Content Marketing Archives

Zero to Hero: Less Time in the Valley of Suck

The Valley of Suck Anyone who has created anything has experienced this valley. Creatives are making something new, and to succeed, they need to acquire new tools, knowledge, and experience. And that process requires repeatedly being thrown into the valley of conscious incompetence, a.k.a. The Valley of Suck. If you have a technical audience, they are thrown into this valley more times than they can count. There’s no avoiding it, but you can help your technical community get out of it as quickly as possible. Minimizing Valley Time Cliff Simpkins, Director of Azure Developer Audience Marketing, introduced this metric [...]

Zero to Hero: Less Time in the Valley of Suck2023-03-06T10:08:47-05:00

The Importance of Generational Segmentation for Successful Technical Content Marketing

The Top Challenge for Technical Content Marketers When the Content Marketing Institute asked technical content marketers what their top challenge was in 2019, 68% said: creating content for multiple roles. Even tech content marketers who consider themselves extremely successful struggle (66% of top performers compared to 68% of tech content marketers overall). Identifying multiple roles, as an issue, is still ambiguous. This encompasses different responsibilities (managers vs. individual performers); different programming skill sets (front-end vs. back-end, for example), and different levels of experience. Experience often correlates to age (not always, but assuming a typical educational trajectory, more years since [...]

The Importance of Generational Segmentation for Successful Technical Content Marketing2023-03-06T10:08:45-05:00

Beyond Content: Tips to Boost Search Traffic

Developers Rely On Search Engines Increasingly, developers are relying on search engines to find their technical content. As you can imagine, at ContentLab, we frequently work with clients to help raise their profiles in Google searches. Usually, we focus on developing concepts for actionable, high-quality technical content to help provide a leg up in attracting organic search traffic. But sometimes when reviewing the content offerings of clients, we find that there are opportunities for some easy, impactful gains — simply by adapting and optimizing their websites. Tips to Improve Your Content’s SERP Performance Here are a few things we [...]

Beyond Content: Tips to Boost Search Traffic2023-03-06T10:08:43-05:00

Technical How-to Best Practices for Multigenerational Appeal

A Technical How-to vs. a Technical Tutorial Technical tutorials give a lot more background and information, and may incorporate how-to’s within a broader context that gives much more detail about why, what, and how. Technical how-to’s more narrowly focus on completing a specific task with a specific tool, platform, or technique. Developers with more experience may find how-to’s more useful, whereas those new to their careers may find tutorials more useful as they are still obtaining more general knowledge about their field. When Evans Data Corporation asked developers about the technical content topics they were most interested in — [...]

Technical How-to Best Practices for Multigenerational Appeal2023-03-06T10:08:39-05:00

Tech Content Channel Distribution Best Practices

Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are Developer audiences abound in a wide variety of channels. It’s important to know where to find them, and then think about which channels may appeal more to your generational segments. We went into this in some depth last year, but let’s take a look at some of the highlights. Where Are Developers? It’s important to remember that while developers are on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, they also look for content in developer-specific digital environments like D2D communities, developer influencer blogs, and media-specific platforms. Social Networks. Matthew Pruitt, Head of Global Community and [...]

Tech Content Channel Distribution Best Practices2023-03-06T10:08:37-05:00

Why Developer Role Segmentation Impacts Tech Content Marketing Campaigns

It’s Complicated Understanding the specific demographics of your content marketing audience is important, and generational segmentation is key. But it’s more complicated than that — 68% of technical content marketers told the Content Marketing Institute their top challenge in 2019 was addressing a wide variety of roles. For technical content marketers, audience segmentation by developer role is critical. Why Segment The Influencers, Users, and Gatekeepers? According to data presented by Developer Media from a CodeProject survey, 35% of the developers who responded reported they rejected tools. Another 30% revealed they don’t have to reject tools — they have full [...]

Why Developer Role Segmentation Impacts Tech Content Marketing Campaigns2023-03-06T10:08:12-05:00

How to Create a Tech Content Strategy that Addresses Multiple Developer Roles

Reaching All the Roles In 2019, 68% of technical content marketers told the Content Marketing Institute that their top challenge last year was addressing a wide variety of roles. When creating technical content marketing materials for developers, roles have to be defined for both the business and technical categories of the developer decision-making unit (DDMU). Due to the complexity of the DDMU and the technical complexity of many applications, it’s obvious that the successful content marketer must create a tech content strategy that reaches multiple developer roles. Who Makes Up The DDMU The developer decision-making unit (DDMU) comprises all [...]

How to Create a Tech Content Strategy that Addresses Multiple Developer Roles2023-03-06T10:08:10-05:00

Dev Role Discovery Best Practices

What Do We Mean By Dev Roles? The roles that developers play in a developer decision-making unit (DDMU) are key to influencing how a DDMU (or team) decides to acquire and apply your brand’s product. And developers may have specific roles and expertise within a technical team that influence their points of view, priorities, and motivations. When creating technical content that your audience will find most useful in understanding your brand and your brand’s offering, it’s important to keep these elements in mind. Role Discovery It’s useful to begin role discovery by defining the DDMU you are supporting with [...]

Dev Role Discovery Best Practices2023-03-06T10:08:08-05:00

Promoting Virtual Conferences to Developers

Virtual Is The New Face-to-Face Whether your event is happening soon or next year, COVID-19 has opened our eyes to the value of delivering a high-quality virtual conference experience. For those brands needing to reach developers, virtual events can be a great way to help developers stay informed and connected. In fact, hosting or promoting a virtual event can be one of the most helpful and useful actions a brand can take. Like any event, success depends on a strong promotion strategy. Here are the basics for promoting virtual conferences to developers. Build Awareness The good news: Developers are [...]

Promoting Virtual Conferences to Developers2023-03-06T10:08:04-05:00

Developer Habits That Impact Advertising

Are Developers So Different? Developers share many behaviors with other consumers. However, developer habits and how they influence their interaction with advertising are specific and measurable. It’s useful to consult the data and learn what developers are likely to do when encountering an ad campaign so you can construct the most effective campaigns. This is particularly true if you are advertising to developers in developer-to-developer (D2D) communities. These are the best locations for advertising, because they are guaranteed to have your audience! But, to tip the balance to successful campaigns, you should factor in likely behavior. Ad [...]

Developer Habits That Impact Advertising2023-03-06T10:07:29-05:00