You built something cool. Now you need other developers to actually use it.

But here's the problem: developers hate marketing. And you're a developer. So you hate marketing yourself.

Traditional marketing advice tells you to create buyer personas, run Facebook ads, and optimize your funnel. But that's not how developers think. That's not how you think.

Marketing for developers requires a completely different playbook. One that feels authentic, not cringey. One that builds credibility before asking for anything. One that actually works for technical audiences.

This guide is that playbook. Everything I learned marketing to developers on LinkedIn as a technical founder. No fluff, no corporate speak, just what actually works.

Why Developer Marketing Is Different

Developer marketing isn't just B2B marketing with some code snippets thrown in.

Developers are uniquely skeptical. They've been burned by overhyped products, misleading demos, and sales pitches that promised magic but delivered mediocrity. They can read source code, check GitHub issues, and spot technical BS instantly.

Here's what makes marketing to developers fundamentally different:

Developers trust peers, not brands. A recommendation from another developer on Reddit carries more weight than a million-dollar ad campaign. They want to hear from people who've actually used your product, solved real problems with it, and can speak technically about how it works.

Developers want to understand how things work. You can't just tell them your product is "10x faster" or "enterprise-grade." They want benchmarks, architecture diagrams, and technical explanations. They want to look under the hood before they commit.

Developers make decisions based on merit, not marketing. The best-marketed product doesn't win. The best product wins. Your marketing's job isn't to convince developers your product is good—it's to help them discover whether it's right for their use case.

Developers hate being sold to. Cold LinkedIn messages asking for "15 minutes to chat" get ignored. Gated content feels manipulative. Sales pressure triggers instant skepticism. The moment your marketing feels like marketing, you've lost them.

This is why most traditional marketing fails with technical audiences. And it's why LinkedIn is actually perfect for developer marketing when you approach it correctly.

Why LinkedIn Works for Developer Marketing

Most technical founders think LinkedIn is for corporate types and recruiters. They're wrong.

LinkedIn is where technical decision-makers actually are. CTOs, engineering managers, principal engineers, architects—the people with budgets and buying authority. They're not hanging out on Product Hunt or Hacker News all day. They're on LinkedIn.

Here's why LinkedIn is the best platform for marketing for developers:

Direct access to decision-makers. You can reach CTOs at Fortune 500 companies just as easily as indie hackers building solo. No ads required, no cold emails, just content that demonstrates expertise.

Long-form content works. Unlike Twitter's character limits, LinkedIn lets you share technical deep-dives, architecture breakdowns, and detailed tutorials. You can actually explain complex concepts without threading 47 tweets together.

Algorithmic advantage for individuals. LinkedIn's algorithm favors personal posts over company pages. As a technical founder sharing your expertise, you get more reach than a corporate marketing team.

Built-in credibility signals. Your work history, recommendations, and connections establish technical credibility before someone even reads your content. If you were a senior engineer at a respected company, that matters.

Less competition. While every developer is fighting for attention on Twitter or dev.to, LinkedIn is relatively wide open for technical content. You're competing against recruiting spam and motivational quotes, not other expert developers.

The key is understanding that LinkedIn developer marketing isn't about posting your startup's latest funding announcement. It's about consistently demonstrating technical expertise, sharing valuable insights, and building credibility over time.

Think of it as long-form technical blogging with a built-in distribution network.

The Developer Marketing Content Framework

Here's the framework that actually works for marketing to developers on LinkedIn.

The 70-20-10 Rule

• 70% pure value: Technical insights, tutorials, lessons learned. Zero product mentions.
• 20% build in public: Behind-the-scenes of building your product. Challenges, decisions, trade-offs.
• 10% product-related: Launches, updates, use cases. Always with technical depth.

This ratio builds credibility before you ever ask for anything. When 90% of your content is genuinely useful regardless of whether someone uses your product, the 10% that is promotional actually gets read.

Content Types That Work

Technical deep-dives. Share how you solved a specific technical problem. Architecture decisions, performance optimizations, debugging nightmares. The more specific and technical, the better.

Example: "We reduced API latency from 800ms to 120ms by switching from REST to gRPC. Here's the full migration process, benchmarks, and gotchas we hit."

Build in public updates. Show your product development process. Not the polished marketing version—the real version with mistakes, pivots, and lessons learned.

Example: "Spent 3 weeks building a feature nobody uses. Here's what I learned about validation before building."

Technical comparisons. Honest evaluations of different approaches, technologies, or solutions. Include your product if relevant, but don't make it the hero.

Example: "I tested 5 different vector databases for our AI app. Here's the performance data, cost comparison, and which one we chose."

