Creating Developer Content That Spreads Organically
In this Draft.dev webinar, we explore how to create technical marketing content that resonates with developer audiences and spreads organically. Host Clayton Kast was joined by Adam Gordon Bell, podcast host at CoRecursive, and Richard Rodger, CEO of VoxGig, a developer relations agency.
This blog post recaps their conversation about defining organic content, effective distribution channels, common misconceptions, and strategic approaches to creating content that developers actually want to share.
Organic Developer Content
When discussing content that spreads organically, our panelists had complementary views on what success looks like.
For Adam, organic spread happens when “you hear about [your content] even after you post it.” He describes the ideal scenario:
I shared something on Reddit, and then it went on Hacker News, and then from there maybe it goes dark a little bit. And then somebody tells me that it was in their Slack channel at work.
Richard emphasized the sustainability aspect:
I’d emphasize the more sustainable side a little bit more… It’s nice if you have a kind of a group of content creators where the audience or community is kind of excited every time they produce something.
Both perspectives highlight that organic spread isn’t just about viral hits—it’s about creating content that resonates deeply enough that people voluntarily share it beyond your initial distribution.
Where Do Developers Discover Content?
Understanding where developers find content is critical for any organic distribution strategy. Our experts shared their experiences with different channels.
Reddit: The Community Hub
Adam emphasized the power of Reddit, despite its reputation for sometimes harsh feedback:
Reddit is divided into like a thousand little subreddits, and oftentimes there is one where people are interested in what you’re doing.
He also noted that Reddit serves as an excellent research tool to understand what types of content perform well in specific communities:
You can just go to Reddit and switch to top and see what’s the top thing in the year… It can be a good indicator of the type of content that’s organic and spreads.
Social Media: Fragmented but Essential
Richard pointed out that while Twitter (now X) was once the primary channel for developers, the landscape has fragmented:
It used to be okay, it’s still Twitter/X, and that’s still where the main dev communities are… But now Twitter is also fragmented… Now you’ve got to have a strategy around all these smaller communities, Mastodon, Bluesky, all the reddits, Twitch, whatever.
Other Effective Channels
The panel also mentioned several other channels worth considering:
- LinkedIn for professional networking
- Email newsletters for direct engagement
- Slack communities for focused discussions
- In-person and virtual conferences for relationship building
Common Misconceptions About Organic Content
One of the most valuable segments of the discussion covered misconceptions that companies often have about creating developer content that spreads.
Misconception #1: Your Product Is All That Matters
Adam highlighted how companies often focus too narrowly on their specific product offering rather than addressing broader industry topics:
Your product is this little thing, and your whole world is about the product, right? But if you zoom out and look at the larger context, that’s the number one thing I think people miss.
He shared an example of a company specializing in advanced Kafka implementations who only created content for the tiny subset of developers who had outscaled Kafka. His advice was to “zoom way back out” and create content about why Kafka is a great solution in the first place, addressing a much larger audience.
Misconception #2: How-to Guides Will Drive Organic Traffic
Richard cautioned against relying solely on product-specific how-to guides for organic spread:
One of the misconceptions that we see a good bit is people take their how-to guides and try to turn that into organic content. And that’s way too focused on the product… It’s not helping you with the bigger picture.
He cited Intercom’s early content strategy as a counter-example, where one founder “literally spent 90% of his time writing articles about how to do Internet marketing” rather than focusing narrowly on their chat product.
Misconception #3: Perfection Over Consistency
Clayton emphasized that many organizations get caught up in details while neglecting the fundamentals:
People get so caught up in the minutia that they’re just publishing something like once a quarter instead of as frequently as they should.
He compared content strategy to dieting—rather than obsessing over specific foods, the most important factor is consistently maintaining a caloric deficit. Similarly, with content, consistency in publishing trumps perfection. This aligns with successful developer content strategies that work and scale.
Examples of Content That Spread Organically
The speakers shared examples from their experience of content that gained significant organic traction.
Adam described an in-depth tutorial on AWK (a Unix text-processing tool) that he created while at Earthly, a build tool company:
I spent a long time just writing a really in-depth tutorial for how to use AWK… I shared it on the programming Reddit—people there love old school command line tools. And then from there it went on Hacker News… We got like probably 60,000 visitors from Hacker News.
