Marketing to developers is dead.

Here's why: developers aren't making decisions anymore. Their AI is.

Last week, I watched a senior engineer at a tech company ask ChatGPT to choose between three payment processors. No Google searches. No reading reviews. No asking colleagues. Just: "Which should I use for my e-commerce app?"

The AI gave a clear answer in 30 seconds. Decision made.

Your million-dollar marketing campaign targeting that developer? It never had a chance.

The New Reality

Picture this: A developer sits down to solve a problem. Instead of spending hours researching options, they type a question into their AI assistant. The AI scans available information, weighs the options, and delivers a recommendation.

That's the new buying process. And it's happening right now, thousands of times per day.

Your carefully crafted landing page with customer testimonials and emotional storytelling? The AI skips right past it. It wants facts, not feelings.

Think about what happens when an AI reads your marketing content. It sees your testimonial that says "This product changed our lives!" and thinks... nothing. That phrase means nothing to a machine. But when it sees "Reduces deployment time by 40%" it thinks: useful data.

The Great Disconnect

Most companies are still playing the old game. They're creating content that makes humans feel good but leaves AI systems confused.

AI systems love simple, clear information. They want to know exactly what your product does, how it works, and when to use it. They don't care about your company's inspiring origin story or how passionate your team is.

Here's what trips them up: marketing speak. Words like "revolutionary" and "game-changing" are meaningless to AI. They're looking for concrete information they can actually use to make recommendations.

The New Rules of the Game

So how do you win when AI is making the decisions?

Start with the basics. Instead of asking "How can we make this sound exciting?" ask "What does our product actually do?" AI systems want straightforward answers. If you make databases, don't call yourself "The future of data management." Just say "Fast NoSQL database for web apps."

Get specific about everything. Vague promises like "improved performance" mean nothing. AI wants numbers. "50% faster query times" or "Handles 10,000 concurrent users" - that's the kind of information that gets products recommended.

Make your docs do double duty. Your technical documentation serves far more than users anymore. It's your new marketing material. When AI looks for information about your product, it's going to find your docs first. Make sure they're complete, accurate, and easy to understand.

Think like a machine. AI doesn't get clever wordplay or cultural references. It doesn't understand sarcasm. Write like you're explaining things to a very literal, very smart child. Clear, simple, direct.

Where This Goes Next

This changes everything about how we build and sell software products.

Your blog posts need to work like instruction manuals. Your product pages should read like spec sheets. Your pricing page becomes a comparison chart that AI can easily parse and understand.

And here's the kicker: humans are still important. They define problems, make final buying decisions, and actually use your tools. But they're not doing the research anymore. That's AI's job now.

What You Should Do Right Now

Want to get ahead of this shift? Here's where to start.

Test yourself. Ask ChatGPT or Claude about your product. What does it say? Is the information accurate? Does it recommend you over competitors? If not, you've got work to do.

Check your content. Look at your website through AI eyes. Strip away the marketing speak and see what's left. If there isn't much concrete information, that's your problem.

Fix your docs first. This is the low-hanging fruit. Make sure your technical documentation is complete, accurate, and easy to find. AI systems love good docs.

Start measuring different things. Instead of tracking blog engagement and email opens, start tracking how often AI systems mention your product and whether they recommend it correctly.

The Big Opportunity

Most companies haven't figured this out yet. They're still making beautiful landing pages and running ads targeting human emotions. While they're stuck in the past, you can be building for the future.

The companies that win over the next few years won't be the ones with the best marketing campaigns. They'll be the ones that AI systems recommend most often.

Think about it: when every developer's first stop is asking AI for recommendations, being the answer AI gives is the ultimate competitive advantage.

The race is on. And most companies don't even know they're running.

Have you noticed AI changing how you choose tools? I'd love to hear about your experience. Drop me a line and let me know what you're seeing.

Marketing to AI, Not Developers: The Fundamental Shift in Tech Product Strategy

Why traditional developer marketing is dead and how to optimize for AI consumption