# Measuring Developer Relations
URL:: https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel
Author:: swyx.io
## Highlights
> A few years ago the key theme of one of the DevRelCons was "metrics". People breathlessly tweeted about how this was **the most important topic in DevRel**, to general agreement. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F1%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A23#:~:text=A%20few%20years%20ago%20the%2Cin%20DevRel%2C%20to%20general%20agreement.))
> [Bottom Line Up Front](https://www.swyx.io/measuring-devrel#bottom-line-up-front)
> 
> Stop looking: **Your North Star metric is "monthly active developers"**. If growth is accelerating, good. If growth is constant, fine. If growth is 0% or worse then whatever you are doing isn't working. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F1%2F11%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F5%2F11%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A131#:~:text=Bottom%20Line%20Up%20Front%0A%20%2Cyou%20are%20doing%20isn't%20working.))
^d43217
> Every other company measuring devrel eventually settles on this, so just cut right to the chase. You could try "monthly active clusters" but you'll want each cluster's usage to grow as well so you end up indexing on "developers" anyway. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F7%2F11%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F1%2F7%2F11%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A236#:~:text=Every%20other%20company%20measuring%20devrel%2Cup%20indexing%20on%20%22developers%22%20anyway.))
> Unhappiness arises when there is an expectations mismatch between what the company wants out of DevRel and what DevRel is good at. People have natural affinities — you are more likely to do well with community if you already organize meetups, you are more likely to be great at content if you are a regular on the speaker circuit, you are more likely to understand how to plug user gaps with product feedback if you already built one, etc. Don't judge a fish by its ability to climb trees. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F3%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A489#:~:text=Unhappiness%20arises%20when%20there%20is%2Cits%20ability%20to%20climb%20trees.))
> There are three emerging sub-specialities of developer relations: **community**-focused, **content**-focused, and **product**-focused. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F5%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C6%2F5%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A9#:~:text=There%20are%20three%20emerging%20sub-specialities%2Crelations%3A%20community-focused%2C%20content-focused%2C%20and%20product-focused.))
> If you are in "devrel" but you walk like marketing, talk like marketing, and are measured like marketing, you are in marketing. **In fact, you are very expensive affiliate marketing**. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F3%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A1#:~:text=If%20you%20are%20in%20%22devrel%22%2Care%20very%20expensive%20affiliate%20marketing.))
> If you measure devrel by views, the established industry metric is "cost per mille" aka cost per thousand people reached. Indicative numbers: a typical developer content creator's CPM is $5, a normal devrel's CPM is $50-$100. In other words **you are paying 10-20x more to make content "in-house"** than just paying a "professional" to make something about you (often of higher quality, to a bigger audience). ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F3%2F3%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F1%2F3%2F3%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A111#:~:text=If%20you%20measure%20devrel%20by%2Cquality%2C%20to%20a%20bigger%20audience).))
> for a company devrel investment to make sense, **you have to provide some other form of value than raw anonymous reach**. This can be: depth, breadth, consistency, access, insight, community, email list building, etc. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F5%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A3%2C2%2F5%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A97#:~:text=for%20a%20company%20devrel%20investment%2Ccommunity%2C%20email%20list%20building%2C%20etc.))
> Devrel specifically coexists as a separate discipline from marketing because developers hate marketing fluff and bottom-up + open source sales is so important for devtool adoption. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F3%2F5%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F1%2F3%2F5%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A180#:~:text=Devrel%20specifically%20coexists%20as%20a%2Cso%20important%20for%20devtool%20adoption.))
> [Bad Metrics](https://www.swyx.io/measuring-devrel#bad-metrics)
> I've been asked to measure all these in my work: GitHub stars on my demos (yuck), traffic attributed to my Google Analytics UTM tag (yuck yuck), number of badges I could scan at a conference (yuck yuck yuck). All well intentioned but ultimately not meaningful, because they value quantity over quality, breadth over depth, free-and-superficial over paid-and-indicating-serious-interest. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F1%2F15%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F3%2F15%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A386#:~:text=Bad%20Metrics%0A%20%20I've%20been%2Cover%20depth%2C%20free-and-superficial%20over%20paid-and-indicating-serious-interest.))
