Your marvelous API is finally ready for hungry software developers to be used. What do you do next? How do you spread the word and launch API marketing? Forget the old methods, because they will not work in any case. Why? Creating an API means creating a community of users that will come to the driving force of the popularity of your API. In other words, what you need is to get programmers to talk about your product thus promoting it. So, the key technique to apply is engagement. Still, there are some other principles to follow.
Make your API easy to use. An API that is not difficult to implement attracts developers. Moreover, it is very probable that language-specific SDKs will soon appear on GitHub. This would be beneficial for you, as every download can eventually be traced to a motivated customer. And organic growth is what you need for your API.
Keep it simple. Create a website where finding API keys, supported methods, and SDK implementation libraries take no more than a second. Plus, remember that your site has only a second or two to gain and hold your potential community members’ attention. Make them stay and click through to learn more. Work on conversion.
Host hackathons. Simply because this will engage your developer community. It may even be a contest and not necessarily a very expensive one. You could still keep competitors happy with beer and pizza. But remember that an opportunity to gain recognition for work they do or any prizes will make them even happier.
Organize meetups and conferences. Or participate in ones if initiating your own gatherings is not your cup of tea. Meetup and Eventbrite will help you find or start-up meetings. Of course, it is easy to get social media users' and press attention if you are promoting an API for a widely-known organization. If you are not a part of such a company, there are plenty of conferences you can attend.
Be active on social networks and more. Do not forget about Twitter activity, blog posts, newsletters because these engage the community. And show up on Reddit and Quora too.
Let feedbacks flow. Criticism is not what you should be afraid of. In fact, if you do not get even a little negative feedback, this means that your users are simply not very engaged with your API. Create a forum for your developers. Let them talk, ask and debate on your API. Make some source code visible on GitHub and let your developer community report bugs in a public way.
Hire a person to manage community issues. Let somebody deal with events, oversee documentation, and, of course, be active in the developer family. This will give community members a special feeling of excitement and support. Remember that any hint of unblushing marketing may tarnish your reputation.
Make it shine on. T-shirts, pens, umbrellas, etc. are things that everybody likes. But before that, make sure that your brotherly developer community is close-knit enough.
We hope that these API marketing methods will help you engage the desired number of skilled programmers. If you would like to find out more about a unified API provided by API2Cart, do not hesitate to schedule a FREE consultation with our expert. Who knows, maybe it is just what you need for your business expansion.
