DevRel for SaaS: When and Why to Invest in Developer Relations

Building solid relationships with the developer community cannot be overstated in today’s fast-paced tech landscape. Developer Relations, or DevRel, has become a buzzword among startups and established companies alike, but is it something your startup should be investing in? This article explores DevRel’s role in a startup’s growth when considering investing in it and why it might be a game-changer for your business.

Understanding DevRel: What Is Developer Relations?

Developer Relations is a strategic way to support and engage the developer community. It includes community building, advocacy, education, and support geared toward fostering a healthy relationship between your product and its users, mainly developers.

Key Roles in DevRel:

• Developer Advocates: These are people who act as product evangelists within the developer community. They advise, answer questions, and seek feedback.

• Community Managers: Individuals responsible for maintaining and growing the developer community so that it stays active and committed.

• Technical Writers: Create first-rate documentation, tutorials, and other educational content that empowers developers to realize and use your product.

While DevRel shares some characteristics with traditional marketing and customer success, it’s more developer — and technically used-focused. It is not only selling the product itself but also creating a thriving ecosystem.

The Role of DevRel in a Startup’s Growth

For startups, growth is often driven by how well their product is received by early adopters, many of whom are developers. DevRel plays a crucial role in this by:

Building a Developer Ecosystem:

An active developer community can be your startup’s most valuable asset. DevRel helps instill this community by giving developers what they need regarding tools, resources, and support. Supported and valued developers will most likely become long-term users and advocates of your product.

Making a Product Desirable:

DevRel can significantly accelerate the adoption of your product through education and advocacy. Empowering developers to feel enabled to work with your technology will result in higher productivity, translating into more satisfaction, word-of-mouth transmission, and organic growth.

Creating a Feedback Loop:

DevRel acts as a bridge between the developer community and your product team. By collecting developer feedback, a DevRel professional can offer invaluable insight into product development that informs the creation of better features for a more refined user experience.

Brand Advocacy:

A good DevRel strategy turns developers into brand evangelists. If a developer has an excellent experience with your product and feels an attachment to the brand, they will be much more likely to propagate it to friends, thus helping your startup increase its reach and position itself well.

When to Invest in DevRel

Right timing in investing in DevRel: While it is easy to fall into the temptation of growing a DevRel team right in the beginning, pause and reflect on your startup’s stage and the products and resources it has.

Early-Stage Considerations

Early on, you will often have constrained resources and difficult prioritization choices. On the other hand, if your product is developer-centric or deeply integrated with a developer ecosystem, you may want to start thinking about DevRel much earlier in your company’s life cycle. Here, even a minimal investment — say, dedicating a part-time resource to developer engagement — can make a difference.

Growth Stage Indicators

Here are some things that should hopefully start showing signs once your startup is growing and getting some traction, and you might want to grow your investment in DevRel:

• Increased Developer Interest: As more developers use your product, you will likely start receiving queries about how to offer greater support and engagement.

• Product Complexity: As a product becomes more complex with growth and maturity, the developer requires increased guidance and training to use it accordingly.

• Growing community: If the developer community is growing organically, investing in DevRel ensures that momentum is maintained and that activity and engagement continue to grow.

Scaling and Expansion

The DevRel part will give room for the progress of your startup to the goal when scaling and market penetration become necessary. In that case, good DevRel will secure your entrance into new markets, onboarding in a new developer community, and maintaining brand presence.

Why Your Startup Should Consider DevRel

There are several compelling reasons why your startup should consider investing in DevRel:

Competitive Advantage

A well-executed DevRel strategy can set your startup apart from competitors in a crowded market. By offering exceptional support and resources to developers, you create a positive brand image and foster loyalty among your users.

Long-Term Community Growth

Investing in DevRel early on can yield long-term benefits. A strong, engaged developer community drives product adoption and contributes to your startup’s growth by providing valuable feedback, promoting your product, and even contributing to its development.

Innovation Through Collaboration

DevRel fosters collaboration with the developer community, leading to innovative use cases and product improvements, and engaging with developers opens up opportunities for co-creation and innovation that can propel your product forward.

Cost-Effectiveness

DevRel can be a cost-effective way to achieve growth compared to traditional marketing methods. While it requires investment in time and resources, the returns — such as increased product adoption, community engagement, and brand advocacy — can be substantial.

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

While the benefits of DevRel are clear, startups may face certain challenges when trying to implement it:

Resource Allocation

For early-stage startups, allocating resources to DevRel can be challenging. To overcome this, start small by dedicating a part-time resource or leveraging existing team members who are passionate about developer engagement. As your startup grows, you can scale your DevRel efforts accordingly.

Measuring DevRel Success

One of the challenges of DevRel is measuring its ROI. Different from traditional marketing, the impact of DevRel can be challenging to quantify. However, you can track metrics such as community growth, developer engagement, and product adoption to gauge the effectiveness of your DevRel efforts.

Balancing DevRel with Other Priorities

Integrating DevRel into your broader business strategy without neglecting other critical areas is essential. To achieve this balance, ensure that DevRel efforts align with your overall business goals and collaborate closely with other teams, such as product development and marketing.

Case Studies and Examples

To illustrate the impact of DevRel, let’s look at a couple of success stories:

Success Story 1: Twilio

Twilio, a cloud communications platform, invested in DevRel early on. By building a strong developer community and providing extensive resources, Twilio achieved rapid product adoption and brand recognition. Today, Twilio’s DevRel efforts are a core part of its business strategy, contributing to its ongoing success.

Success Story 2: Stripe

Stripe, a leading payments platform, also recognized the importance of DevRel. By focusing on developer education and support, Stripe was able to foster a loyal community of developers who use the platform and advocate for it. This community has played a key role in Stripe’s growth and expansion.

Conclusion

Developer Relations can truly be the difference for your start-up: from early stages to the scaling stage, DevRel helps you build a developer community around your product or services to guarantee its adoption and long-term, sustainable growth. With a focus on intentional timing and purpose behind investment in DevRel, your startup can achieve a competitive advantage in driving innovative change and sustainable success.

As you assess the needs of your startup, remember that DevRel isn’t a nice-to-have. This is an important strategic investment that can pay off in creating a loyal, active community to boost your product and brand forward.