SoloRiff

How to sell to Heads of Marketing at Developer tools companies in Australia

Heads of Marketing in developer tools companies in Australia are primarily measured on user acquisition growth. They respond to outreach that showcases a deep understanding of the challenges in promoting complex technical products, particularly around effectively communicating value to developers. Highlighting solutions that improve customer engagement through better messaging will capture their attention.

Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 587 developer tools company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.

What actually hurts

  • low user engagement
  • poor messaging clarity
  • high churn rates
  • ineffective lead generation

The playbook

  1. 01

    Identify recent funding rounds

    Filter for developer tools companies in Australia that have recently secured funding. This indicates they are likely ramping up their marketing efforts and looking for ways to enhance their product visibility. Use platforms like Crunchbase to track these events.

  2. 02

    Highlight API platform challenges

    Craft your outreach by addressing common pain points related to API platform marketing. Discuss how other companies have successfully articulated their value propositions to developers. This specificity will resonate more than generic marketing strategies.

  3. 03

    Leverage industry events participation

    Research which companies are participating in upcoming developer conferences or webinars. Mentioning these events in your outreach can create a context that shows you are aware of their current marketing focus and priorities.

  4. 04

    Follow up on engagement metrics

    If your initial outreach is opened but not responded to, follow up with insights on improving user engagement metrics. Highlight how other developer tools have enhanced their marketing strategies based on user feedback, which can prompt a conversation.

  5. 05

    Connect via LinkedIn after initial outreach

    After sending your email, connect with the Heads of Marketing on LinkedIn. Personalize your connection request by referencing your email and expressing your interest in their marketing challenges. This can help keep your outreach top of mind.

Can developer tools companies even receive your mail?

We measured the DNS of 587 developer tools companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.

1–10 employees
27.4%
11–50
44.1%
51–200
58%
201–1,000
77.3%
1,000+
94.9%

Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.

The gap is the finding: 27.4% of 1–10-person companies against 94.9% of the largest — 68 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.

Where does your domain sit?

Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.

How this was measured

Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.

DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.

Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.

Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.

Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.

The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.

Subject lines that fit

  • Enhancing developer engagement
  • Tackling API platform challenges
  • Boosting user acquisition strategies

Questions

Why do Heads of Marketing at developer tools ignore outreach?
They often receive numerous messages that fail to address their specific challenges, such as communicating complex technical solutions to a developer audience. If the outreach doesn't demonstrate an understanding of their unique marketing landscape, it is likely to be overlooked.
What marketing strategies do developer tools typically prioritize?
Heads of Marketing in this sector usually focus on content marketing, community engagement, and developer advocacy. They aim to create trust and build relationships with their audience, which requires tailored messaging that resonates with technical users.
How can I demonstrate value to a Head of Marketing in developer tools?
Showcase case studies or examples of how your insights have helped similar companies improve their marketing effectiveness. Use specific metrics related to user engagement or lead conversion that are relevant to their goals.
What objections do Heads of Marketing commonly have?
A common objection is the perceived lack of time to engage with new vendors. They may also question the relevance of your solution to their specific marketing challenges, especially if they feel they already have established processes in place.

Or have it run itself

SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.

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