Lessons from experience. Distill years of technical experience into actionable frameworks. This is where your expertise shines.

Example: "After reviewing 200+ pull requests, here are the 7 patterns that separate senior engineers from everyone else."

Contrarian technical takes. Challenge common assumptions with data and experience. Technical audiences love well-reasoned contrarian views.

Example: "Microservices are overkill for 95% of startups. Here's why we went with a modular monolith and haven't regretted it."

The Anti-Marketing Marketing Approach

The best developer marketing doesn't feel like marketing at all. It feels like a senior engineer sharing hard-won knowledge with peers.

Here's how to nail the tone:

Write like you're explaining to a colleague. Not a customer, not a lead, a colleague. Use technical terms without over-explaining. Assume intelligence.

Show your work. Include code snippets, architecture diagrams, performance graphs. Let developers see exactly what you did and how.

Admit mistakes. The most credible technical content acknowledges what didn't work. "We tried X first and it failed because Y" is more valuable than "We built the perfect solution."

Skip the superlatives. No "revolutionary," "game-changing," or "10x." Just specific, measurable improvements and honest trade-offs.

Link to primary sources. Benchmarks, documentation, GitHub repos, technical papers. Show you did the research.

If you want to streamline your LinkedIn presence as a technical founder, Postiv helps you maintain consistency without the time sink. But the content quality still needs to come from you.

Building Your Developer Marketing Presence

Content is half the equation. Your profile and presence are the other half.

Profile Optimization for Technical Credibility

Your LinkedIn profile needs to establish technical credibility at a glance.

Headline format: [Technical Role] at [Company] | [Specific Expertise] | Building [Product]

Example: "Senior Backend Engineer → Founder | Distributed Systems & API Design | Building AI tools for developers"

About section structure:

1. Technical background (2-3 sentences)
2. What you're building and why (technical problem you're solving)
3. Expertise areas (specific technologies and domains)
4. How you can help (what value you provide)

Featured section: Pin your best technical content. Deep-dives, popular posts, technical talks. Show the quality of your thinking.

Experience section: Focus on technical achievements, not job descriptions. Quantify impact where possible.

Growing Your Technical Network

You need the right people to see your content. Here's how to build a network of technical decision-makers.

Connect with technical founders. Search for titles like "CTO," "Founder," "Engineering Manager," "Technical Lead." Filter by industry and company size that match your target audience.

Personalize connection requests. Reference specific content they've shared or common technical interests. One sentence is enough.

Example: "Saw your post on database optimization. We're tackling similar challenges at [your company]. Would love to connect."

Engage before asking. Comment thoughtfully on posts from people you want to connect with. Build familiarity first.

Join technical conversations. When someone posts about a technology or problem you know well, share your perspective. Visibility leads to connections.

Be consistent, not aggressive. 5-10 quality connections per week is better than 50 random ones. Focus on people who actually match your target audience.

Creating Content That Technical Audiences Share

Writing good technical content isn't enough. You need it to spread.

The Hook Framework for Technical Posts

Developers scroll fast. Your first sentence determines whether they read or scroll.

Strong technical hooks:

• Lead with the result: "I reduced our AWS bill from $12k to $3k/month."
• Start with a mistake: "I spent 6 months building the wrong product."
• Challenge assumptions: "Most startups don't need Kubernetes."
• Share specific numbers: "We analyzed 10,000 user sessions and found..."
• Ask a technical question: "Why is database indexing so poorly understood?"

Weak hooks to avoid:

• Generic statements: "Building software is hard."
• Humble brags: "Just closed our Series A..."
• Questions without answers: "What's your favorite programming language?"
• Motivation: "Keep pushing, founders!"

Content Structure for Maximum Readability

Technical posts need visual breathing room. Wall-of-text posts get skipped.

Effective structure:

1. Hook (1-2 sentences)
2. Context (what prompted this, why it matters)
3. Main content (broken into clear sections)
4. Key takeaways (bullets or numbered list)
5. Optional CTA (soft, relevant)

Visual formatting:

• Single-sentence paragraphs for emphasis
• Bullets for lists and frameworks
• Line breaks between sections
• Code blocks for technical examples
• Emojis sparingly (or not at all for serious technical content)

Length sweet spots:

• Quick insights: 150-300 words
• Technical tutorials: 500-800 words
• Deep-dives: 1000-1500 words

LinkedIn's algorithm favors longer posts, but only if people actually read them. Depth matters more than length.

When and How Often to Post

Consistency beats intensity in developer marketing.

