How to Successfully Market an API

201 Pages·2016·18.2 MB·English

How to Successfully Market an
API
Fine-Tuning Developer Relations &
Platform Advocacy
Nordic APIs
Thisbookisforsaleathttp://leanpub.com/how-to-market-an-API
Thisversionwaspublishedon2016-09-29
ThisisaLeanpubbook.Leanpubempowersauthorsand
publisherswiththeLeanPublishingprocess.LeanPublishingis
theactofpublishinganin-progressebookusinglightweighttools
andmanyiterationstogetreaderfeedback,pivotuntilyouhave
therightbookandbuildtractiononceyoudo.
©2016NordicAPIs
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Part One: Planning
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
BuildingfromtheGroundUp:TipsforStartingYourAPI
Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
ClarifyYourNeeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
GetBuyIn(FromEveryone) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
AimforaPublicMVP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
ActonFeedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
BuildyourPractice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
FinalThoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
DefineYourTargetDeveloperAudience . . . . . . . . . . 11
WhyCreateaDeveloper“Persona”? . . . . . . . . . . . 12
TheDeveloperBrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
ButPlentyofOtherPeopleAreInterestedinAPIs,Too! 14
ExpandingourPortal:DeveloperEndUserEvangelism . 15
VaryingIndustryBackgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Location&Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
APIUseCases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
TechnologyPreferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
LessenTheCorporateBranding . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
DeveloperExperience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
BuilditAndTheyWill_____ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
CONTENTS
UnderstandYourAudience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
DeveloperExperienceisaKeyIngredientofQualityAPIs 23
APIModelCanvas–offspringofLeanCanvas . . . . . 24
DevelopersaretheRockstarsoftheAPIEconomy . . . 25
AddressingtheEntireAPIModelCanvas . . . . . . . . 27
CaseStudy:NationalLibraryofFinland . . . . . . . . . 27
MVPfornextstep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Gainspeedandmakeitfun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
FinalThoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Part Two: Developer Relations
. . . . . 31
IngredientsThatMakeUpaSuperbDeveloperCenter . . 33
GettingStartedGuide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
AuthenticationGuide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
APIDocumentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
TestingEnvironment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
DeveloperResources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
SupportChannels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
PlatformPolicy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
CaterYourHomePresencetoNon-DevelopersToo . . . 43
FinalThoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
CraftingExcellentAPICodeTutorialsthatDecreaseOn-
boardingTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
SettingtheContext . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
ExploringtheDetails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
CreatinganApplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
FinalThoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
WhatistheDifferenceBetweenanAPIandanSDK?. . . 53
Define:API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Define:SDK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
SquaresandRectangles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
CONTENTS
Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
ApplesandOranges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Developer Resources: SDKs, Libraries, Auto Generation
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
WhatAreHelperLibraries? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
WhyNotJustLetThemREST? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
DataProblem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
ProgrammingLanguageTrends . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
DiscoverWhatLanguagesYourConsumersareUsing . 66
WhoShouldweModel? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
HTTPisLanguageAgnostic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5TipsforHelperLibraryDesign . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
LastLineofAPICode:YourAPIisNeverReallyFinished 70
AHuman’sGuidetoDraftingAPIPlatformPolicy . . . . 71
KeyThemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
DefiningResponsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
SettingExpectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
DescribingGoodBehaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
FinalThoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
CreatingABrandGuideforYourAPIProgram . . . . . . 78
PlatformStrategyDictatesBrandRequirements . . . . . 79
BrandGuideComponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
FormattingYourDesignGuide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
TheEffectofZeroorPoorBrandingGuidelines . . . . . 87
FinalThoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
ExamplesofAPIBrandingGuidesintheWild: . . . . . 88
Part Three: Promotion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
PerfectingYourAPIRelease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
What doIrelease? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
TimeYourRelease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
CONTENTS
WidenYourPotentialAudience . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
HavetheRightMonetizationplan . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
HaveaDemo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
HaveAwesomeBranding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
TipstoMakeYourAPIMoreDiscoverable . . . . . . . . . 95
SEOApproach:OptimizationofAPIHomepages . . . . 96
ServiceDiscoveryAutomation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
CheatSheetof10+APIDirectoriestoSubmitYourAPIto 102
ImportantPressNetworksandDeveloperChannelsinthe
APISpace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
PressReleaseDistribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
API-SpecificBlogs,ThoughtLeaders,andDigests . . . . 107
