Don’t Annoy Them
The first step in attention-grabbing developer advertising is avoiding becoming an annoyance. Evans Data Corporation did advertisers a solid by asking developers about their biggest pet peeves in dealing with marketing materials. And, the winner is… targeting management, not developers. Almost as irritating? Invasive ads. (Like pop-ups!)
What Does Grab Their Attention?
It’s such a tired trope, but it is also so true. Location, location, location. In addition to targeted search ads, developers are highly likely to notice static banner ads. They aren’t invasive, and if you place them in an environment that developers trust (like a developer-to-developer community website or newsletter), they are expected. Just as important, these locations correlate with developer attention and action. Developers are more likely to notice and click on static banner ads.
Motivate Action
Information is a great motivator. The good news for advertisers is that developers are interested in a wide variety of information. Ads that offer content like the following should result in a sizeable number of developers clicking through:
Content Developers Click to Get
- Info about emerging technologies
- Online training/learning resources
- Info about new platforms
- New developer tools
- Conferences and trade shows
- Free software
The best practice — offer a wide variety of types of content to get developers to engage with your advertising.
Value Gets Developers’ Attention
Invasive ads are viewed by developers as interruptions (and annoying). However, advertising offered in locations they trust, in a non-invasive manner, does get their attention. Even better, it gets them motivated to act if it contains information they value.