Optimal posting frequency:

• Starting out: 2-3 times per week
• Building momentum: 4-5 times per week
• Established presence: Daily

Best posting times for technical audiences:

• Tuesday-Thursday, 7-9 AM (before work starts)
• Tuesday-Thursday, 12-1 PM (lunch break)
• Avoid Mondays (catching up) and Fridays (checked out)

But your mileage will vary. Test different times and see what works for your specific audience.

The consistency challenge: Finding time to write quality technical content while building your product is hard.

Postiv helps technical founders maintain consistent posting schedules without sacrificing quality. You bring the technical insights, it handles the posting workflow. $1 trial, cancel anytime.

Converting Attention Into Product Interest

You've built credibility. Now what?

The Soft CTA Approach

Hard sells kill credibility with developers. Soft CTAs maintain it.

What not to do:

• "Book a demo to see how we can help!"
• "Click the link in my bio to learn more!"
• "DM me if you're interested!"

What works:

• "We built [product] to solve this exact problem. Open source, MIT license."
• "This is why we're building [product]. Still early, but it's solving this for us."
• "If you're dealing with this too, happy to share what worked for us."

The difference is subtle but critical. You're offering value, not asking for attention.

Building in Public as Marketing

The most effective developer marketing is just transparent product development.

What to share:

• Technical decisions and trade-offs
• Performance benchmarks and optimizations
• Feature development process
• Mistakes and pivots
• Stack choices and why

Framework: Problem → Solution → Learnings

Example post: "Our API was timing out under load. Turns out connection pooling was misconfigured. Here's what we changed, the performance impact, and why we didn't catch it earlier. [Technical details]. We're building [product] to help other teams avoid these issues."

This approach does three things simultaneously:

1. Provides value (technical insights)
2. Demonstrates expertise (you solved it)
3. Introduces your product (natural context)

Using Comments for Distribution

Your comments can be as valuable as your posts for reaching new audiences.

Strategic commenting:

• Find posts from technical influencers in your space
• Add substantial value in comments (not just "Great post!")
• Share your specific experience or contrarian view
• Link to relevant content you've created when appropriate

Example: On a post about scaling challenges: "We hit this exact issue at 10k concurrent users. Solved it by [technical approach]. Wrote up the full architecture here: [link to your post]. Happy to discuss trade-offs."

This puts your expertise in front of that post's audience. When done well, it drives profile visits and follows.

Converting Profile Visits

When your content drives someone to your profile, you have 3 seconds to convert interest into a follow or connection.

Profile conversion checklist:

• Clear headline showing expertise + what you're building
• Featured section with best technical content
• Recent posts demonstrating consistent value
• About section that quickly explains who you are and what you offer

If your profile passes this test, they'll follow. If not, they'll bounce.

Measuring What Actually Matters

Vanity metrics feel good but don't build businesses. Track what matters.

Metrics That Don't Matter Much

• Post views (unless paired with engagement)
• Profile views (unless converting to follows)
• Connection count (unless they're relevant)
• Likes (nice, but not actionable)

Metrics That Matter

Engagement rate: (Comments + Shares) / Followers

This tells you if your content resonates. Target: 2-5% for technical content.

Quality of comments: Are people asking thoughtful questions, sharing experiences, or challenging your points? This indicates you're reaching technical audiences.

Profile visits → Follows conversion: What percentage of profile visitors actually follow you? Target: 20-30%.

Website traffic from LinkedIn: Use UTM parameters to track how much traffic LinkedIn drives to your product site.

Inbound interest: Are technical founders reaching out about your product without prompting? This is the gold standard.

Share of voice: Are people mentioning your product or content unprompted? Search for your product name on LinkedIn to track.

The 90-Day Benchmark

Developer marketing is a long game. Here's what reasonable progress looks like:

Month 1:

• 10-15 posts
• 200-500 new relevant followers
• Handful of thoughtful comments on posts
• 1-2 inbound DMs about content

Month 2:

• 20+ posts
• 500-1000 new relevant followers
• Regular engagement on most posts
• Several profile visits converting to website traffic

Month 3:

• 30+ posts
• 1000-2000 new relevant followers
• Consistent comments and shares
• Inbound product interest from content

If you're not seeing this trajectory, audit your content. Are you providing enough technical depth? Are you posting consistently? Are you engaging with your target audience's content?

Common Developer Marketing Mistakes

Even technical founders screw this up. Here's what to avoid.

Mistake 1: Posting Only About Your Product

Nobody cares about your product updates except you (and maybe your mom).

Every product announcement should be 20% announcement, 80% technical insight about why you built it that way.

Bad: "We just launched feature X! Check it out at [link]."

