When people ask about Google Ads, Matt Nguyen is probably the most recommended consultant in our marketingto.dev community. Ex GitLab, ex env0 he know consults dev tools (like Clerk, Novu) on demand generation and ads. Matt knows ads cold.
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Google Ads, marketing, B2B, SaaS, education, brand recognition, conversion tracking, customer journey, campaign structure, advertising strategy, AI coding tools, search intent, ad targeting, low intent searches, landing pages, campaign themes, product releases, ad copy mistakes, gated content, niche markets, competitor insights, user switching behavior, ad copy for developers
Flo Merian (ex PMM at Clerk and Mintflify, Ambassador at Product Hunt and v0 by Vercel) talks about marketing on Product Hunt not as a single launch but a continuous series of re-launches. A ton of great insights. Learned a bunch.
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developer marketing, product launch, Product Hunt, community building, relaunching, marketing strategies, developer tools, indie makers, SaaS, B2B, Product Hunt, user-generated content, marketing strategies, product launch, storytelling, engagement, metrics, visual assets, community discussions, consistency
Aditya Ramakrishnan (PMM at Reo.dev, ex-Stripe, ex-ImageKit) shares his learning from marketing dev tools and technical products on Reddit. Aditya focuses on organic strategies, hard-earned learnings and examples from years engaging on Reddit.
Links
Aditya Ramakrishnan https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaramakrishnan/
Example from Storylane https://www.reddit.com/r/ProductMarketing/comments/16piggb/interactive_demo_platform_comparison/
Example from CRMs https://www.reddit.com/r/CRM/comments/1l5pr1x/looking_for_a_solution_for_service_company/
Example from API GUI https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPTPro/comments/1bs3sp3/api_gui/
DevOps Engineer subreddit on promotion https://www.reddit.com/r/devops/comments/1kxn40o/devops_engineer_created_tools_and_appswhat_are/
Open Source Payments launch post 800 upvotes https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/10bmhpb/announcing_hyperswitch_open_source_payments/
Reddit Answers feature https://www.reddit.com/answers/194309d8-316d-4466-9cb5-e928f1e86319?q=image%20compression%20apis
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Developer marketing, Reddit, community engagement, developer tools, marketing insights, content marketing, product advocacy, community engagement, social listening, developer marketing, Reddit strategies.
In this episode I go over LinkedIn Ads from Aikido Security. I love their no BS but tongue in cheek approach to marketing and fantastic brand stunts (remember OnlyScans?). I also explained a framework I like that fits quite nicely into this approach.
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Aikido, advertising strategy, LinkedIn ads, cold layer, retargeting, conversion, testimonials, case studies, differentiation, thought leadership
Adam Frankl is perhaps the GOAT of dev marketing but definitely the Triceratops who was the first VP marketing at 3 dev tool startups that became unicorns. Author of a must read book for dev tool founders - Developer Facing Startup. Had so much fun talking and learning from Adam.
Links
- Adam Frankl https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamfrankl/
- Jakub Czakon https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakub-czakon/
- The Developer Facing Startup (Adam's book) https://www.amazon.com/Developer-Facing-Startup-market-developer-facing/dp/B0D4KGHQML
- Developer Facing Startup Founder's Academy (Adam's course) https://developerfacingstartup.dev/
- Value Proposition Design book https://www.amazon.com/Value-Proposition-Design-Customers-Strategyzer/dp/1118968050
- Lean Customer Development book https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Customer-Development-Hardcover-version/dp/1449356354
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00:00 The Importance of Iteration in Development
04:05 The Role of Feedback in Product Development
06:29 Understanding Intellectual Property in Tech
09:30 The Evolution of AI and Its Interfaces
12:39 The Value of Customer Feedback
14:53 The Journey of a Developer Marketer
17:38 Creating a Technical Advisory Board
20:44 The Role of Problem Framing in Marketing
36:55 Becoming an Expert: The Two Paths
39:06 The Social Nature of Development
40:02 Recruiting Top Talent: Strategies for Marketers
42:16 The Journalist Approach to Marketing
44:07 Building Authority Through Reporting
45:36 Engaging with Your Audience on Social Media
48:17 The Pitfalls of Content Marketing
51:18 Thought Leadership vs. Content Marketing
53:34 Defining Categories in Marketing
55:38 Effective Tab Interviews: Key Questions
01:00:53 Identifying Trends in Development
01:10:17 Understanding the Developer Discovery Loop
01:12:39 Understanding the Alpha Developer
01:17:49 The Importance of Free and Anonymous Products
01:21:53 Listening to Developers: The Key to Innovation
01:29:37 Identifying and Prioritizing Problems
01:36:38 Becoming a Developer Influencer
01:47:09 The Mission to Improve Software Tools
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podcast, teaching, feedback, iteration, intellectual property, AI, DevTools, marketing, content marketing, thought leadership, thought leadership, tech marketing, developer engagement, market research, product differentiation, developer discovery, community building, content marketing, software tools, startup strategy
In this episode I go over a CISOTOPIA campaign that Wthe security company Wiz ran recently. Basicaly a fake toy store with dozens of funny security puns. Loved it!