GeneralTech&DeveloperNews . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
NordicTechPress/News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
SocialBookmarking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
APIEvents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
TheEverpresentCommentator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
UtilizingProductHunttoLaunchYourAPI . . . . . . . . 110
Alpha,ClosedBeta,OpenBeta,orFullRelease? . . . . . 111
PreparingforaRelease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
OfferingExclusiveDeals:TheGoldStar . . . . . . . . . 114
ActuallySubmittingaProfileonProductHunt . . . . . 116
The Launch: Introduce Yourself, Play Nice, Get the
WordOut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
TheUnanticipatedLaunch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
TheReturnonInvestment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
TheInternet’sWatercoolerisProductHunt . . . . . . . 122
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
CONTENTS
Part Four: Advocacy
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
DayintheLifeofanAPIDeveloperEvangelist . . . . . . 126
8ImportantJobRolesofaSoftwareEvangelist . . . . . 127
WhatdoesanEvangelistdoeachday? . . . . . . . . . . 134
EvangelismvsAdvocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Q&ASection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Interviewees:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
HowtoOfferUnparalleledDeveloperSupport . . . . . . 141
TheImportanceofDeveloperOutreach . . . . . . . . . 141
EmailandSocialMedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
EventHostingandAttendance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
DocumentationandKnowledgeBases . . . . . . . . . . 146
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
AccumulatingFeedback:4QuestionsAPIProvidersNeed
toAskTheirUsers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
WhyFeedbackisImportant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
WhatDoYouExpectFromThisAPI? . . . . . . . . . . 150
WhatIsYourGreatestFrustrationwiththeAPI? . . . . 153
WhyDidYouChooseOurAPI? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
IfYouCouldChangeOurAPI,HowWouldYou? . . . . 155
MethodstoUseforAccumulatingFeedback . . . . . . . 156
ThinkAsaUser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
HowtoHoldaKillerFirstHackathonorDeveloperCon-
ference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
TypesofGet-Togethers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
WhatisaHackathon? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
WhatisaDeveloperConference? . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
What’stheDifference? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
HowtoHostanEvent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
WhatMakesanAPIDemoUnforgettable? . . . . . . . . . 170
CONTENTS
1:DescribetheAPI,inafewwords. . . . . . . . . . . . 171
2:ConvinceweallsharethesamevaluesoftheAPI . . 171
3:ImpresswithhowgreatandeasyyourAPIis . . . . . 172
4:Interactwiththeaudience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
5:Livecodingmastery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
6:Atheater-likescript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Preparationforpotentialtechnicalflaws . . . . . . . . . 174
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Case Study: Twitter’s 10 Year Struggle with Developer
Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
2006-2010:Theearlydays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
2010 - 2012: OAuthcalypse, competing with third party
appsandotherperceivedbetrayals . . . . . . . . 179
2012 - 2013: Token limits and open war on traditional
clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
2013-Present:Post-IPOcontroversies . . . . . . . . . . 181
Wooingbackdevelopers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Newreleasesandoptimismgoingforward . . . . . . . 183
Othersocialnetworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Review
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
TL;DRChecklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Preface
From Hello World to Hello Developers
In the widening API sphere, marketing an API business involves
knowing your community intimately, and fine-tuning your devel-
opersupportchannelstohelpusersexcel.WithAPIscontinuingto
surgeinimportanceacrossallindustries,spreadingAPIknowledge
becomes increasingly important. More APIs equals more com-
petition, meaning that API evangelism, the job of promoting a
developer-centricprogram,nowneedsitsownstrategy.
This eBook is the first of it’s kind. A compilation of advice and
research geared specifically to DIY marketing for a public web
Application Programming Interface or similar developer-oriented
program. These aren’t tips for amassing hundreds of developer
emails - no. This is about creating a usable frontend for your
APIplatformthatemployshealthydeveloperoutreachtonaturally
increasetheprestigeofyourSoftware-as-a-Service.
APIMarketingisoneoftheNordicAPIs6InsightstoAPIPractice;
a core facet of providing an API. Thus, we’ve collated our best
advicewithinthisbooktoexploretheMarketingInsightfromfour
importantangles:
• Part 1 - Planning: Tips on starting your program, under-
standing your target consumer segmentation, market re-
search,andmoreusingtheAPIcanvasmodeltopositionan
agileAPIbusiness.
• Part 2 - Developer Relations: Discussions on onboarding
and quality developer experience when it comes to overall
API design as well as documentation and developer portal
resources.
Preface ii
• Part3-Promotion:OutlinesemergingAPIdiscoverytech-
niques, API directories, and relevant press resources that
willhelpspreadawarenessofyourproduct,aswellasideas
for creating informative content that informs and engages
potentialAPIusers.
• Part 4 - Advocacy: Lastly, we define community building
bestpractices,therolesofprogramadvocates,tipsonholding
your own developer conferences, API demoing, as well as
case studies into developer relations failures and successes
that companies have had in their public API programs in
recentyears.
As you can see, we’ve taken a holistic approach to marketing in
thisvolume.Theendgoalishelpreadersextendreachandonboard
more developers to their API. So please enjoy How to Successfully
Market an API, and let us know how we can improve. Be sure to
jointheNordicAPIsDigestforbiweeklyblogupdates,andfollow
usfornewsonupcomingevents.
Thankyouforreading!
–BillDoerrfeld,EditorinChief,NordicAPIs