Blaze Type

Blaze Type, founded by Matthieu Salvaggio, is a leading independent type design foundry celebrated for crafting cutting-edge retail and custom fonts that empower global brands and designers. Since 2016, they have produced over 50 variable typeface families and 2,000+ fonts, renowned for their aesthetic excellence, innovative features, and seamless usability.

Trusted by iconic names like Google, Riot Games, and H&M, Blaze Type has redefined modern typography by harmonizing design and functionality. With a diverse, international team and a customer-centric philosophy, they deliver accessible, expertly engineered fonts that elevate creative projects and inspire innovation.

Matthieu contacted Digi Storms to enhance their email marketing and captivate a highly discerning audience of designers and creatives. Their primary challenges included boosting subscriber engagement, converting leads into loyal customers, retaining existing users through valuable content, and scaling their email strategy to match their expanding catalog and global reach.

Objectives

The collaboration between Blaze Type and Digi Storms focused on achieving the following objectives:

1. Boost engagement:
   Craft email campaigns that captivate Blaze Type's niche audience of designers and creatives, encouraging higher open and click-through rates.
2. Increase conversions:
   Develop strategies to turn email subscribers into loyal customers by showcasing the value of Blaze Type’s extensive font catalog and custom solutions.
3. Strengthen retention:
   Foster long-term relationships with existing customers through valuable, design-centric content and personalized communication.
4. Scalable email strategy:
   Create a scalable framework for email marketing that accommodates Blaze Type’s expanding catalog and growing global audience.
5. Reinforce brand identity:
   Ensure all email communications align with Blaze Type’s distinct brand voice, aesthetic, and commitment to innovation and accessibility.

These objectives formed the foundation of a strategic partnership designed to unlock the full potential of Blaze Type’s email marketing efforts.

Our solution

Newsletters

To address Blaze Type's email marketing needs, we designed a monthly newsletter strategy tailored to engage their niche audience of designers and creatives. The newsletters aim to be informative, visually captivating, and aligned with Blaze Type's brand identity. Key elements of the strategy include:

1. Curated content:
   • Each newsletter features a mix of articles, case studies, and insights on typography trends, ensuring relevance and value for subscribers.
   • Educational content, such as the history of typefaces or technical typography tips, builds credibility and fosters engagement.
2. Showcasing font releases:
   • Highlighting new font families and their creative applications keeps the audience informed and excited about Blaze Type's offerings.
   • Dynamic visuals and links to explore or purchase fonts directly drive conversions.
3. Engaging design:
   • Visually rich layouts emphasize Blaze Type's commitment to aesthetic excellence. Clean typography, vibrant imagery, and compelling CTAs reflect the company's ethos.
   • Mobile-friendly design ensures accessibility for readers across devices.
4. Consistent branding:
   • The newsletters reinforce Blaze Type's identity by maintaining their voice and unique visual style.
   • Custom headers, color schemes, and graphic elements reflect the creativity Blaze Type embodies.
5. Call-to-action (CTA):
   • Clear CTAs like "Read More," "Learn More," or "Explore Fonts" encourage users to interact with the content, explore the website, or make purchases.

The monthly newsletters serve as a key touchpoint to keep Blaze Type's audience engaged, informed, and inspired, driving both awareness and conversions.

Font releases

To showcase Blaze Type’s extensive and evolving catalog, we implemented a focused Font Release Campaign strategy that complements the newsletter approach. These campaigns highlight new fonts with visually striking designs and informative details to excite both existing and potential customers. Key elements include:

1. Dedicated emails for each release:
   • Each font release is celebrated with a dedicated email, emphasizing the typeface's unique features, aesthetic appeal, and usability.
   • These emails serve as a spotlight for the font, giving it the attention it deserves to captivate the audience.
2. Content highlights:
   • Visual Previews: Each email includes high-quality imagery showcasing the font in use, demonstrating its versatility across various projects.
   • Technical Details: Information like font weights, character sets, and compatibility ensures the audience understands the practical applications.
   • Design Inspiration: Use cases and mockups provide ideas on how the fonts can elevate branding, editorial design, or digital projects.
3. Engaging CTAs:
   • Clear CTAs such as "Try for Free Now" or "Explore the Typeface" guide subscribers to download trials or explore purchasing options directly from Blaze Type's website.
4. Consistent branding:
   • The design of font release emails reflects Blaze Type’s sophisticated and bold aesthetic, using their fonts as the hero element. Each email seamlessly integrates with their broader branding efforts, maintaining a cohesive identity.
5. Value-driven communication:
   • By including information on updates, trials, or licensing, these emails position Blaze Type as not only a font provider but also a partner in the creative process.

These font release campaigns have become a vital touchpoint in Blaze Type’s marketing, enabling them to directly showcase their craft while engaging their audience with visually compelling and informative content.

Results

The email campaigns for Blaze Type have achieved outstanding engagement metrics, outperforming industry benchmarks for creative and marketing emails:

• Open rates: Averaging between 58.47% and 65.23%, these results significantly exceed the industry standard of 20–25%, showcasing the effectiveness of subject lines and audience targeting.
• Click-through rates: Ranging from 1.38% to 8.31%, the campaigns demonstrate strong content relevance and engagement, far surpassing the average of 3% for most email campaigns.

But the success of these campaigns extends far beyond 'vanity metrics' such as open and click rates:

1. Revenue generation:
   The email campaigns have directly driven thousands of purchases, with consistent sales from both new and returning customers.
2. Customer loyalty:
   By regularly showcasing value through newsletters and font releases, Blaze Type has cultivated a loyal customer base that repeatedly invests in new font families and upgrades.
3. Lead generation & word-of-mouth:
   The newsletter has evolved into a powerful lead-generation tool. Its engaging and visually rich content is often shared among designers and creative professionals, attracting new subscribers and customers through organic word-of-mouth.
4. Thought leadership:
   The quality of the newsletter content—including educational articles, insights into font design, and curated resources—has positioned Blaze Type as a trusted authority in the font industry. Designers and creative professionals now view the newsletter as the go-to source for typography trends, updates, and inspiration.

These results underline the power of a well-crafted email marketing strategy tailored to a niche audience. By blending strategic content, compelling visuals, and precise audience targeting, the campaigns have successfully bolstered Blaze Type's brand engagement, customer loyalty, and bottom-line growth.

Blaze Type’s partnership with Digi Storms has transformed their email marketing into a powerful tool for engagement, revenue generation, and industry leadership.

By implementing a strategic approach to newsletters and font release campaigns, Blaze Type has not only achieved impressive engagement metrics but also cultivated a loyal customer base, driven thousands of purchases, and established their newsletter as the go-to resource for typography enthusiasts worldwide.

This success demonstrates the value of a well-executed email marketing strategy tailored to a niche audience. Blaze Type has proven that when compelling content meets exceptional design and targeted communication, the results can elevate a brand’s impact far beyond expectations.

As Blaze Type continues to grow, their email marketing efforts remain a cornerstone of their success, driving innovation and solidifying their position as leaders in the font design industry.

While Blaze Type operates in a unique space designing and selling fonts, with a business model more akin to e-commerce than SaaS, the strategies and successes we achieved with their email marketing translate seamlessly to SaaS companies.

From driving user engagement and building loyalty to scaling outreach and conversions, the principles of effective email marketing remain universal. If you’re a SaaS company looking to achieve similar results tailored to your industry, contact us today, we’re ready to help you unlock your full potential.