> You are hereby banned from suggesting to A/B test anything if you do not have the traffic or the infrastructure to easily implement an A/B test like 90% of devtools startups. **A tight user feedback loop beats anonymous data.** You find out much more just showing a preview to users 1:1 or in small groups than keeping them at arms length. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F3%2F9%2F15%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F1%2F3%2F9%2F15%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A112#:~:text=You%20are%20hereby%20banned%20from%2Ckeeping%20them%20at%20arms%20length.))
> Community metrics that I like (pick 1-3):
> • Number of active members in Slack/Discord
> • Number of weekly new topics in Discourse/StackOverflow/GitHub Discussions
> • Number of user contributions (whether it is PRs, questions, answers, blogposts, meetup talks, etc)
> • Number of [Orbit level 1](https://github.com/orbit-love/orbit-model) users
> • Number of events and number of attendees
> • Number of engaged "superusers" ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F5%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F11%2F7%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A30#:~:text=Community%20metrics%20that%20I%20like%2C%20Number%20of%20engaged%20%22superusers%22))
^629ba8
> You need to give people a cause to rally around other than getting help. Having **great content is often the "minimal viable community"**. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F3%2F1%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F3%2F3%2F1%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A1#:~:text=You%20need%20to%20give%20people%2Coften%20the%20%22minimal%20viable%20community%22.))
> A "big tent" serves your community over the company — invite your competitors to your event or conference, present together or let them do friendly trash talk, whatever makes your community an actual place where people get together to learn about your topic is good for you. This is especially effective when attempting [Category Creation](https://codingcareer.circle.so/c/devtools/category-creation-netlify-slack-datastax#comment_wrapper_2653625). ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F5%2F3%2F1%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F5%2F3%2F1%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A1#:~:text=A%20%22big%20tent%22%20serves%20your%2Ceffective%20when%20attempting%20Category%20Creation.))
> **Events** are underrated for fostering company community. To [paraphrase Marshall McLuhan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understanding_Media), forums and chats are "cold", events are "hot". From company office hours, to social hours, to full-on conferences and hackathons, to user-organized meetups. Measure attendance and frequency of these events. I am dead serious about this — we had a Principal DevRel whose primary job was to help organize our 3 conferences (together with Marketing) and their associated community. If he did nothing else but that, he would already have been worth his weight in gold to us. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F5%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C3%2F5%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A472#:~:text=Events%20are%20underrated%20for%20fostering%2Cweight%20in%20gold%20to%20us.))
> A small group of highly engaged fans can make a community feel more alive than a large group of passive users. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F7%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F1%2F7%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A110#:~:text=A%20small%20group%20of%20highly%2Clarge%20group%20of%20passive%20users.))
> Content is the bread and butter of DevRel. If you have no idea where to start I recommend producing at least 1 piece of content on your company a week and just experimenting until you find your groove. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F3%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A201#:~:text=Content%20is%20the%20bread%20and%2Cuntil%20you%20find%20your%20groove.))
> Content metrics that I like (in rough order):
> • Number of Newsletter subscribers
> • Number of YouTube subscribers
> • Number of Twitter follows
> • Number of Workshop completions
> • Number of Conference/meetup appearances
> • [SEO Domain Authority](https://moz.com/learn/seo/domain-authority) ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F5%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F0%2F11%2F7%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A20#:~:text=Content%20metrics%20that%20I%20like%2C%20%20SEO%20Domain%20Authority))
^82273c
> As a content creator you have the choice between [TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU content](https://swyx.transistor.fm/episodes/tofu-mofu-and-bofu-content):
> • Top of Funnel - never heard of you (Awareness)
> • Middle of Funnel - comparing you to others and learning basic features/concepts (Evaluation)
> • Bottom of Funnel - deciding to buy and put you into production (Conversion)
> • If you only measure website traffic then you naturally incentivize DevRel to create clickbait TOFU that doesn't have to convert at all and alienate your biggest fans. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F7%2F3%2F1%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A166#:~:text=As%20a%20content%20creator%20you%2Cand%20alienate%20your%20biggest%20fans.))
