We surveyed 50 DevTools companies — from seed stage to Series C — on their marketing spend allocation. Here's where the top performers concentrate budget, what they're cutting, and what they wish they'd invested in earlier.

7.7%
Avg marketing % of revenue (Gartner)
39%
CMOs planning to cut agency budgets
62%
Top performers allocating to creator/community

// Where Top Performers Allocate

The top quartile of our survey (by trial-to-paid conversion rate) shared a consistent pattern: heavy investment in creator and community programs, minimal investment in display and programmatic ads, and a clear focus on content that compounds over time.

  • Creator/community programs: 35–40% of marketing budget
  • SEO and content: 20–25%
  • Events and conferences: 15–20%
  • Paid search (Google/LinkedIn): 10–15%
  • Display/programmatic: under 5%

// What Bottom Quartile Companies Spend On

Companies in the bottom quartile (high CAC, low trial-to-paid rate) showed the inverse pattern: heavy programmatic and LinkedIn ads, minimal creator investment, and conference spend without content capture strategy.

// Seed Stage vs. Series B: Key Differences

Seed stage companies should spend 60%+ on creator pilots and community seeding — these are the highest ROI channels before you have brand recognition. Series B companies can afford more paid amplification of creator content (whitelisting, Spark Ads) because the underlying content quality and trust is already built.

The biggest regret among Series B companies we surveyed: "Not starting creator programs earlier. We spent 18 months on paid ads and then had to rebuild our brand perception in the developer community."

// What to Cut

  • Display and banner advertising — near-zero ROI for developer audiences
  • Generic LinkedIn sponsored content (not creator-led) — expensive, low trust
  • PR for product launches without a content distribution strategy — press releases don't drive trials
  • Influencer platforms that give you "reach" numbers but no attribution