This article is based on Jon Rooney’s brilliant talk at the Developer Engagement Summit. As a DMA member, you can enjoy the complete recording here.

Trust is at the heart of every successful developer community. It’s what turns a set of tools into a reliable platform, transforms users into advocates, and enables ecosystems to thrive. But trust isn’t a given – it’s built through consistent effort and can be lost far more easily than it’s gained.

In this article, we’ll explore how to foster trust by creating meaningful developer engagement, building healthy communities, and learning from the moments when things go wrong. 

Drawing from years of experience navigating the highs and lows of developer marketing, I’ll share the common pitfalls that undermine trust, the external pressures that exacerbate these challenges, and – most importantly – how to repair relationships when trust has been broken.

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out, this guide will help you navigate the complexities of building trust in developer communities and ensure you’re delivering value that developers can count on.

Building developer trust

There’s a common misconception that you can’t market to developers. You might’ve even heard people say developers hate marketing. But here’s the thing: developers are some of the easiest people to market to. The problem is that a lot of bad marketing gets thrown their way.

If you’ve ever been to a developer conference like JSConf, you’ll see exactly what I mean. Just look at the laptops covered in stickers from various vendors – it’s branding overload. 

Developers care about branding, just in a different way than CIOs or CISOs. The key is to focus on delivering real value and creating spaces for meaningful engagement – whether it’s in person, online, one-to-one, or one-to-many.

Good developer marketing boils down to one thing: be useful. Provide docs, demos, and tutorials. I say it all the time: docs are marketing for developers. Seriously, embroider that on a pillow.

The power of a healthy developer community

When a developer community is thriving, it starts to grow roots. That’s when it really takes off. The community itself becomes the front door to your product. It’s no longer just about your company’s efforts – it’s about enabling the community to carry the message forward.

I’ve seen this happen at scale. At Microsoft, we had about five million .NET developers worldwide, and even our smaller initiatives could reach around a million users. That kind of reach only happens when you empower the community to grow and contribute.

A healthy community also creates career opportunities. For instance, at Microsoft, we invested in making sure people who learned C# could get great jobs. If developers are investing their time in your tools, it’s on you to make it worth their while.

Developer communities go beyond product

A strong community can transcend your product. Take the rise of DevOps as an example. Back in the day, companies like Puppet, Ansible, and Chef weren’t just promoting their features; they were defining the DevOps space. They educated the industry on what DevOps meant and why it mattered. 

That’s the kind of influence a healthy community can have – it becomes about the bigger picture, not just your widget.

7 common causes of lost developer trust

We’ve covered the good news – what happens when everything’s working well. Now, it’s time to shift gears and explore what happens when it all goes wrong.

Trust with developers is essential, but it’s also fragile. It can break due to internal missteps or external pressures. Here’s how trust often falters – and what drives those challenges.

1. Service interruptions and poor planning

Developers depend on your tools to get their work done. So, when a feature suddenly stops working or a key tool is retired without warning, it’s a huge disruption.