> Newsletter signup (incentivized by great company blogposts and updates) keeps you honest. Most marketers and professional creators view **1 email subscriber to be worth between 100-1000 social media followers**. Even though many developers don't like giving their email and you'll need other ways to reach them, you are not exempt from universal rules of media. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A177%2C2%2F3%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A151#:~:text=Newsletter%20signup%20(incentivized%20by%20great%2Cfrom%20universal%20rules%20of%20media.))
> Keep in mind **the [half life of your content](https://epipheo.com/learn/what-is-the-lifespan-of-social-media-posts/)** — how long until a piece of content gets half of the views it will ever get in its lifetime. Twitter's half-life is hours, YouTube's half-life is months, blog is years. Create accordingly. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A189#:~:text=Keep%20in%20mind%20the%20half%2Cblog%20is%20years.%20Create%20accordingly.))
> You can test things on more ephemeral media before developing them further on more permanent media. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F3%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F1%2F3%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A99#:~:text=You%20can%20test%20things%20on%2Cfurther%20on%20more%20permanent%20media.))
> Most managers think they are helping by establishing content calendars. I have never seen a DevRel operation stick to these beyond month 1. Turns out it is much easier to say you will do things than to actually do things. Ultimately you will create content because you are inspired to, not because some calendar said so. Keep a list of topics that you want to cover and reguarly pick them off based on subjective interest vs user need. Exception for YouTube - the recommendation algorithm does reward weekly output. See [Dan Luu on best practices for engineering blogs](https://danluu.com/corp-eng-blogs/). ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F3%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F3%2F3%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A1#:~:text=Most%20managers%20think%20they%20are%2Cbest%20practices%20for%20engineering%20blogs.))
> **Workshops** are extremely underrated forms of content for achieving depth. Instead of 5,000 people watching your 5 minute video, you could have 50 people go through your 5 hour workshop and get far better users. Most workshops can also be converted into self guided versions to scale your work beyond your time: see AWS Workshops like [Amplify](https://amplify-photo-sharing.workshop.aws/), [ECS](https://ecsworkshop.com/), and [EKS](https://www.eksworkshop.com/), Google [Colabs](https://colab.research.google.com/github/firebase/quickstart-python/blob/master/machine-learning/Firebase_ML_API_Tutorial.ipynb), GitHub [Learning Labs](https://lab.github.com/githubtraining/github-actions:-hello-world). ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F13%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C11%2F13%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A1#:~:text=Workshops%20are%20extremely%20underrated%20forms%2CGoogle%20Colabs%2C%20GitHub%20Learning%20Labs.))
> **Conference** appearances are probably overrated by most companies, by the simple fact that most developers don't go to conferences. Companies have historically overspent on devrel travel budgets if you just take into account attendee reach. However, millions of developers do watch good conference videos after the fact. You can abstractly view conference expenses as production costs for social proof and a really good YouTube video (on a channel you don't own). It's well worth producing 1-2 great conference talks a year at high profile events, and sometimes to get there, you need to practice and iterate at 5-10 smaller venues, but anything beyond that probably has diminished returns compared to anything else you could be doing. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F15%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C1%2F15%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A723#:~:text=Conference%20appearances%20are%20probably%20overrated%2Celse%20you%20could%20be%20doing.))
> Bonus "Content" things to consider:
> • who owns example repos and code samples and keeps them up to date?
> • are you creating content because your docs aren't clear enough? are you creating docs because your product isn't intuitive? All content ultimately has a half-life — sometimes you have to go downstream to fix root cause instead of measuring someone on how well they apply bandaids.
> • how can you encourage real-engineer-content and user-generated content? Devrel scales by how it *enables others* to create content, not just by having a sole monopoly on content. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F21%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F5%2F1%2F21%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A66#:~:text=Bonus%20%22Content%22%20things%20to%20consider%3A%0A%2Ca%20sole%20monopoly%20on%20content.))
