What comes to your mind when you hear the word Developer Advocacy? Traveling? Speaking at conferences? Community builders? Developers that don’t write code? Popularity on Twitter(X)? People with big salaries?
Developer Advocacy is a multifaceted role that encompasses all these elements and more. It combines technical expertise, communication prowess, community building, and a genuine passion for technology.
When you think of Developer Advocacy, you envision a group of individuals who serve as the bridge between developers and the products, platforms, or tools they use. In simpler terms, people who advocate for developers.
Who is a Developer Advocate?
There are a lot of definitions when it comes to defining Developer Advocate. Here are a few perspectives from industry experts:
A developer advocate is a spokesperson, mediator, and translator between a company and its technical staff and outside developers.
As a developer advocate, my main responsibility is to serve the software engineering community. I do this by providing content in the form of blog posts, webinars, conference talks, podcast interviews, live streams, and video tutorials.
A Developer Advocate is someone who truly advocates for developers, not just a platform. Developers should be the Developer Advocate’s top priority.
The common ground for the definitions above highlights that a developer advocate caters to the needs of developers who work with a platform, tool, or technology.
What is the Role of a Developer Advocate In an Organization?
The role of a developer advocate in an organization is to be the middle person between a company and their developer community, by providing support and resources to help developers succeed in using a product. There are many ways a developer advocate can advocate for developers. These include:
Content Creation
A developer advocate will create different forms of content including blog posts, video tutorials, podcasts, live streams, and other educational content that helps developers understand and effectively use a company’s product.
Most times these contents are not just limited to the product of the company they’re working for. It could also be about popular tools and technologies that developers use. Developer advocates do all these to educate and provide useful information for the developer community.
Working on Documentation.
Documentation is vital when onboarding a new user to a product. It is one of the first things that developers look out for when using a new product and it also determines user retention.
Developer Advocates often create guides, API documentation, references, etc. and this is because they understand the needs and pain points of developers. They can provide valuable insights into what users are looking for in the documentation and also help to prioritize topics and areas that need better coverage.
While it’s the primary duty of a technical writer to work on documentation, a developer advocate can also collaborate with technical writers to improve documentation to meet the needs of developers.
Speaking and Presentations:
Speaking at conferences and events is one of the most common activities that developer advocates engage in. Public speaking is a core part of a developer advocate's job as it allows them to share their knowledge and communicate their technical expertise with a wider audience effectively engage with the developer community, and advocate for their products or technologies.
Community Engagement
Developer Advocates actively engage with the developer community through various mediums such as Twitter(X), Slack, and Discord. They foster conversations, address questions, and create an inclusive and collaborative environment for developers to connect and learn. They organize and host meetups, workshops, and hackathons for developers in the community to be able to use their products seamlessly.
However, all these community involvements should not be mistaken for the duty of a community manager, as these are just to help the developer community use a product seamlessly.
Open Source Contributions.
Open-source contributions are one of the ways that developer advocates can connect with the developer community. Contributing to open source helps developer advocates establish credibility, share knowledge, engage with the community, and contribute to the growth and improvement of technology. Sometimes developer advocates are also maintainers of open-source projects, these way they make bug fixes, code reviews, and guide new contributors through the steps of contributing to a project.
While some developer advocates do not work with organizations whose products are open-sourced, they can still make significant contributions by creating projects that will be valuable to the developer community.
Debunking Common Myths about Developer Advocacy
Developer Advocates do not know how to write code
There are a lot of controversies regarding this, while there are a lot of roles under devrel that might not require you to know how to code, Developer advocacy is a little bit different because in this case, you’re supposed to be a support to developers using a product and it might be very difficult to advocate for a product that you don’t know how to use.
According to Angie Jones:
I’m not a gatekeeper but I strongly believe that engineering experience helps in a developer advocate role. Developer advocates have to build and maintain credibility with their engineering peers, understand their pain points, and foresee how given solutions would address their needs. Without engineering experience, this is hard to do. Not impossible, but definitely hard.
Most developer advocates are people who were once engineers or have a background in software development.
Developer Advocates Are Just Marketers
The role of a developer advocate significantly differs from that of a marketer because developer advocates focus on providing genuine technical value to their community, steering clear of gimmicky marketing tactics, and ensuring their content addresses real technical problems effectively.
Having a Large Following on Social Media is a requirement for being a Developer Advocate
It is important to know that while having a strong social media following can be helpful, it's not an absolute requirement to be a successful developer advocate except as stated otherwise by an organization. Developer advocacy is mostly about technical expertise, community engagement, and effectively supporting and advocating for fellow developers. Many accomplished developer advocates prioritize meaningful interactions with the community, their deep technical knowledge, and their capacity to offer valuable guidance, regardless of their social media follower count.
Developer advocacy is not a real job.
Not sure how people came to this conclusion but Developer advocacy is a real job that requires you to wear multiple hats and possess different skills. For anyone thinking of transitioning into devrel just because they assume it is just a job with a very shiny title, well they're in for a very lonnnnggggg ride.
Tips for beginners looking to transition to developer advocacy
Work on your technical skills. While it’s not compulsory to be an expert in your field, you really need to know your stuff. Focus on a tech niche and learn the ins and outs. A lot of companies will only hire people who can make significant contributions to their products.
Contribute to open source projects and this will help you boost your technical skills and also connect you with the developer community. You can even make significant contributions to open source projects of companies that you’ll love to work with, while this might not help you land a job with them, it will help with your skills.
Build and learn in public. Write technical articles about tools or technologies you’re using, contribute to meaningful contributions on social media, and share your learning experiences.
Attend meetups and conferences and this will help you network with developers and also learn from experienced developer advocates and engineers. You can even apply to speak about things you are very knowledgeable about at technical conferences.
Stay updated with the latest trends, and technologies and this will help you remain relevant in your advocacy role.
Be involved in communities. Volunteer to mentor newbies, and answer questions on StackOverflow, GitHub discussions, or Reddit. This will help you learn from other developers, share your knowledge, and build relationships with people who share your interests.