What made this content successful was that it:
- Addressed problems their users actually had
- Provided exceptionally high-quality information on a topic that lacked good resources
- Connected indirectly to their product’s value proposition
Richard shared two contrasting examples:
- Ryan Dahl’s original Node.js introduction talk, which went viral because it introduced fundamentally important technology
- A “weird and cute” project called startupdeathclock.com that briefly went viral but provided limited lasting value
The key takeaway was that chasing viral content for its own sake rarely yields sustainable results. Instead, focus on creating genuinely helpful, high-quality content that addresses real developer needs.
Distribution Strategies That Work
When it comes to distributing content effectively, our panelists emphasized authenticity and engagement over aggressive promotion. For technical audiences, distribution and syndication strategies require a thoughtful approach.
Be Present and Responsive
Adam stressed the importance of being available to interact with people who engage with your content: “I will try to interact with people who have questions about it… I will just set aside some time to interact with people.”
This personal engagement often leads to further organic sharing. Adam noted that he rarely submits his content directly to platforms like Hacker News—instead, his engagement with readers often leads them to share it themselves.
Leverage Internal Experts
Richard suggested identifying technical team members who can effectively communicate with developer communities:
You’ve got to create space in your technical organization for people who are good at communicating to have time to get out there and do stuff.
This approach creates “micro distributions” by accessing the trusted audiences that internal engineers have built.
Adam added that interviewing internal subject matter experts can be an efficient way to create authentic content when engineering teams are busy:
I’m almost in an editor role or a journalist just interviewing them, and that can have a very small time commitment from their perspective.
Use Podcasts as a Relationship Tool
Both panelists highlighted the value of podcasts for connecting with technical audiences and industry leaders. Richard called podcast content “super cheap to create” yet “really effective, totally authentic.”
Clayton added that podcasts also provide an opportunity to talk directly with potential clients:
In those 2 years [building an audience] you’re gonna be talking to all the people you want to sell your product to.
If you’re considering this approach, check out Draft.dev’s ultimate list of developer podcasts for inspiration.
Engage Your Community Champions
Clayton emphasized the importance of identifying and building relationships with community members who are already promoting your product:
Whether you’re enterprise focused… there’s that one client that always has that problem that is in your customer service inbox every single day—build a relationship with that person. Or if it’s the community users, they’re already cranking on YouTube videos on how to use your product, engage with that individual.
Richard added that inviting these community champions to speak at your conferences or events can turn them into lifelong advocates.
Balancing SEO and Community Engagement
The conversation also touched on how to balance data-driven SEO approaches with community-focused content strategies.
Adam suggested these approaches should complement each other:
If you want to do things that spread through community, it’s going to take some effort… But that just led to a lot of people to link to us, and that just meant that when we wrote very specific, keyword focused content, it did very well.
Clayton noted that Google’s evolving approach to SEO is increasingly rewarding content that genuinely informs readers:
If you focus on creating good, engaging content for your community, you’re going to end up winning the SEO battle anyway.
This approach aligns with SEO keyword opportunities in developer marketing that prioritize quality over keyword manipulation.
Tips for Getting Started
For organizations just beginning to build their developer content strategy, our panelists offered these key recommendations:
- Focus on consistency through a disciplined content plan
- Understand your audience deeply before creating content
- Look beyond your product to address broader industry topics
- Raise the quality bar by studying the best content in your industry
- Engage authentically with community platforms like Reddit and Slack
- Leverage community experts rather than solely promoting your brand voice
Conclusion
Creating developer content that spreads organically isn’t about chasing viral hits or gaming algorithms. It’s about consistently producing high-quality, genuinely helpful content that addresses the real needs of your audience.
As Adam summarized, there’s no big secret—it comes down to quality.
By focusing on understanding your audience, zooming out to address broader topics, maintaining consistency, and engaging authentically with communities, you can create technical content that developers actually want to share.
If you found this recap helpful and want to hear the whole conversation, you can watch the webinar here:
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