HN Explorer

Ask HN: How to get developers to try your product (in a non-spammy way)?

4 points by zevir ↗ HN
Everyone knows that developers hate it with a passion when people try to sell stuff to them.

But many developers are also very generous in testing new products and offering candid feedback to the makers.

My question is - what is the cheat code for striking that balance? What gets developers to sign up and try your dev-oriented product in an authentic way? - Are there specific platforms or communities where developers are more receptive to these requests? - Maybe a specific type of pitch that is more effective? - Perhaps a specific medium that most developers prefer?

I'm very interested to hear what's worked well for you.

Thank you!

6 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 27.3 ms ] thread
togaen
“Developers” is a huge, very heterogeneous group. No single strategy is going to work. Talk to individual developers first, and find some who are receptive to what you’re doing. That will give you a starting point to define what the larger market looks like.
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
zevir
Great advice. Thank you.

And If I had to choose for the purposes of my question, I'd say front end developers specifically

gregjor
Looks like you’ve found one way: asking a meta question.

Show, don’t tell. Show how your product will benefit me. Make it clear and short. Persuade me to invest my time in your product and that you’ll support it.

Djrichsjdjdnxkd
Are you trying to get devs to just give you feedback on the product? Or are you using dev testing as a marketing tool?
zevir
I'm talking about products intended for devs, developer tools. I'm asking about ways people found for getting early adopters to try it and provide their feedback.