Avocados. Developer Advocates are hired to increase awareness in a product or service through meaningful interactions with the community and contributions to the industry. ## Developer Advocacy is not Marketing Developer Advocacy is at odds with traditional Marketing practices in that they seek to organically drive traffic by simply using products themselves. ![[Developer Relations vs Marketing#^83194043]] ^[01] Developer Relations is a form of [[Anti-marketing]], and [[The basis of anti-marketing is authenticity]]. ## Pillars of Advocacy Ideally, you want to address all of these pillars, but not necessarily with the same people. Depending on the size of your DevRel team, DevRels may be able to specialize according to their interests. ### [[Community building|Community]] Building a community around a product is key to being an Advocate, because it's only by interacting with users or potential users that they can understand the day-to-day issues users face. ### [[Creating Content|Content]] Education and awareness are often classified as different pillars, but Shawn Wang includes them under the overarching pillar "Content". This makes more sense to me, as there is a fine line between education and awareness, and it can get difficult to decide what belongs in which pillar. #### Education Advocates make it easier to use a product by creating tutorials and giving demonstrations. #### Awareness Advocates create content by writing, speaking, creating videos, or strking up public conversations to call attention to a product. ### Product Advocates also advocate _internally_. They represent a product's users in roadmap discussions and release planning. ## [[Developer Advocacy Models]] ## [[Measuring the impact of Developer Advocacy]] DevRel is a long game: advocates are typically expensive and don't have an immediate impact on sales, but they reap longer-term benefits by building relationships with potential customers, as opposed to the short-term business agreements that Marketing and Sales typically yield. ## [[Developer Advocacy as a Career]] ## [[DevRel Tools]] ## Related - [[Work]] - [[Anti-marketing]] - [[Developer Relations vs Marketing]] <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/71q0JmEli0k" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> [^01]: [[Developer Relations vs Marketing]] from [site](https://medium.com/the-devrel-salon/developer-relations-vs-marketing-1323dba7ea78)