Speak API to me: crafting copy that resonates with technical audiences
If your product is built for developers, engineers, or technical decision-makers, your copy has one job:
Resonate without patronizing.
That means no jargon-stuffed nonsense. No vague value props. And absolutely no “unlock the power of your data-driven synergies.”
Technical audiences don’t want to be dazzled. They want to be informed. They want to know what your product does, how it works, and why it’s worth their time. And they’ll sniff out BS faster than a linter catches syntax errors.
In this post, we’ll explore how to craft a copy that actually speaks API clear, credible, and contextual content that feels native to developers and technical teams.
🧠 First: What developers read differently
Marketing to developers isn’t just about tone, it's about information architecture.
Here’s what developers do when they land on your site or read your copy:
Scan for specific terms (“GraphQL,” “Postgres,” “runs on Docker”)
Jump to code or docs
Search for the TL;DR
Dismiss fluff immediately
Look for signs of technical credibility (benchmarks, GitHub stars, changelogs)
Your copy needs to prioritize utility, reduce friction, and accelerate understanding, not sell a lifestyle.
🧰 Rule 1: Start with the stack, not the vision
Many companies lead with lofty outcomes:
“Reimagine how teams build together.”
Developers read that and think:
“Cool, but does this work with Next.js and GitHub Actions?”
✅ Instead: Anchor your headline and hero copy in tech context:
“Deploy your Postgres database at the edge. Works with Next.js, Vercel, and GitHub Actions.”
Lead with what developers need to know:
What does it integrate with?
What part of my stack does it replace or enhance?
How fast can I test it?
🔄 Rule 2: Replace fluff with flow
Instead of describing what your product is, describe what it does in the dev’s workflow.
📉 Fluff:
“An enterprise-ready platform for scalable data orchestration.”
📈 Flow-first:
“Sync data across microservices with 3 lines of code. Zero config.”
🎯 Framework:
Trigger: What kicks off the need? (“When you deploy a new service…”)
Action: What’s the dev doing? (“…our CLI generates the pipeline config…”)
Outcome: What do they get? (“…and ships it with real-time monitoring.”)
This shows your product in motion, not in marketing terms, but in developer terms.
🧩 Rule 3: Use product language, not marketing language
If your internal docs call it a “build runner,” your website shouldn’t call it a “performance accelerator module.”
Devs look for consistency. If your copy and your product don’t use the same terminology, you create cognitive dissonance and lose credibility.
✅ Pull language from:
Your own CLI and UI
Developer docs and API references
GitHub README files
Community forums and user quotes
Pro tip: Steal your best messaging from your users. If someone describes your product in a GitHub Issue better than your landing page does use their words.
🧪 Rule 4: Speak in inputs, outputs, and constraints
Devs think in systems. Help them understand what your tool takes in, does, and outputs with constraints included.
📉 Generic:
“Easily deploy at scale.”
📈 Specific:
“Deploy up to 1,000 containers in <10 seconds across 3 regions. Requires Docker and AWS credentials.”
This kind of copy says:
✔ We know what we’re talking about
✔ We know how developers evaluate tools
✔ We’re not hiding the trade-offs
🧵 Rule 5: Write copy that feels like docs (but isn’t boring)
You don’t need to make your homepage feel like your reference docs but you should borrow the tone: clear, technical, concise, helpful.
💬 Instead of:
“Our solution empowers engineering teams to do more with less.”
Try:
“Teams use our SDK to process 10M+ events/day without spinning up new infrastructure.”
It still speaks to value but it does so with precision and proof, not puffery.
💡 Bonus techniques for crafting dev-friendly copy
Use real code snippets (or link to runnable examples)
Avoid absolutes ("Always fast," "Never fails") devs know nothing is absolute
Show the architecture not just the UI
Add glossary/tooltips if you must use uncommon terms
Mention open source or GitHub links early credibility boosters
🔍 Great examples in the wild
🧪 PostHog
“Deploy product analytics you can own.”
Right away: action-oriented, dev-respectful, and outcome-focused.
⚡ Turso
“SQLite, at the edge. Now.”
Six words. A known tech (SQLite), a differentiator (edge), and urgency (now). Dev gold.
🧱 Supabase
“The open source Firebase alternative.”
Zero ambiguity. Tech-aware. Instantly answer what it is and why you’d care.
Final thought: Good developer copy doesn’t sell, it shows
If you want to resonate with technical audiences, forget the funnel metaphors, the brand adjectives, and the spray-and-pray slogans.
Write like someone who’s been in the debugger.
Write like someone who’s built the integrations.
Write like someone who cares about what developers care about.
Because when your copy speaks API, developers don’t just read it they trust it, try it, and tell their teammates.