Good: "Spent 3 weeks building real-time collaboration. Here's why we chose CRDTs over operational transforms, the performance implications, and what we'd do differently. Live at [link] if you want to see it in action."

Mistake 2: Writing Like a Marketing Team

Developers can instantly detect when you're writing marketing copy instead of technical content.

Red flags:

• Starting every post with a question
• Using exclamation points excessively
• Buzzwords like "game-changing" or "revolutionary"
• Vague claims without data
• Stock photos instead of screenshots or diagrams

Write like a senior engineer explaining something to another engineer. That's it.

Mistake 3: Inconsistent Posting

Posting 5 times in one week then disappearing for a month kills momentum.

LinkedIn's algorithm rewards consistency. When you post regularly, your content gets distributed more widely. When you disappear, you start from zero each time.

Pick a sustainable frequency and stick to it. Two quality posts per week beats seven rushed ones.

Mistake 4: Ignoring Community Engagement

If you only post and never comment on others' content, you're shouting into the void.

Spend 20% of your LinkedIn time creating content, 80% engaging with your target audience's content. This builds relationships and visibility.

Mistake 5: Optimizing for the Wrong Audience

Chasing viral posts usually means optimizing for general audiences instead of technical decision-makers.

A post that gets 10,000 views from random LinkedIn users is less valuable than a post that gets 500 views from CTOs in your target market.

Stay focused on your actual audience, even if it means less overall engagement.

Advanced Developer Marketing Tactics

Once you've mastered the basics, here are advanced moves to amplify your reach.

Collaborative Content

Partner with other technical founders or developers in complementary spaces.

Interview format: Ask a respected developer about their approach to a technical challenge. Post the insights, tag them. They'll likely share it with their audience.

Technical debates: Engage in thoughtful technical disagreements with peers. The best conversations happen when smart people respectfully disagree.

Guest contributions: Write technical content for other developers' newsletters or platforms. Include a bio linking back to your LinkedIn.

Speaking and Teaching

Position yourself as an expert by teaching.

LinkedIn Live technical talks: Host live sessions on technical topics. Even 50 live viewers generates significant reach.

Comment on industry news: When major technical news breaks (new framework, security vulnerability, big tech decision), share your expert take quickly.

Create technical resources: Write the definitive LinkedIn post on a specific technical topic. This becomes a reference that people link back to repeatedly.

For more on building thought leadership as a technical founder, check out our guide on how to build a personal brand.

Repurposing Content Across Channels

Your LinkedIn content can fuel other marketing channels.

Blog → LinkedIn: Break down blog posts into LinkedIn posts. Link to the full version for people who want depth.

LinkedIn → Email: Your best-performing LinkedIn posts can become email newsletter content.

LinkedIn → Twitter: Condense LinkedIn posts into Twitter threads for cross-platform reach.

Documentation → Content: Technical documentation often contains great content. Explain a technical concept from your docs in a LinkedIn post.

Building a Content System

Sustainable marketing for developers requires a system, not heroic effort.

Content pipeline:

1. Capture ideas in the moment (Notion, Notes app, wherever)
2. Develop ideas into outlines
3. Write drafts in batches
4. Schedule posts for consistent publishing

Idea sources:

• Technical problems you solve while building
• Questions from users or community
• Interesting technical articles or papers
• Your own learning journey with new technologies

Batch creation: Write 3-5 posts in one focused session rather than writing daily. This maintains consistency even during busy weeks.

If you're looking for a structured approach to LinkedIn marketing, check out our app marketing strategy guide for technical founders.

The Bottom Line

Developer marketing isn't about convincing technical audiences your product is good. It's about demonstrating your expertise so thoroughly that when they need a solution in your space, you're the obvious choice.

LinkedIn is the most effective platform for this because it gives you direct access to technical decision-makers and rewards consistent, valuable content from individuals.

The framework is straightforward:

• Post 70% pure technical value, 20% build in public, 10% product content
• Write like a senior engineer sharing knowledge with peers
• Build credibility before asking for anything
• Engage with your target audience's content consistently
• Measure quality engagement, not vanity metrics

This isn't quick. You won't go viral and land 1,000 customers overnight. But over 3-6 months of consistent execution, you'll build a technical audience that knows your expertise, trusts your judgment, and cares when you build something new.

That's infinitely more valuable than any ad campaign.

The hardest part is staying consistent while building your product. If you need help maintaining your LinkedIn presence without sacrificing development time, try Postiv for $1. It helps technical founders post consistently without the time sink.

Now go share something technical you learned this week. Your future customers are waiting to discover you.