Developers Resist API Evangelism

by Kin Lane on 10/08/2012

Marketing to developers is no straightforward task, and with the growth in the number of APIs, platforms, tools and active evangelists and advocates, it is only going to get harder.

Developers just don’t want to be sold anything. We just want to do what we do, and just be left alone--until we need help and reach out. Then we need you to be there.

With API Evangelist I’m evangelizing the importance of APIs to a wider audience beyond developers, while also helping companies understand how they can market their services to developers.

Helping non-developers understand about APIs is getting easier each month, while helping API owners market to developers is getting harder.

Many companies are even opting to not use the term advocate or evangelist, as these names are beginning to have a negative impression with developers.

Developers are bombarded by one or many evangelists, everywhere they go, and many of these evangelists are more sales and marketing than developer support--giving everyone a bad name.

If you are looking to evangelize your API in the near future, deeply consider your approach. Your objective is not to sell developers on your API, but to help them be successful in what they are doing--something that may or may not involve your companies API.

Your only option for evangelism is to be as authentic as possible and truly solve the problems developers face, otherwise developers will look elsewhere--and with the increased competition, developers have a growing number of options when it comes to APIs and platforms to get the job done.