> Product metrics that I like:
> • Number of launch day users, and positive launch day mentions
> • Number of prioritized user issues from DevRel
> • Number of monthly users of integrations/tooling
> • [the Sean Ellis question](https://review.firstround.com/how-superhuman-built-an-engine-to-find-product-market-fit#anchoring-around-a-metric-a-leading-indicator-for-productmarket-fit) (over NPS) for integrations/tooling managed by devrel ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F21%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C1%2F7%2F5%2F21%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A54#:~:text=Product%20metrics%20that%20I%20like%3A%0A%2Cfor%20integrations%2Ftooling%20managed%20by%20devrel))
^52c041
> Most devrels spend most of their time advocating TO developers than FOR them. The user-to-product feedback loop is the most underdeveloped element of developer advocacy right now basically because it is unclear who owns this function between Devrel and PM. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F15%2F21%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F15%2F21%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A256#:~:text=Most%20devrels%20spend%20most%20of%2Cfunction%20between%20Devrel%20and%20PM.))
> Ultimately I hope for more intellectual honesty within the industry that acknowledges the complex tradeoffs:
> • between the need for communicating value and quantifying progress vs the dehumanizing effect of metrics on what is ultimately an extremely human endeavor
> • between lagging metrics that are more meaningful but where you have less control, and leading metrics where you have more control but little accountability, and the primary link between leading and lagging is "merely" anecdotal and qualitative but ultimately your job
> • where content is a personal, creative process which needs a culture that accepts risk taking and failure, hot streaks and lulls, where consistency, quality, and scope are valued differently by different segments of your audience, and too many backseat drivers guarantees death of personality and ownership. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F23%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F5%2F5%2F23%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A306#:~:text=Ultimately%20I%20hope%20for%20more%2Cdeath%20of%20personality%20and%20ownership.))
---
Title: Measuring Developer Relations
Author: swyx.io
Tags: readwise, articles
date: 2024-01-30
---
# Measuring Developer Relations
URL:: https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel
Author:: swyx.io
## AI-Generated Summary
None
## Highlights
> A few years ago the key theme of one of the DevRelCons was "metrics". People breathlessly tweeted about how this was **the most important topic in DevRel**, to general agreement. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F1%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A23#:~:text=A%20few%20years%20ago%20the%2Cin%20DevRel%2C%20to%20general%20agreement.))
> [Bottom Line Up Front](https://www.swyx.io/measuring-devrel#bottom-line-up-front)
> 
> Stop looking: **Your North Star metric is "monthly active developers"**. If growth is accelerating, good. If growth is constant, fine. If growth is 0% or worse then whatever you are doing isn't working. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F1%2F11%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F5%2F11%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A131#:~:text=Bottom%20Line%20Up%20Front%0A%20%2Cyou%20are%20doing%20isn't%20working.))
> Every other company measuring devrel eventually settles on this, so just cut right to the chase. You could try "monthly active clusters" but you'll want each cluster's usage to grow as well so you end up indexing on "developers" anyway. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F7%2F11%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F1%2F7%2F11%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A236#:~:text=Every%20other%20company%20measuring%20devrel%2Cup%20indexing%20on%20%22developers%22%20anyway.))
> Unhappiness arises when there is an expectations mismatch between what the company wants out of DevRel and what DevRel is good at. People have natural affinities — you are more likely to do well with community if you already organize meetups, you are more likely to be great at content if you are a regular on the speaker circuit, you are more likely to understand how to plug user gaps with product feedback if you already built one, etc. Don't judge a fish by its ability to climb trees. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F3%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A489#:~:text=Unhappiness%20arises%20when%20there%20is%2Cits%20ability%20to%20climb%20trees.))
> There are three emerging sub-specialities of developer relations: **community**-focused, **content**-focused, and **product**-focused. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F5%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C6%2F5%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A9#:~:text=There%20are%20three%20emerging%20sub-specialities%2Crelations%3A%20community-focused%2C%20content-focused%2C%20and%20product-focused.))
