Why is a Developer First GTM Different?

Developers are a unique and discerning audience. A 2024 StackOverflow survey, highlights seven key ways developers discover new tools:

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The top 3?

1. Free trials
2. Word of mouth
3. Communities

Notice a pattern? Developers avoid conventional marketing - they don’t want flashy ads or pushy sales pitches. In fact, they hate bad marketing.

‍What do they want instead? Hands-on evaluation, clear documentation, and solutions to real problems. Their intent signals live in an entirely different ecosystem: they won’t answer your sales calls, but they will dive into your documentation or ask peers for recommendations.

This behavior throws the traditional SaaS GTM playbook out the window. To win developers, you need a strategy that meets them where they already are - on their terms.

Snyk understood this early on and embraced a developer-first playbook to build trust, drive adoption, and ultimately disrupt the security market.

Here’s how they did it!Snyk’s Developer First GTM StrategyIn the early days, Snyk’s mission was clear: get feedback, iterate fast, and validate their shift-left hypothesis for security.

Building a Developer CommunitySnyk started with what co-founder Guy Podjarny called a “crappy little product.” The goal wasn’t perfection - it was learning. By launching a free tool, they opened the door to invaluable user feedback from the open-source Node.js community.Snyk’s approach was hands-on:

• They directly asked developers if their apps had vulnerabilities.
• They worked alongside the community to solve these issues using Snyk.

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‍This grassroots involvement wasn’t just about improving their tool - it was about embedding themselves in the community. The Node.js ecosystem was perfect: large enough for enterprise relevance but small enough to dominate.

Leveraging In-Person Events

Snyk went all-in on face-to-face engagement to build trust and momentum. Conferences like ServerlessConf and developer meet-ups weren’t just networking opportunities-they were pivotal for connecting with influential developers and open-source maintainers.

Snyk actively encouraged these maintainers to try their product, gathering valuable feedback and spreading awareness through word-of-mouth in the open-source community. These personal interactions not only bolstered Snyk’s credibility but also played a crucial role in driving early adoption.

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‍Thanks to these efforts-active community involvement and a strong presence at developer events-Snyk achieved product-market fit. But they didn’t stop there.  Snyk needed to scale their efforts and broaden their impact. They focused on amplifying what was already working while experimenting with new approaches to expand their reach.

This is where content strategy became a game-changer.

Content Strategy: Scaling with SEO

For Snyk, content wasn’t just about publishing blogs; it was about meeting developers at the exact moment they needed solutions. Organic traffic, with its higher intent, became a primary focus. Snyk invested heavily in SEO to ensure their tools and insights appeared at the top of developers’ search results.

Here’s what they did:

‍Programmatic SEO

‍Snyk built side-car assets like the  Snyk Vulnerability DB and Snyk Advisor. to dominate long-tail search keywords at scale.

• Vulnerability DB: A regularly updated database of open-source vulnerabilities across operating systems and apps. Snyk actively leveraged user-generated content by encouraging visitors to disclose new vulnerabilities, creating a dynamic and constantly evolving resource. This collaborative approach not only enriched the database and fostered a sense of community but also became a significant driver of organic traffic, consistently drawing developers seeking up-to-date security information.

• Snyk Advisor: Snyk Advisor was created to address common questions developers had about open-source packages, such as: “Should I use this package?”,“Is it secure?”,“Are there better alternatives available?” 

The tool consolidated critical data on each package, including its popularity, health, and maintenance metrics, into easily accessible pages. By providing a centralized resource that answered these key concerns, Snyk Advisor became a go-to tool for developers evaluating open-source dependencies. Within 6 months, Snyk Advisor started contributing significantly to the organic traffic

These programmatic SEO efforts were powerful growth engines. Developers searching for specific vulnerabilities or package insights discovered Snyk’s tools, which then funneled them into the Snyk ecosystem. The revenue generated was reinvested into creating even more content, fueling a self-sustaining growth loop.‍

Editorial SEO

‍Snyk’s editorial SEO strategy centered around give-first content - company-agnostic resources that genuinely helped developers solve problems and upskill. This approach prioritized value over promotion, building trust within the developer community.

Types of Give-First Content: Snyk’s blog posts were categorized into several practical formats that developers found useful:

1. How-To Guides
   Step-by-step resources helping developers address specific challenges:
   
   • Marked XSS Vulnerability: How to Fix It
   • Fixing EJS RCE Vulnerabilities
2. Why It Works
   Articles that explained the rationale behind specific practices or features:
   
   • Why Requiring Authentication is Crucial
   • Snyk Projects Now Free: A Breakdown
3. What-If Scenarios and Advanced Issues Coverage
   Deep dives into complex security issues and edge cases:
   
   • XSS Attacks: The Next Wave
   • SQL Injection Vulnerabilities in ORMs

Early on, their DevRel team handled content creation alongside other responsibilities. While the blogs were valuable, SEO optimization wasn’t the primary focus. Recognizing the need to scale, Snyk partnered with agencies like Megawatt to create SEO-driven content tailored to developers’ challenges.

This shift paid off:

• Account creation requests increased by 40%.
• Demo requests surged by 128%.

The key was focusing on content aligned with developers’ pain points and Snyk’s core features.

