Building a Developer Community
Ayodele Aransiola
Senior Developer Advocate | Learning Content Strategist | Edtech Advocate | Community Builder | Public Speaker
As a developer-focused company, a robust and thriving community is crucial. Creating one from inception is not a simple undertaking. I have experience building a community from the beginning, so I can attest to its difficulty.?
Creating a community solely to benefit your organization may not be effective, but when the community is value-driven, the success rate is high.
A Guide to Community-Building
The first step is to create a community strategy that includes your fundamental value, how you will cater to members' needs, your mission, the community's purpose, and the value proposition.?This will allow you to gain a thorough understanding of your community and how best to serve it.
Another thing to do is to select the best individuals. Exclude the notion of expanding the community as quickly as feasible, as you may attract members who do not share the community's purpose. Therefore, the optimal way to begin is with a small group that shares a common value and grows gradually.
Also, curate a constant flow of content that informs, inspires, and challenges community members. Your members crave valuable content to master your product.
Furthermore, develop relationships and permit community members to organize community-led events.
Also, utilize the proper tool to measure your metrics for success reports, and don't underestimate the power of a reward system for your active and contributing members.
Concluding Key Takeaway:
- Repetition is the key to establishing trust
- Developers should be treated as individuals, not commodities.
- Create a secure space for member interaction
- Create content (including how-to guides, tutorials, demos, and knowledge bases).
- Regularly collect and incorporate feedback.
- Create advocates from your members.
Note: 100 satisfied, engaged, and active members are far better to 10,000 inactive members.
As I conclude, be a part of your community rather than simply selling to it. - Kin Lane