> If you are in "devrel" but you walk like marketing, talk like marketing, and are measured like marketing, you are in marketing. **In fact, you are very expensive affiliate marketing**. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F3%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A1#:~:text=If%20you%20are%20in%20%22devrel%22%2Care%20very%20expensive%20affiliate%20marketing.))
> If you measure devrel by views, the established industry metric is "cost per mille" aka cost per thousand people reached. Indicative numbers: a typical developer content creator's CPM is $5, a normal devrel's CPM is $50-$100. In other words **you are paying 10-20x more to make content "in-house"** than just paying a "professional" to make something about you (often of higher quality, to a bigger audience). ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F3%2F3%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F1%2F3%2F3%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A111#:~:text=If%20you%20measure%20devrel%20by%2Cquality%2C%20to%20a%20bigger%20audience).))
> for a company devrel investment to make sense, **you have to provide some other form of value than raw anonymous reach**. This can be: depth, breadth, consistency, access, insight, community, email list building, etc. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F5%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A3%2C2%2F5%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A97#:~:text=for%20a%20company%20devrel%20investment%2Ccommunity%2C%20email%20list%20building%2C%20etc.))
> Devrel specifically coexists as a separate discipline from marketing because developers hate marketing fluff and bottom-up + open source sales is so important for devtool adoption. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F3%2F5%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F1%2F3%2F5%2F7%2F13%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A180#:~:text=Devrel%20specifically%20coexists%20as%20a%2Cso%20important%20for%20devtool%20adoption.))
> [Bad Metrics](https://www.swyx.io/measuring-devrel#bad-metrics)
> I've been asked to measure all these in my work: GitHub stars on my demos (yuck), traffic attributed to my Google Analytics UTM tag (yuck yuck), number of badges I could scan at a conference (yuck yuck yuck). All well intentioned but ultimately not meaningful, because they value quantity over quality, breadth over depth, free-and-superficial over paid-and-indicating-serious-interest. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F1%2F15%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F3%2F15%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A386#:~:text=Bad%20Metrics%0A%20%20I've%20been%2Cover%20depth%2C%20free-and-superficial%20over%20paid-and-indicating-serious-interest.))
> You are hereby banned from suggesting to A/B test anything if you do not have the traffic or the infrastructure to easily implement an A/B test like 90% of devtools startups. **A tight user feedback loop beats anonymous data.** You find out much more just showing a preview to users 1:1 or in small groups than keeping them at arms length. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F3%2F9%2F15%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F1%2F3%2F9%2F15%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A112#:~:text=You%20are%20hereby%20banned%20from%2Ckeeping%20them%20at%20arms%20length.))
> Community metrics that I like (pick 1-3):
> • Number of active members in Slack/Discord
> • Number of weekly new topics in Discourse/StackOverflow/GitHub Discussions
> • Number of user contributions (whether it is PRs, questions, answers, blogposts, meetup talks, etc)
> • Number of [Orbit level 1](https://github.com/orbit-love/orbit-model) users
> • Number of events and number of attendees
> • Number of engaged "superusers" ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F5%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F11%2F7%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A30#:~:text=Community%20metrics%20that%20I%20like%2C%20Number%20of%20engaged%20%22superusers%22))
> You need to give people a cause to rally around other than getting help. Having **great content is often the "minimal viable community"**. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F3%2F1%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F3%2F3%2F1%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A1#:~:text=You%20need%20to%20give%20people%2Coften%20the%20%22minimal%20viable%20community%22.))
> A "big tent" serves your community over the company — invite your competitors to your event or conference, present together or let them do friendly trash talk, whatever makes your community an actual place where people get together to learn about your topic is good for you. This is especially effective when attempting [Category Creation](https://codingcareer.circle.so/c/devtools/category-creation-netlify-slack-datastax#comment_wrapper_2653625). ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F5%2F3%2F1%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F5%2F3%2F1%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A1#:~:text=A%20%22big%20tent%22%20serves%20your%2Ceffective%20when%20attempting%20Category%20Creation.))