Content Strategy: Educational Content

Snyk positioned itself as a change agent in the DevSecOps space, recognizing early on that developers were taking on increasing responsibility for application security. To truly empower developers, Snyk needed to provide actionable, relevant, and engaging educational resources. The goal was clear:

• Help developers prevent security issues.
• Enable them to solve issues quickly.
• Equip them to educate their teams on security challenges.

Unlike many security companies at the time, Snyk wanted to make education convenient and embedded into a developer's existing workflows. To achieve this, they went beyond SEO-optimized blog posts and introduced dedicated initiatives to democratize security education.

Key Educational Initiatives:

‍The Secure Developer Podcast

‍Hosted by Guy Podjarny, this podcast invited industry experts to share their experiences, tools, and practices for improving security.

• What Set It Apart: The podcast didn’t just focus on technicalities but also on real-world challenges and solutions, creating a safe space for developers to learn.
• Impact: It grew into a thriving community of security-conscious developers eager to sharpen their skills.

In Guy Podjarny’s words:

“The goal of the podcast is to arm developers and AppSec teams with better ways to upgrade their security posture, one step at a time!”‍

‍Snyk Learn

‍Launched at SnykCon 2021, Snyk Learn was a revolutionary platform offering bite-sized lessons on developer security within Java, JavaScript, and Kubernetes ecosystems.

• Unique Approach:
  
  • Lessons were directly integrated into the Snyk platform, allowing developers to learn in the context of their own code.
  • The timing was strategic: education was provided right when developers encountered an issue, ensuring maximum relevance and retention.
• Why It Worked:
  Most security education options were either expensive and comprehensive or free but poorly curated. Snyk Learn bridged this gap, combining high-quality content with accessibility, making it a hit in the developer community.

‍Snyk Training

‍Snyk Training offered free, self-paced courses for developers and security teams to better understand how to implement, configure, and use Snyk.

• Focus Areas:
  
  1. Implementation Courses: How to set up and integrate Snyk tools.
  2. Configuration Guides: Managing Snyk organizations and policies.
  3. Issue Resolution: Best practices for finding and fixing vulnerabilities.
• Impact:
  The training platform improved customer onboarding and retention, reduced support costs, and boosted product engagement, empowering developers to use Snyk independently.

‍Product Documentation

‍Snyk understood that great documentation isn’t just a support tool - it’s a driver of “developer love.” They focused on:

1. Docs-as-Code: Documentation closely mirrored the code development process, ensuring consistency and usability.
2. Tailored Experiences: Documentation was designed to guide users through their specific workflows, reducing friction and confusion.
3. User-Specific Content: Content was customized for different personas (e.g., developers, administrators, AppSec teams). For instance:
   
   • Developers saw “Quickstart” guides.
   • AppSec teams were presented with “Managing Risk” resources.

This meticulous approach ensured developers could find exactly what they needed, when they needed it.

Snyk’s success proves that building developer love isn’t just a growth hack - it’s a GTM strategy. By deeply embedding into developer ecosystems, educating users, and bridging the gap to enterprise sales, they turned open-source traction into a $343M ARR powerhouse.

Key Takeaways to build a Developer first Motion

1. Start with the Developer Community

• Developers are your first and most critical audience. Engage them authentically by being present in their ecosystems like GitHub, StackOverflow, Reddit, or Twitter.
• Build trust by offering solutions to real problems, whether through open-source contributions, hands-on tools, or meaningful interactions.

Best Practices:

• Create a GitHub repository for your tool or open-source complementary components to foster community involvement.
• Actively participate in developer forums and meetups to build credibility and trust.

2. Focus on Feedback and Iteration

• Launch early and iterate fast. The goal isn’t perfection-it’s learning. Use direct feedback from developers to refine your product and validate its core value.

Best Practices:

• Engage directly with developers by asking specific questions about their pain points and how your tool addresses them.
• Continuously iterate your product based on insights from active users to ensure alignment with their needs.

3. Scale One Channel at a Time

• Once you achieve product-market fit, identify a scalable growth channel and focus your efforts on maximizing its potential. For developer audiences, content-driven strategies like SEO are particularly effective.
• Programmatic SEO assets, such as Snyk’s Vulnerability DB, and editorial content like how-to guides and advanced use-case articles, are excellent tools for driving organic traffic.

Best Practices:

• Invest in programmatic SEO to target long-tail keywords relevant to your audience.
• Focus on creating “give-first” content like how-to guides and troubleshooting resources that developers find genuinely valuable.

4. Invest in Developer Education

• Developers are always looking to upskill. Educational initiatives such as Snyk Learn, Snyk Training, or podcasts like The Secure Developer empower developers while creating lasting loyalty.
• Invest in assets like Product Documentation 

Best Practices:

• Embed educational content directly into your product to provide timely, relevant knowledge.
• Offer certifications or training programs to improve onboarding, retention, and engagement.

5. Leverage Data to turn Developer Love into a Growth Engine

• Once you have a large developer base, use data to identify high-potential accounts (Product-Qualified Leads). Prioritize those with strong engagement and tailor your outreach based on their usage patterns.

Best Practices:

• Segment accounts by engagement levels to focus on the most promising opportunities.
• Align sales outreach with developer usage insights to ensure relevance and precision in your messaging.

‍How Reo.Dev Can Help You Monetise a Developer First Motion

‍We are helping 100+ companies set up a GTM motion similar to Snyk. 

We help Open Source companies track and understand their community’s growth, measure engagement quality, and leverage data-driven insights to drive monetization.