In 1996, Bill Gates wrote an essay titled "Content is King."
Almost 30 years later, most DevTools companies are still acting like content is an afterthought.
Most DevTools companies don't struggle because their product is bad.
They struggle because nobody understands it. Nobody trusts it. Nobody talks about it. Content is so versatile; with it, you get to build trust with developers, get new leads, increase conversions, and so much more
The Brutal Truth: DevTools Content Is Usually Self-Centered
Here's what most DevTools content sounds like:
"We built a scalable, distributed, event-driven architecture…"
Developers don't wake up excited about your architecture.
They wake up thinking:
- Why is my build failing?
- Why is this auth flow breaking? *Why am I stuck at 2 am debugging something that should just work? What tool fits this project I'm working on?
If your content doesn't enter that emotional space - frustration, pressure, deadlines, curiosity - it's invisible.
Why Most DevTools Fail at Content Marketing
A tech company once reached out to me about having low conversions their blog, and weak search performance. They were convinced it was an SEO issue. i took some time to review the website, their marketing newsletters, and articles. After reviewing their articles and newsletters, the problem was clear, the content revolved entirely around the company.
Every post highlighted their architecture, their scalability, their product updates. It was technically accurate, but emotionally disconnected.
Once we shifted the focus from "what we built" to "what developers struggle with," everything changed.
We thought as a user. Why will the user click and read a long article or newsletter that the company publishes? This is the guide we used:
Speed: How quickly can I integrate this? Will it reduce my build time, deployment time, or debugging time? Speed isn't vanity - it protects momentum.
Clarity: Are the docs straightforward? Are the trade-offs explained? If something breaks, will I understand why without guessing?
Control: Can I configure it to fit my stack? Is it flexible, or am I locked into rigid workflows? Developers don't like black boxes.
Stability: Can I trust this in production? Is it reliable under load? No one wants to gamble their uptime on marketing promises.
Respect for their time: Get to the point. Show the code. Skip the fluff. If your content wastes time, they assume your tool will too.
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