I fundamentally agree with everything in your article's section on "Is developer relations a form of marketing?" — except about "tainting". You say yourself in the first sentence that DevRel is kind of a form of marketing. To me, it's about building trust and being genuine. Marketing itself is not inherently evil. Becoming a respected expert is, in itself, a form of marketing; as is building your own personal brand (ie, marketing yourself).
I've had great experiences with DevRel being in the Marketing org, but it does take cooperation on all sides, and a deeper understanding of the main goals of DevRel from Marketing leadership. Some companies have this understanding, and others still don't (yet).
In reality, many smaller companies and startups with one or two developer advocates cannot afford (or don't even have) SEs that they can fly to events to staff booths and give vendor talks, especially when they have advocates who will already be at those same events speaking. As a developer, I personally appreciate when booths are staffed by developer advocates because I know I can have candid, developer-centric conversations with folks who have already built up my trust in their opinions and expertise around their product.
This is not to say that DevRel isn't wildly successful, rewarding, and effective in other departments besides Marketing — but I hope to move the needle on people largely assuming that "marketing is evil" and that it's impossible for great advocates to do excellent work if they're in a Marketing org.
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Hi Angie! Thanks for your insights!
I fundamentally agree with everything in your article's section on "Is developer relations a form of marketing?" — except about "tainting". You say yourself in the first sentence that DevRel is kind of a form of marketing. To me, it's about building trust and being genuine. Marketing itself is not inherently evil. Becoming a respected expert is, in itself, a form of marketing; as is building your own personal brand (ie, marketing yourself).
I've had great experiences with DevRel being in the Marketing org, but it does take cooperation on all sides, and a deeper understanding of the main goals of DevRel from Marketing leadership. Some companies have this understanding, and others still don't (yet).
In reality, many smaller companies and startups with one or two developer advocates cannot afford (or don't even have) SEs that they can fly to events to staff booths and give vendor talks, especially when they have advocates who will already be at those same events speaking. As a developer, I personally appreciate when booths are staffed by developer advocates because I know I can have candid, developer-centric conversations with folks who have already built up my trust in their opinions and expertise around their product.
This is not to say that DevRel isn't wildly successful, rewarding, and effective in other departments besides Marketing — but I hope to move the needle on people largely assuming that "marketing is evil" and that it's impossible for great advocates to do excellent work if they're in a Marketing org.