Hey, did you know that top engineering leaders believe that "business alignment" is their top challenge? If you think marketing to them is just like marketing to developers, let me stop you right there.
These are the people juggling strategy, team morale, and technical challenges while keeping the C-suite happy. And trust me, your buzzwords aren’t cutting it.
If your pitch is all hype and no substance, they’ll ignore it faster than you can say “seamless integration.” Why? Because engineering leaders don’t care about fluff. They’re practical, skeptical, and ridiculously busy.
To really connect with them, you’ve got to step into their shoes. It’s not just about knowing what they do, it’s about understanding how they think.
Picture an engineering leader juggling three critical meetings, a code review, a product roadmap discussion, and a budget justification to the CFO, all in one day.
Their world is a constant balancing act, requiring both technical precision and business acumen. Let’s break it down.
Who are engineering leaders, really?
1. The bridge between tech and business
Engineering leaders are the translators between engineering teams and the C-suite. They switch between two gears:
- Technical mode: How can we build this product as efficiently as possible? Like, should we bring in a new tool to speed up CI/CD pipelines without adding chaos?
- Business mode: How does this decision help the company’s bottom line? For example, can investing in this tool reduce time-to-market for a critical feature and keep customers happy?
If your marketing only speaks to one of these modes, you’re missing half the picture.
Developer Marketing Alliance
2. The guardian of team health
Great engineering leaders are also people managers. They’re hyper-aware of burnout, team morale, and individual productivity. If your product doesn’t reduce late nights or make onboarding easier, it’s a non-starter.
3. The decision-maker under fire
Every decision they make is under scrutiny:
- From the C-suite: “Why is this taking so long?” or “Why do we need to spend on this tool?”
- From the team: “Why are we using this tool?” or “Why are we changing processes again?”
Your product doesn’t just need to work, it needs to help them justify their choices to both sides.
Why most marketing flops with engineering leaders
1. You’re talking to them like developers
Developers care about how something works. Engineering leaders care about why it matters. They’re asking questions like:
- Will this help my team deliver faster without breaking stuff?
- Does it fit into our current stack without causing a mess?
- Can I justify this cost to my boss?
If you’re just listing features or talking about ease of use, you’re missing the bigger picture.
2. You’re coming across as too salesy
Engineering leaders have a radar for BS. If your pitch is full of buzzwords like “next-gen disruption” or “paradigm shift” and feels too polished, they’ll assume you’re hiding something.
They prefer clear, straightforward language that focuses on tangible outcomes. They prefer raw, unfiltered demos and honest answers over flashy presentations.
3. You’re ignoring their real problems
They’re not looking for tools that do “cool things.” They need solutions to specific headaches, like:
- Managing technical debt while still shipping features
- Scaling processes without slowing the team down
- Keeping execs happy without burning out their team
If you’re not addressing these pain points, you’re wasting their time.
Zach Goldie
So, how do you actually connect?
1. Get into their head
Before you start writing copy, put yourself in their shoes. What’s stressing them out? What’s keeping them awake at night? If you can’t answer these questions, you’re not ready to market to them yet.
2. Focus on what they actually care about
Engineering leaders prioritize a few things:
- Scalability: “Our tool grows with you, whether you’re managing a team of 5 or 500.”
- Integration without headaches: “Easily integrates with your current setup in under 5 minutes.”
- Clear ROI: “Cut debugging time by 30%, saving your team 10 hours a week and your company $100K a year.”
- Risk mitigation: “Prevent outages with automated incident detection, reducing downtime by 40%.”
3. Provide specific tools and strategies
Let’s get practical. These strategies work because they tap into what engineering leaders deal with every day, from balancing tricky tech decisions with business goals to keeping their teams running smoothly.
- Create an ROI calculator: Allow them to input their team's metrics to see potential time or cost savings.
- Use scenario-based demos: Show exactly how your product solves specific problems, like reducing deployment time or simplifying compliance tracking.
- Offer custom integration plans: Highlight how your product integrates with their existing stack, with minimal disruption.
Teresa Garanhel
4. Earn their trust
These people don’t trust easily, especially not marketers. Build credibility by:
- Being honest: If your product has limits, own up to it. They’ll respect your transparency.
- Using real proof: Share case studies, testimonials, or hard data from other teams like theirs.
- Speaking their language: Use terms like “code velocity” or “technical debt” without overcomplicating things.
5. Make your content worth their time
Let’s skip the fluff and get to the good stuff. These types of content work because they’re packed with practical knowledge and real takeaways, things engineering leaders can actually use to tackle their daily challenges.
- Whitepapers: Deep dives into scaling teams or reducing technical debt
- Webinars: Panels with other engineering leaders sharing real-world solutions
- Demos: Short, no-nonsense walkthroughs showing how your product works
- Cheat sheets: Quick comparisons of your tool vs competitors
- Toolkits: Pre-made templates for things like sprint planning or incident management
6. Go where they are
Engineering leaders aren’t hanging out in random corners of the internet. Meet them where they already are:
- LinkedIn: Share posts about challenges they face and how to solve them
- Conferences: Sponsor events or host talks where real engineering leaders speak
- Developer forums: Join conversations without immediately pitching your product
Teresa Garanhel
The bottom line
If you want to market to engineering leaders, stop thinking like a marketer and start thinking like them. They don’t care about flashy campaigns or vague promises. They care about real solutions to real problems.
Show them you understand their world, give them proof your product can help, and speak to them like a human, not a sales deck.
And remember, their challenges are constantly evolving, so your strategies should too.
Continuously seek feedback, monitor trends, and adapt your approach to stay relevant. Get this right, and you won’t just earn their attention, you’ll earn their respect. And that’s what turns marketing into real results.
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