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NEW: We now have an in-depth guide onAPI Promotion and Marketing strategies.Check it out!
API-based products are all the rage. And theseAPI business modelsare also turning out to be profitable.
Nearly two-thirds of organizationsgenerate revenue with APIs,and for 43%, APIs account for over a quarter of overall company revenue,according to the2023 State of the API Report. But, in acrowded tech market, how can you make sure your API gets used — let alonenoticed at all? This is where API marketing comes in.
Below, we'll look at how to market an API as a product. We'll describe how tomake your API discoverable, like optimizing your content, using standard specs,and listing it in directories. We'll also consider ways to enhance the developerexperience to attract people to your service naturally.
Have you ever heard of Google? Optimizing for search engines is a basicmarketing 101 tactic, but it's still the best friend of any onlinemarketer—including API product managers.
You may not realize it, but the copy on your developer portals and landing pagesmatters a ton. To optimize these pages for SEO, perform keyword research andcompetitive analysis to ensure your website is discoverable. SEO expertsrecommend tools like SEMrush.
For example, consider an API that computes the time it takes to travel betweentwo distances. Developers may use search terms like "route duration API,""travel time API," or "distance calculator." So, use a mixture of targeted termsin your content to cast a wide net.
2. Describe your API with standard definitions#
Going beyond human-readable text, make sure your APIs are machine-readable, too.For this, use industry-standard specifications, likeOpenAPI Specification (formerly Swagger) for RESTAPIs or AsyncAPI Specification for event-drivenarchitectures.
API definitions are super helpful because they act as a source of truth for yourdocumentation, SDKs, playgrounds, and client and server stubs — all resourcesthat greatly aid your marketing efforts. Not to mention, since LLMs are activelyscraping your public docs, describing your API with standard definitions couldinform AI consumers as well.
Another way to market your API is to add it to the many directories andmarketplaces that catalog APIs. Some simply list and categorize APIs, likeAPIs.guru, Any-API,API list, APIs.io, thePublic APIs Github Repo, andSDKs.io for SDKs. These act as a phonebook for finding APIs.
Other API marketplaces are more advanced, allowing you tomonetize your API. A couple of examplesinclude APIlayer and RapidAPI.However, keep in mind that these marketplaces typically charge a share of yourrevenue. To avoid this, consider working with API hubs likeZyla that don't require rev-share.
4. Become part of a unified API#
There are more industry-specific API marketplaces, which could be interesting toattract users within your domain or industry. For instance,BuiltAPI is a marketplace for property techAPIs, and API3 is one for blockchain APIs. But taking thatidea a step further, another option is to add your API to an existing unifiedAPI.
A unified API is an API thatconsolidates various APIs in the same software category. This is great fordeveloper usability since they make integrating multiple sources from the sameendpoint seamless. And, they could open you up to new users in the process.
One example is Merge, a unified API for all sorts ofintegrations, including ticketing, payroll, CRM, and other interfaces. Butplenty of other unified APIs exist for areas likebanking, air travel, AI, and more.
There's nothing like an awesome API withgreat developer experience.A sleek, easy-to-use design is a marketing tool on its own since it can increaseword of mouth around your API — a tried and true marketing tactic for anyproduct.
With that said, consider developer experience best practices that take your APImarketing efforts to the next level:
- Have quality API documentation
- Generate code snippets in top programming languages
- Make authentication and authorization painless
- Make error handling easy to comprehend
- Add a Postman Collection to thePostman API Network.
Another way to enhance the developer experience (and your marketing) is tofoster the community around your API. For example, some API providers have aSlack hub where users can connect and share painpoints. API developer advocatesare often active on forums, helping users. Last but not least, consideropen-sourcing helpful tools, like SDKs, on GitHub, and contribute to relatedopen-source projects.
6. Final thought: Traditional product marketing techniques still apply#
Here you have it—a short but sweet list of tips for marketing your API. Theseare all proven ways to get your API in front of more developers and integratedinto more applications.
But we'd be remiss not to recognize one glaringly obvious fact: APIs areproducts. Therefore, traditional product marketing techniques are still valid!For example:
- Perform customer segment research: In the case of APIs, create targetdeveloper personas and mold your resources to these groups.
- Engage with followers on social media: X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and othernetworks can all be helpful platforms to connect with users.
- Participate in events: Consider participating in tradeshows, conferences,webinars, orpodcastsor hosting your own events.
- Product Hunt announcement: Product Hunt is a helpful platform forpromoting the release of new SaaS products.
- Generate key performance indicators (KPIs) and optimize them: Understandyour metrics, like time to first call, monthly calls, or developer churn, andtry to refine them over time.
As a guiding light, treat your API as a product and give it the marketingforethought it deserves. As Jason Harmon, former Head of API Design at PayPaland Stoplight CTO, says, the key is tothink of your API as just another product.Thinking like this should not only help your marketing efforts but also helpgenerate a killer product overall.