> **Events** are underrated for fostering company community. To [paraphrase Marshall McLuhan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understanding_Media), forums and chats are "cold", events are "hot". From company office hours, to social hours, to full-on conferences and hackathons, to user-organized meetups. Measure attendance and frequency of these events. I am dead serious about this — we had a Principal DevRel whose primary job was to help organize our 3 conferences (together with Marketing) and their associated community. If he did nothing else but that, he would already have been worth his weight in gold to us. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F5%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C3%2F5%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A472#:~:text=Events%20are%20underrated%20for%20fostering%2Cweight%20in%20gold%20to%20us.))
> A small group of highly engaged fans can make a community feel more alive than a large group of passive users. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F7%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F1%2F7%2F11%2F17%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A110#:~:text=A%20small%20group%20of%20highly%2Clarge%20group%20of%20passive%20users.))
> Content is the bread and butter of DevRel. If you have no idea where to start I recommend producing at least 1 piece of content on your company a week and just experimenting until you find your groove. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F3%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A201#:~:text=Content%20is%20the%20bread%20and%2Cuntil%20you%20find%20your%20groove.))
> Content metrics that I like (in rough order):
> • Number of Newsletter subscribers
> • Number of YouTube subscribers
> • Number of Twitter follows
> • Number of Workshop completions
> • Number of Conference/meetup appearances
> • [SEO Domain Authority](https://moz.com/learn/seo/domain-authority) ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F5%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F0%2F11%2F7%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A20#:~:text=Content%20metrics%20that%20I%20like%2C%20%20SEO%20Domain%20Authority))
> As a content creator you have the choice between [TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU content](https://swyx.transistor.fm/episodes/tofu-mofu-and-bofu-content):
> • Top of Funnel - never heard of you (Awareness)
> • Middle of Funnel - comparing you to others and learning basic features/concepts (Evaluation)
> • Bottom of Funnel - deciding to buy and put you into production (Conversion)
> • If you only measure website traffic then you naturally incentivize DevRel to create clickbait TOFU that doesn't have to convert at all and alienate your biggest fans. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F7%2F3%2F1%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A166#:~:text=As%20a%20content%20creator%20you%2Cand%20alienate%20your%20biggest%20fans.))
> Newsletter signup (incentivized by great company blogposts and updates) keeps you honest. Most marketers and professional creators view **1 email subscriber to be worth between 100-1000 social media followers**. Even though many developers don't like giving their email and you'll need other ways to reach them, you are not exempt from universal rules of media. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A177%2C2%2F3%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A151#:~:text=Newsletter%20signup%20(incentivized%20by%20great%2Cfrom%20universal%20rules%20of%20media.))
> Keep in mind **the [half life of your content](https://epipheo.com/learn/what-is-the-lifespan-of-social-media-posts/)** — how long until a piece of content gets half of the views it will ever get in its lifetime. Twitter's half-life is hours, YouTube's half-life is months, blog is years. Create accordingly. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A189#:~:text=Keep%20in%20mind%20the%20half%2Cblog%20is%20years.%20Create%20accordingly.))
> You can test things on more ephemeral media before developing them further on more permanent media. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F1%2F3%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F1%2F3%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A99#:~:text=You%20can%20test%20things%20on%2Cfurther%20on%20more%20permanent%20media.))
> Most managers think they are helping by establishing content calendars. I have never seen a DevRel operation stick to these beyond month 1. Turns out it is much easier to say you will do things than to actually do things. Ultimately you will create content because you are inspired to, not because some calendar said so. Keep a list of topics that you want to cover and reguarly pick them off based on subjective interest vs user need. Exception for YouTube - the recommendation algorithm does reward weekly output. See [Dan Luu on best practices for engineering blogs](https://danluu.com/corp-eng-blogs/). ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F3%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F3%2F3%2F7%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A1#:~:text=Most%20managers%20think%20they%20are%2Cbest%20practices%20for%20engineering%20blogs.))
