A late-night trip to the grocery store revealed a mistake I often see developer marketers make.

When I lived in a small town, a grand opening was a big deal. And this one was only our second grocery store, which would have longer hours than the first.

To celebrate, the grand opening was scheduled for… MIDNIGHT!

That should have been great marketing. In fact, it was: there was a crowd gathered, even though it was past most of our bedtimes.

But there were no festivities. Windows dark. Doors locked.

Turns out they were off by a day. Or all of us were. What was written as midnight should have instead said 11:59 p.m. 🤦‍♂️

Most developer marketers want to attract a bunch of developers to their product. I talk to them all the time. Too often, they don’t think about what those developers will do once they get there.

The next step isn’t always “try our product.” Often, there’s a more realistic recommendation you can suggest. The sort of thing that will build trust, which will be needed if developers ever intend to try your product.

And don’t take my word for it. Mark O’Neill of Gartner highlighted the getting started passage when he first reviewed ​Developer Marketing Does Not Exist​:

You don’t want to end up being accidentally closed, like the supermarket with calendar issues.

There’s usually another piece of content you can link, or a page within your docs that provides more color to the topic that first drew their attention.

When they’re ready, you’ll hopefully give them a great first experience with your product, as well.

Think your team needs help with any of this? ​Let me know​.