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cloud security, branding, marketing strategies, audience engagement, innovative ideas, Wiz, CISOTOPIA, security conferences, top of funnel activities, community vibe
I go over all core elements on Polypane's homepage reviewing copy, design, information flow and more.
This was community-requested teardown. If you'd like your homepage/ads/content reviewed -> send it over.
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Summary
In this conversation, Jakub Czakon provides a detailed teardown of Polyplane, focusing on its use of DevTools, product clarity, user experience, and marketing strategies.
He emphasizes the importance of clear communication of features, the need for effective visual design, and the value of community engagement and testimonials.
Jakub also discusses the significance of product differentiation and offers recommendations for improving the overall presentation and user understanding of Polyplane.
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Polyplane, DevTools, web development, user experience, product design, marketing strategy, responsive design, accessibility, features, testimonials
I this episode I review the homepage of BuildKite, focusing on how the design effectively showcases social proof through mini case studies and uses a platform diagram as an interactive visual in product sections lower down the page.
Links
- Buildkite https://buildkite.com/
- Jakub Czakon https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakub-czakon/
- Justin Gage https://www.linkedin.com/in/gagejustin/
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BuildKite, homepage design, product value, social proof, user experience, differentiation, customer focus, visual communication, testimonials, integrations
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B2B marketing, growth consultant, creative ads, influencer marketing, paid search, paid social, DevTools, audience targeting, ad measurement, marketing strategies
I go over all core elements on Deepgram's homepage and playground and say what I like, what I don’t like, and what changes I’d test out. Spoiler alert: their site is awesome.
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Summary
In this conversation, Jakub Czakon provides a detailed teardown of Deepgram's website, focusing on its design, copy, and user experience.
He highlights the effectiveness of the visual representation of the product, the clarity of the copy, and the importance of CTAs tailored for developers.
Jakub emphasizes the need for community engagement and trust-building elements, especially for enterprise users.
He concludes with overall impressions and actionable recommendations for improving the website.
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Deepgram, website teardown, voice AI, developer marketing, API, user experience, community engagement, enterprise solutions, CTAs, product features
My thoughts and frameworks for thinking about attribution, incrementality, decision making in the context of developer marketing, optimizing channels, and allocating resources to programs.
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Summary
In this conversation, Kuba discusses the complexities of attribution in marketing, emphasizing the importance of understanding its purpose and the distinction between attribution and incrementality.
He argues that effective attribution should inform decision-making and drive meaningful business metrics rather than merely serve as a reporting tool.
Kuba also explores various methods for attribution, including self-reported attribution and marketing mix modeling, advocating for a focus on directional insights that lead to incremental improvements in marketing efforts.
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attribution, marketing, decision-making, incrementality, data analysis, ROI, marketing channels, self-reported attribution, marketing mix modeling, insights
Demetrios Brinkmann created one of the biggest and most vibrant developer communities that I've seen, MLOps Community. He shares learnings on how he did that and what he'd do differently. Incredible resource for dev tool community managers and founders.
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Takeaways
Get to know people: when people join just talk to them, get to know them, do a 15-minute chat to learn what they want to get from the community, what their expertise is, where they can chip in etc.
Tag and introduce members: Figure out who knows about what and then @ tag them in the conversations to engage. On top of that intro/connect people who you think could benefit from connecting in DMs.
Seeding conversations: ask people you spoke to, to ask questions in channels. Sharing good articles could help show the community is not dead but doesn’t really grow engagement.
Don’t let questions get unanswered: ask people in DMs to answer, tag people etc. Or try and share resources you saw on the subject so as not to leave people hanging
Share targeted resources: when you get to know members, either manually, or through surveys, share super targetted resources with them. Courses, blogs, podcasts, etc when you have things that are exactly what they want.
Build community members up. You see a blog post from someone from community, share it in the slack yourself and start the discussion. Then you can invite them to meetups/conferences, talks, podcast. Whatever social capital you have to give.
Gating community: making sure that folks who get into the community will add/get value from it. Discussions are shaped by the people who are in it so if you have vendors/beginners those are the conversations you’ll see.
Seeding community: you can start by inviting selected people through LinkedIn/Twitter. I liked the outreach message: “Hey I’ve spent the last 40 days locked in my house [COVID], and wanted to do something productive with my life. And I started this community. If you want to join, let me know”
Creating a podcast opens doors: high-influence people take calls with you when it is a podcast when they may not have talked to you otherwise
Be-shameless channel: for some practitioners, it is one of the most valuable channels. It keeps people in the loop on what is happening in the space. And vendor articles or webinars are actually appreciated by some people as the vendors spend 24/7 working with practitioners in the space on their little piece. Plus if there is no be-shameless you will get spam in intro or general.
Managing sponsors is tricky: at a certain scale, you want to get sponsors to be able to fund the infrastructure and people to keep it vibrant. But you don’t want to sell your soul to vendors and sell your members as leads to them.
Community of craft vs small exclusive meetups: you need to live this, this is a huge effort, with content, engagement, etc. It may be smarter to build small exclusive and targeted in-person meetups. Quality over quantity. 20-30 people, not recorded, super focused conversations. And the CTA after that meetup is to join the community Slack.
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