> **Workshops** are extremely underrated forms of content for achieving depth. Instead of 5,000 people watching your 5 minute video, you could have 50 people go through your 5 hour workshop and get far better users. Most workshops can also be converted into self guided versions to scale your work beyond your time: see AWS Workshops like [Amplify](https://amplify-photo-sharing.workshop.aws/), [ECS](https://ecsworkshop.com/), and [EKS](https://www.eksworkshop.com/), Google [Colabs](https://colab.research.google.com/github/firebase/quickstart-python/blob/master/machine-learning/Firebase_ML_API_Tutorial.ipynb), GitHub [Learning Labs](https://lab.github.com/githubtraining/github-actions:-hello-world). ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F13%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C11%2F13%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A1#:~:text=Workshops%20are%20extremely%20underrated%20forms%2CGoogle%20Colabs%2C%20GitHub%20Learning%20Labs.))
> **Conference** appearances are probably overrated by most companies, by the simple fact that most developers don't go to conferences. Companies have historically overspent on devrel travel budgets if you just take into account attendee reach. However, millions of developers do watch good conference videos after the fact. You can abstractly view conference expenses as production costs for social proof and a really good YouTube video (on a channel you don't own). It's well worth producing 1-2 great conference talks a year at high profile events, and sometimes to get there, you need to practice and iterate at 5-10 smaller venues, but anything beyond that probably has diminished returns compared to anything else you could be doing. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F15%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C1%2F15%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A723#:~:text=Conference%20appearances%20are%20probably%20overrated%2Celse%20you%20could%20be%20doing.))
> Bonus "Content" things to consider:
> • who owns example repos and code samples and keeps them up to date?
> • are you creating content because your docs aren't clear enough? are you creating docs because your product isn't intuitive? All content ultimately has a half-life — sometimes you have to go downstream to fix root cause instead of measuring someone on how well they apply bandaids.
> • how can you encourage real-engineer-content and user-generated content? Devrel scales by how it *enables others* to create content, not just by having a sole monopoly on content. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F21%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C2%2F5%2F1%2F21%2F11%2F19%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A66#:~:text=Bonus%20%22Content%22%20things%20to%20consider%3A%0A%2Ca%20sole%20monopoly%20on%20content.))
> Product metrics that I like:
> • Number of launch day users, and positive launch day mentions
> • Number of prioritized user issues from DevRel
> • Number of monthly users of integrations/tooling
> • [the Sean Ellis question](https://review.firstround.com/how-superhuman-built-an-engine-to-find-product-market-fit#anchoring-around-a-metric-a-leading-indicator-for-productmarket-fit) (over NPS) for integrations/tooling managed by devrel ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F21%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C1%2F7%2F5%2F21%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A54#:~:text=Product%20metrics%20that%20I%20like%3A%0A%2Cfor%20integrations%2Ftooling%20managed%20by%20devrel))
> Most devrels spend most of their time advocating TO developers than FOR them. The user-to-product feedback loop is the most underdeveloped element of developer advocacy right now basically because it is unclear who owns this function between Devrel and PM. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F15%2F21%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F15%2F21%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A256#:~:text=Most%20devrels%20spend%20most%20of%2Cfunction%20between%20Devrel%20and%20PM.))
> Ultimately I hope for more intellectual honesty within the industry that acknowledges the complex tradeoffs:
> • between the need for communicating value and quantifying progress vs the dehumanizing effect of metrics on what is ultimately an extremely human endeavor
> • between lagging metrics that are more meaningful but where you have less control, and leading metrics where you have more control but little accountability, and the primary link between leading and lagging is "merely" anecdotal and qualitative but ultimately your job
> • where content is a personal, creative process which needs a culture that accepts risk taking and failure, hot streaks and lulls, where consistency, quality, and scope are valued differently by different segments of your audience, and too many backseat drivers guarantees death of personality and ownership. ([View Highlight](https://swyx.io/measuring-devrel?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F23%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A0%2C0%2F5%2F5%2F23%2F4%2F0%2F1%2F2%2F0%2F1%3A306#:~:text=Ultimately%20I%20hope%20for%20more%2Cdeath%20of%20personality%20and%20ownership.))