What the Heck is a Developer Advocate?

As a full-stack developer who has worked across multiple technology platforms over the past decade, I‘ve had the privilege of interacting with exceptional developer advocates who have shaped my skills and career. But I‘ll admit, the first time I heard the title "Developer Advocate", I was puzzled. What the heck is a developer advocate? Are they developers who moonlight as lawyers?

Joking aside, as I progressed through my career as an engineer, I quickly learned that developer advocates play a critical role in fostering relationships between technology companies and the developer community. They act as the voice of the developer internally, providing valuable feedback to shape product roadmaps. And externally, they raise awareness and support developers through education, content, and community participation.

The Rise of Developer Advocacy

While the concept of technical evangelism and community outreach has existed for decades, the practice of developer advocacy as a dedicated role and department has exploded in recent years. According to the 2020 State of Developer Relations report, 71% of companies surveyed have a dedicated developer relations team, up from 53% in 2019.

This rise in developer advocacy can be largely attributed to the increasing importance and influence of developers in technology purchasing and adoption decisions. With the proliferation of cloud services, APIs, and developer tools, developers are often the ones evaluating and recommending new technologies that can accelerate application development.

A 2019 study by SlashData found that 69% of developers are involved or have influence over purchasing decisions for developer tools and platforms. That‘s a significant chunk of the 18 million software developers worldwide. For companies that offer developer-focused products, building mindshare and positive sentiment within the developer community is paramount.

Developer advocates help foster that trust and goodwill by being the face of their company within the community. They provide developers with the education, tools, and support needed to be successful. And they gather valuable feedback to help improve products and address pain points. In many ways, developer advocates are the ultimate customer success managers, but for a highly technical audience.

Wearing Many Hats as an Advocate

So what does the day-to-day of a developer advocate actually look like? The reality is, no two days are the same and the role can vary depending on the size of the company and scope of products. But there are some common responsibilities that most advocates share:

• Developer Education – Creating content such as blog posts, tutorials, sample code, and documentation to help developers learn and adopt new technologies. This could range from an in-depth technical blog post on a specific API to a hands-on workshop on deploying machine learning models.

• Community Engagement – Participating in online developer communities and social channels to answer questions, troubleshoot issues, and gather feedback. This includes forums like StackOverflow, Reddit, and GitHub, as well as Twitter chats and Slack groups.

• Event Participation – Speaking at conferences, meetups, and hackathons to educate and raise awareness. Pre-pandemic, it wasn‘t unusual for advocates to have a travel schedule rivaling management consultants, with 50%+ time on the road.

• Internal Advocacy – Meeting with product managers, engineers, and leadership to relay feedback from the developer community and advocate for their interests. This could involve sharing insights from a hackathon to improve SDKs or pushing for more open-source initiatives.

• Technical Enablement – Rolling up their sleeves and diving into code to build sample applications, demo frameworks, and tooling to make developers‘ lives easier. Many advocates come from engineering backgrounds and enjoy staying hands-on.

• Metrics & Reporting – Tracking and reporting on developer sentiment, content performance, event ROI, and product feedback to demonstrate the impact of advocacy initiatives. While sometimes less visible externally, measurement is critical internally.

Of course, the above is just a sampling of the many hats that developer advocates wear. And in smaller organizations, advocates may be a team of one, juggling all of the above and more. It takes a unique blend of technical chops, communication skills, and business savvy to excel in the role.

Attributes of Top Developer Advocates

In my experience, the most effective developer advocates tend to share a few key attributes:

1. Empathy and Emotional Intelligence – At the end of the day, advocates are dealing with people, not just code. Being able to put yourself in the shoes of a frustrated developer struggling with a bug or an overworked startup CTO can go a long way in building trust and relationships.

2. Deep Technical Knowledge – Advocates need to be more than just marketers or mouthpieces. They need to have a deep understanding of their company‘s products and the broader technology landscape. Developers can quickly smell BS, so advocates need to be able to go toe-to-toe on technical topics.

3. Strong Communication Skills – Whether it‘s writing a compelling blog post, presenting at a virtual summit, or leading a Q&A session, advocates need to be able to clearly articulate complex topics to diverse audiences. And they need to do so with authenticity and a dash of humor.

4. Strategic and Systems Thinking – The best advocates aren‘t just focused on short-term activities but can connect the dots between developer needs, industry trends, and business objectives. They have a vision for how advocacy can make a long-term impact.

5. Lifelong Learner Mindset – Technology is always evolving, and advocates need to stay ahead of the curve. That means constantly experimenting with new programming languages, frameworks, and tools. The best advocates have a deep curiosity and love for learning.

Beyond the core attributes, there‘s no one-size-fits-all profile for a developer advocate. Some may come from engineering backgrounds, others from customer support or consulting. Some may be extroverted speakers, others may be gifted writers. The key is assembling a diverse team with complementary skills.

