🍐 #76: How to do developer journey, signal based sales at Apollog GraphQL, and Polypane website teardown

Hey,

Ok, this is not a pear thing but my latest dad joke invention:
Twelve got really tired. It one two go home ;)

This week on the agenda:

• How to create and audit your core developer journey

• Subscribed requested teardown: Polypane website

• Dev Tool signal-based sales at Apollo GraphQL

• + a few bonus links at the end

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Developer marketing insights

1. How to create and audit your core developer journey

When I work with dev tool startups, one of the first things I want to understand is the core developer journey for their product. 

I am not talking about creating some 79-page pdf explaining every touchpoint, for every persona involved in the buying process, throughout the 24-month product lifecycle.

I am talking about knowing what the experience a typical dev would have as they go through a typical developer path:

• they heard about you on Reddit,

• went to your site,

• signed up/downloaded,

• got something running,

• understood the value you give,

• and said: “ok, I’m trying this at work”. 

I wrote an article, where I describe the core developer journey I like to use (simplified Discover-Start-Activate-Convert-Scale) and share a Google Doc Template (and other resources) you can use to create/audit your developer journey.

After reading this and going through the audit/template you should have a solid understanding of what needs to be adjusted/created/changed/fixed. If not you can always reach out and we can go through it together. 

Read the full article ->

2. Subscriber requested teardown: Polypane website

A few weeks back, I shared my first video teardown (Deepgram website). Most of you liked it and wanted to see more of them. Cool!

I also asked subscribers to propose their own websites/ads/and other dev marketing programs. Many of you requested them, thank you so much!

So, this is the first, subscriber-requested, teardown. Thanks, Kilian, for submitting Polypane!

Also, Kilian, apologies for butchering the company name multiple times… I know it is Polypane and it makes complete sense. Poplyplane just kept coming out. Sorry ;(

3. Dev Tool signal-based sales at Apollo GraphQL

One of the first great articles I read, about open-source sales motion was on Decibel VC blog and it was this: How Apollo fuels its GTM engine with OSS usage and a champions community

It talks about home-grown tooling, which is now heavily discussed in the space as signal-based selling. The ideas in there were as great then as they are now IMHO. The difference is that the tooling is there now.

Anyhow, in this episode of “The Modern GTM Brew”, Achintya Gupta talks to one of the people behind setting up that GTM motion, Peggy Rayzis.

Notes I took when listening:

• Get free dev users, aggregate account level, approach: PLG/Open-source to get free end-users → Sales/marketing get usage signals from those free users to understand at the account level and approach the correct person for that account

• Intent signals: usage is the most important. CLI commands, Helm charts created, the activity of multiple developers from the same account on the learning platform, and other signals that suggest a production POC or switching platform/stack

• Conferences are great at pipeline acceleration: devrels can drive that engagement with various devs at target and engaged accounts. GraphQL summit and lifts in pipeline closed for those who went to conference and Apollo events.

• Connect devrel program to the business: Measure ROI. Show impact. Good devrel org drives insights from community to product/marketing/sales.

• Frontload aha moment: When creating educational content, frontload the aha moment. Make it hands-on early on. Most devs want to get their hands dirty right away.

Watch the full episode ->

Need more developer marketing insights?

1. Work with me 🍐

Every week I have a few slots for Workshops (60-minute session on whatever you want), Teardowns (audit+suggestions for your homepage/messaging/ads etc), and longer-term Advising.

See how it works ->

2. Bonus links to check out

• 📰 DevRel's Death as Zero Interest Rate Phenomenon 

• 📰 How to Sell Developer Tools With Right Marketing, Sales, and Pricing Strategies 

• 📺️ How to Increase Your Technical Depth 

3. Join our Slack community

1700+ dev tool CMOs, heads of growth, product marketers, and other practitioners talking shop.

Check out marketingto.dev ->