We all know APIs need great documentation, but that’s only one piece of a complete content strategy to support your API. You need sample applications, tutorials, blog posts, and other types of content published on a regular basis. And you likely need it from a developer’s perspective, so you can help them learn, trust your company, and hopefully use your API.

1. API Content Marketing
Adam DuVander, CTL.io
@adamd

2. “Developer Marketing”

4. Dreaded Announcement Post
Share Features
“SumCo is proud to
announce a major update to
its Arithmetic API that
allows divisors with values
less than one… blah blah
blah”
Share Knowledge
“How to divide by zero”

5. “You Should Blog More”

6. Prerequisites
Know Your Audience Know Their Problem(s)

7. What Kind of API?

8. What Kind of API?
Enhanced by API

9. What Kind of API?
Company as an APIEnhanced by API

10. Blogging
Write some blog posts on your blog

11. Someone has to “own” it

12. Someone has to champion it

13. Someone has to power it

14. How do you staff it?
Large
An entire team of writers
and curators
Medium
At least one full-time
Small or tiny: it’s just you. Yes, you.

15. “How do I make people write?”

16. Show the value

17. Find Outside Help

18. Editorial Calendar
The secret to your success

19. How many posts per ___?

20. Don’t be a tool
Or worry much about which one you use

21. Rules of Editorial Calendar
Visible Specific

22. Rules of Editorial Calendar
Visible Specific

23. What Types of Posts?
Create “templates” to simplify contributions

24. The Interview

25. The Think Piece

26. How We Work

27. Customer Examples

28. Roundups of Useful Tools

29. Tutorials

30. Beyond the Blog
Convert all those tutorials into…

31. Sample Apps
1. Can I copy the code?
2. Can I download the code?
3. Can I fork the code?

32. Demos

33. Click-to-cloud

34. Getting Started

35. Use Cases

36. Documentation
duv.ly/thanksjohnsheehan

37. Way Beyond the Blog
Whitepapers, eBooks, webinars, videos

38. Whitepapers

39. eBooks

40. Separated at Birth?
Whitepapers eBooks

41. Webinars

42. Videos

43. Many Types of Content
By the way, don’t say content

45. “Elephant Marketing”

46. “Developer Marketing”

47. “API Content Marketing”
Whatever you call it, keep doing it
Adam DuVander, CTL.io
@adamd