Measuring the Impact of Developer Advocacy

One of the challenges with developer advocacy is measuring and demonstrating the impact of initiatives. Unlike traditional marketing or sales, the ROI of advocacy can be harder to quantify and attribute.

Some common metrics that advocacy teams track include:

• Content Performance – Pageviews, unique visitors, engagement, and conversions for technical blog posts, docs, and tutorials. The goal is to create valuable evergreen content that ranks well in search results.

• Event & Community Engagement – Registrations, attendees, and NPS scores for events. Social media mentions, community forum activity, and sentiment. Speaking engagements and conference presentations.

• Product Adoption & Usage – Signups, active users, and feature adoption for products or platforms. Advocacy often partners with product and growth teams on developer acquisition and activation.

• Feedback & Sentiment – Qualitative feedback gathered from community channels, events, and surveys. Sentiment analysis and competitive benchmarking.

• Thought Leadership – Share of voice, media mentions, and influencer engagement. Advocates can help shape the narratives around emerging technology trends.

Of course, metrics can vary based on company and team objectives. The key is defining clear goals and KPIs upfront and having the right tracking in place to measure progress.

The Career Path for Developer Advocates

As a relatively new and evolving role, the career path for developer advocates can vary. Some advocates may transition into product management, engineering leadership, or startup founder roles. Others may progress into advocacy leadership positions, overseeing regional or global teams.

Compensation also varies based on location, experience level, and company. According to data from Glassdoor, the average base pay for developer advocates in the US is $130,000 per year, with a range of $79,000 to $200,000+. Those numbers are on par with senior software engineering roles.

There‘s no one bootcamp or degree program for aspiring advocates, but there are a few ways to break into the field:

1. Build your personal brand – Share your technical expertise through blogging, speaking, and open-source contributions. The more you can demonstrate your passion and knowledge, the more likely you are to get noticed by hiring managers.

2. Get involved in community – Attend meetups, volunteer at conferences, and participate in online forums. Building relationships with other developers and advocates can open doors to new opportunities.

3. Specialize in a niche – Go deep on a particular technology or platform that you‘re passionate about. Become the go-to expert and thought leader. Companies are often looking for advocates with specific domain expertise.

4. Advocate internally – Look for opportunities to take on advocacy responsibilities within your current company or team. Leading a lunch and learn, writing documentation, or presenting at company meetings can be a great way to test the waters.

The Future of Developer Advocacy

As technology continues to eat the world and every company becomes a software company, the demand for developer advocates will only continue to grow. And with the shift to remote work and virtual events accelerated by the pandemic, the role of advocate is evolving as well.

While online advocacy was already a significant part of the job pre-COVID, advocates have had to adapt their strategies and tactics for engaging developers in an all-virtual world. From Twitch livestreams to Twitter Spaces to Discord channels, advocates are finding new ways to connect with and support developers remotely.

This has also opened up new opportunities for advocates to reach previously underserved developer communities around the globe. Virtual events and content can scale in ways that in-person interactions cannot. And with the rise of low-code and no-code tools, the definition of "developer" is expanding as well.

Looking ahead, I anticipate a few key trends in developer advocacy:

1. Specialization – As the universe of technologies and platforms expands, we‘ll see more advocates specialize in particular areas like machine learning, blockchain, or edge computing. Deep expertise will be valued.

2. Influencer Models – Taking a page from the B2C marketing playbook, more companies will invest in building advocate influencer programs to scale their reach and impact. Think exclusive swag, early access, and affiliate deals.

3. Developer Experience – Advocates will play an increasingly important role in shaping the end-to-end developer experience, from SDKs and docs to sample apps and sandboxes. Frictionless onboarding will be table stakes.

4. Strategic Partners – Savvy companies will treat their advocates as strategic partners, involving them in everything from product roadmap planning to pricing and packaging. Advocacy will have a seat at the executive table.

Ultimately, the goal of developer advocacy will remain unchanged: to help developers succeed and build amazing things with technology. And that‘s a mission that I‘m excited to be a part of.

Conclusion

So there you have it, a whirlwind tour of the world of developer advocacy. It‘s a challenging but rewarding role that sits at the intersection of technology, business, and community.

As a developer, I‘ve benefited immensely from the work of advocates throughout my career. From the early days of learning to code with online tutorials to more recently architecting cloud-native applications, advocates have been there every step of the way with helpful content, practical advice, and words of encouragement.

If you‘re a developer looking to make a bigger impact or a company looking to build stronger relationships with the developer community, I highly encourage you to explore the world of developer advocacy. It‘s a fast-paced and ever-evolving field, but one that plays a critical role in the success of the technology ecosystem.

And if you‘re ever feeling stuck or need some advice, don‘t hesitate to reach out to your favorite developer advocate. We‘re here to help and support you along your journey. Happy coding!