Follow these ten best practices to make your font release clearer, more discoverable, and more likely to succeed. Each tip is based on user research and real-world experience from foundries who sell successfully on our platform.
1. Think about your customer
Who are you making fonts for, and what do they need? Keep your customer in mind while designing fonts and when you prepare marketing materials for a release. A customer-focused approach makes your work easier to find and more appealing to buy.
2. Think about the competition
Before you prepare marketing assets, pretend you’re a font buyer searching for a font in the same style. Use online search or tools like WhatTheFont to locate similar fonts. Ask: What else is available? What are they priced at? How does your font differ in larger character set, extra features, better kerning? Emphasize those differences to help customers choose your family. According to the 2019 Font Purchasing Habits Survey, the features customers care most about are: 1) number of styles, 2) kerning & spacing, and 3) alternates & ligatures. Use those points to compare and highlight your strengths.
3. Make compelling images
Images are often the primary influence on a customer’s decision. Our testing, site analytics, and customer feedback show that strong visuals are crucial. Treat your images as the packaging or label for your font: they should show the font in real use on products, in mock logos, posters, or photographic layouts, so customers can imagine the font in their own work. Avoid relying only on flat, academic specimens; instead mix practical specimens (to show features) with emotive, inspirational panels. Want examples? Check the Hot New Fonts page for successful imagery.
4. Develop your customer base
Build an audience, prepare your own email list, social followers, or website visitors who care about your work. When you drive people to your font pages, MyFonts amplifies that traffic: more visitors increase search ranking and exposure. MyFonts receives roughly 350,000 unique site visitors per month on average in the US alone! Use your channels to drive that traffic and magnify your marketing.
5. Spread out your releases
Avoid releasing multiple families on the same day. Stagger releases on a regular cadence (for example, weekly or every three weeks) so each family gets its time on the What’s New list. If you release everything at once, they’ll slide down together and your foundry will stop appearing frequently on the list. Fonts that reach the Hot New Fonts list remain there for 45 days; if you release many families on one day, they’ll all leave the list at the same time. The only time to release multiple families together is when they’re related (for example, a set of different-width families for the same typeface).
6. Create as few packages as possible
Simplicity helps sales. Our research shows buyers prefer fewer purchase options, aim for no more than three packages per family. Clear choices reduce friction and improve conversions.
7. Price your family packs strategically
A recommended price for a complete family pack is roughly 3-6× the price of a single font. This range encourages customers to buy the full family instead of only a style or two. It’s a starting point test and see what works for your fonts, and you can also see our pricing guide for more detail here.
8. Be strategic about discounts
Discounts drive visits. When promoting a sale, show the discount amount and create urgency by stressing limited availability but don’t put dates on poster images (time zones can confuse customers). We recommend running discounts for the full 45 days so as many visitors as possible can see them. If you run shorter promotions, align your marketing to clearly communicate the limited timeframe.
9. Make your font description user-friendly
Write descriptions with customers and search in mind. Include SEO-friendly keywords and useful details like font features, language support, and anything that distinguishes your family from millions of others. Explain what inspired the design and what makes it a smart choice.
10. Perform a thorough quality check before release
Test your font files on both Macs and PCs. Review descriptions, images, and tags for spelling and grammar so your font is presented professionally and compellingly to customers.