“OK, Boomer. Whatever, Karen” Generation wars are fun to exploit for t-shirts and trolls, but are not much of an asset when building a developer community or reaching a developer audience (look here for the definitions of Boomers, Millennials, Gen Xers, Gen Z, and why you should care). However, the generational lens does inform your audience’s technical content preferences and motivations. Understanding those nuances can help you reach specific segments. The good news is that it is possible to craft a technical marketing strategy to reach millennial developers without alienating the rest of your audience. Focus on Motivation Multiple [...]

Generations and Years of Experience Many developer roles wind up influencing purchases when it comes to developer tools and platforms. Both age and years of experience as a programmer shape the lens through which developers perceive technical content. Unfortunately, sometimes we only have data for one or the other. So while generations refer to age (look here for the definitions of Boomers, Millennials, Gen Xers, and Gen Z, and why you should care), years of experience refer to how long someone has been working as a programmer. The two are often linked, but not always, and that is important [...]

Developers look for information much in the same way as any other consumer. They use search engines, peers, and social media. But unlike the average consumer, they also rely heavily on developer-to-developer (D2D) communities, and newsletters from these communities that alert them to technical content and news. Within the context of their D2D environment, they do consume advertising like banner ads. And, the good news is, they don’t necessarily hate advertising...provided it comes in a form they appreciate with information they can use. Thanks to our own anecdotal evidence from our Meet the Developer series and the good people [...]