Devrel- All you need to know

MEANING OF DEVREL 

Developer Relations, also called DevRel, is a broad term that includes many parts, such as strategies and tactics. These are needed for creating a community between a company and developers (such as software developers). 

In this, both the parties are benefitted. These developers are the main users of the company’s services or products. They even act like influencers of an organization’s products or services.

In simple words, DevRel is a mix of engineering, marketing, product management, and community management.

WHO ARE THESE DEVELOPERS?

The developers in DevRel are those who are not a part of the organization. That means they are the external developers. They are the users of the products and services made by these companies. 

HISTORY OF DEVELOPER RELATIONS

Apple made the first DevRel program back in the 1980s. Mike Murray had coined the word,’software evangelist’. He had convinced outside developers to develop software and applications for the Macintosh platform. 

Mike Boich was Apple’s first Software Evangelist. Kawasaki was Apple’s Chief Evangelist and who made their DevRel program famous.

DevRel started getting famous in 2013. Companies like New Relic, Twilio, EngineYard, and SendGrid had supported a Developer-First approach.

WHY DO WE NEED DEVREL ?

It is important to companies that cater to developers. 

Many companies used to provide products and services for developers. But they did not market, keeping developers as their target audience. Thus, it led to low sales. 

It is why DevRel is important. It creates marketing strategies with developers as its target audience. 

HOW IS IT EFFECTIVE ?

It is because DevRel builds a relationship with the developer. Developers often spend years acquiring skills. So, replacing a product they are comfortable with is not that easy. It means much thought is put in while choosing a particular product or a service.

A devRel makes the process easy by building trust and ensuring the developer that the product will do wonders for them. 

ASPECTS OF A DEVREL PROGRAM

Developer Relations or DevRel is a type of platform evangelism.

The activities involved are often called the Developer Program.

The following elements are used in a DevRel programme – 

1) Developer Marketing: This means engaging with developers to educate them and convince them to buy their product or service.

2) Educating developers: Materials required for learning about the product. Also, it helps to form a bond with the community and product. 

3) Improving developer Experience (DX): Tools needed by a developer to start without facing any problems like a developer portal, a product, and reading material. 

4) Success for developers: Activities to support developers to continue to work and scale up the product.

5) Community: Supporting the community for further growth. 

THE EFFECTS AND GOALS OF A DEVELOPER RELATION PROGRAM

• Increase in the company’s funds and sales
• Increase in the number of people who use the product or service
• Efforts to retain these people
• Efforts to make the product better
• Customer satisfaction
• Brand awareness and recognition

COMPANIES THAT PRACTICE DEVREL

Depending on their business model, companies that have DevRel can be either a Developer-first or a Developer-plus (aka Dev +). 

Developer-First companies have a business-to-developer model (B2D). They sell products and services which are made for developers only. Example – Stripe, Camunda, PerceptiLabs, Unity, and Twilio.

Developer-Plus companies are business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C). Their examples are – Slack, Spotify, Apple, Qualcomm, and Santander.

BREAKDOWN BASED ON THE INDUSTRY

 It is mainly found in the IT AND IS sector. 

The general breakdown in 2021 was – 

• Information Technology/Services 44.6%
• Financial services 7.7
• SaaS 20.5%
• Telecom 6.2%

SALARY STRUCTURE OF A DEVREL

In some cases, annual salaries for DevRel can range from US$50,000 to $250,000. A survey from 2021 shows that most DevRels earned an annual salary ranging between $100,000 to $150,000.

PROFESSIONAL EVENTS

DevReLCon is an annual DevRel event that was started in 2015 by hoopy.io. It includes DevRel, DX, community, and developer marketing. It has been held in London, Tokyo, San Francisco and various other cities. 

DO YOU NEED TO BE A DEVELOPER TO WORK?

To know this, we need to answer two questions first – 

• What does the specific role require?
• What further skills do you possess besides coding?

LET’S UNDERSTAND THE SKILLS REQUIRED FOR THE ROLE OF A DEVREL – 

You should have the following skills –

• Should be a good public speaker; good communication skills
• Should have the ability to write good, compelling content
• Should have good interpersonal skills
• Should be empathetic to others
• Good with business planning
• Should know to code

Finding a person with all the above skills is difficult, but not every DevRel role requires all the skills. The skills required from a DevRel depend on the company. Hence the answer is ‘No’.

For this role, normally, a person with coding skills would be preferred over a non-coder. As they could easily understand the problems a developer faces, it depends on the company as this role is mainly client-facing, so they might be open to hiring non-coders with other skills. 

DEVREL FOR FRESHERS

Suppose you want to become a DevRel, look for jobs such as Sales engineer as they are client-facing roles requiring in-depth knowledge of the product or the service. They even make you understand the problems faced by other people, including people from different industries. 

In simple words, in a DevRel job role, you are the face of the company’s technology side. You are not only selling the product or service to developers but also handling the after-sales part. 

After-sales part includes listening to feedback, solving developers’ problems, and explaining to all the developers the solutions and the most efficient way to use the product.

Tip for freshers –

•  Ask many questions – never act like the smartest person in the room. DevRel is a role which requires empathy and good communication skills. Keep increasing your knowledge by discussing and asking questions to people from a similar background or who are devRels.

•  Improve your writing and speaking skills – Good writing skills are important because a few developers might like a face-to-face conversation. Still, on the other hand, one is more comfortable with a written guide or a step-to-step tutorial or guide. 

•  Share your learnings and experience Start sharing your professional experiences and learning with others, even if you know little. There is always someone who knows nothing, and they will be benefitted. 

Conclusion

According to experienced DevRel, the best way to learn is by teaching others. There is no proper definition of how to become a DevRel. People who currently work as a DevRel mostly grew into their job role. Hence there is no course or proper path to becoming a DevRel. With time and experience, you become fit for the role of a devRel.