#13: Ideas for better header CTAs

Hey, how was your month?

So, I looked into data, spoke to the community, read through your feedback.

... and I want to try a new newsletter format this month and see how you like it.

Pls, reply to this email and let me know.

The concept is to have 3 sections:

  • 3 Ideas to try: actionable strategies, tactics, and ideas centered around one theme that you can actually implement today-ish to grow your dev tool.

  • 2 resources to check out: articles, videos, podcasts that will help you grow as a dev marketer.

  • 1 thing about pears: you get the point :)

What do you think?

As always, if you want to talk dev marketing -> grab your free 30min spot.

I'll keep doing this for as long as we both learn something from it.

Ok, so let's dive in.

3 ideas to try

Theme for this month: Rethink your homepage header call to action

Optimizing the header section of your homepage is one of those few things that always pays off.

I wrote about crafting the value proposition for the header in one of my previous articles.

Today, I want to share a few ideas that can improve your conversions with better header CTAs.

Idea 1: Make your main CTA a product tour

Get people to take an interactive tour instead of signing up or booking a demo.

This is a great option for tools that are hard to try for real without connecting it to your infra or data.

Tours give you more control than getting people to "explore the product themselves". But it is still a self-served experience which is what many people want.

That said, "tour" can sound like work. Axiom uses "play" and "playground" in their copy to make it feel like fun.

Don't get me wrong if your users can experience value in their first session go for it. Get them into the product.

But if not, consider tours or sandboxes.

Idea 2: Put the installation code in your CTA

Nothing says we are a dev tool like code in the header CTA.

Cypress CTA is one of my favorite pieces of dev marketing.

If you want people to just install the client then try putting the installation code in your CTA.

Simple but powerful.

Idea 3: Put "See docs" and/or code examples in there

"See docs" is probably my favorite secondary CTA.

Auth0 did it brilliantly on their older version of the developer portal.See this example on a page ->

It think "start free" + "see docs" + "see examples" is a great baseline if you don't know what to do.

TailwindCSS takes it to the next level by giving you a search box that takes you to the docs page.

Typically, you'd go to the docs and search for what you wanted to check out.

Why not let them do it here and now?

(Bonus) Idea 4: Make button copy super explicit

If you do go with a classic "sign up" you can spice up the copy.

Some teams go with "Start building for free" and things of that nature.

Plaid goes beyond that with a clever, explicit, simple copy: "Get API keys".

Ok, hopefully, one of these can push your CTRs up!

If interested, here are some more developer marketing examples.

2 resources to check out

1. The DevTool Messaging Guide

This is probably the best resource on the dev tool messaging I read.

Zach Goldie goes deeper, more structured, and more nuanced than I ever have (or saw anyone go in the dev tool space).

There are at least a few net new ideas and frameworks. Below is a snippet showing how he thinks about features vs benefits.

An absolute must-read for early-stage dev tool marketers, imho.

2. Dev Tool pricing - "Inside Retool’s new free plan 💰"

A free plan, when designed well, can be a huge growth lever for a company.

Kyle Poyar from OpenView goes deep into how Retool nailed their free plan.

Nailed as in it became a revenue-generating machine for them.

1 thing about pears 🍐

What do you get when you cross a human and pear?A pear-son.Pears!

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