# MyTona: Halloween Update of App Icons Helps to Increase Conversion by 9%

Product Used

[SplitMetrics Optimize](/content/optimize/index.html)

Scaled By

9%

Publisher

MyTona

Category

Games

MyTona managed to increase the conversion rate of their game Seekers Notes: Hidden Mystery by 9.1% optimizing its icon for Halloween. Furthermore, their experiments proved the efficiency of ‘action mouth’ strategy for gaming apps.

MyTona is a mobile games developer. It stands behind such hits as Seekers Notes: Hidden Mystery and The Secret Society: Hidden Mystery. Their titles are always featured in the lists of the best hidden object games and are extremely popular in USA, Canada, UK and Europe.

## **Problem**

Each year, more and more developers take note of the annual **Halloween tradition**. Some even **dress up their app icons** and screenshots in “Halloween costumes” to **draw additional attention** to their apps. MyTona was eager to **сatch the moment** of Halloween rush.

However, the publisher was quite aware that **seasonal decoration** of app icons doesn’t always result in stunning conversion rate.

So, they decided to A/B test Halloweeny app icons to be on the safe side.

## **Solution**

As we know, the main purpose of placing a **character** in the game app icons is to try and **promote the sense of action** which intensifies the user’s desire to start playing right now. Developers from MyTona in their test for their game Seekers Notes: Hidden Mystery decided to test **which character** serves this purpose the best.

In the course of the first experiment, **two app icons** were tested:

1. One of the variations depicted a **well-known image** of a man in a top hat, to add a bit of **Halloween spirit**, designers put a ‘phantom of the opera’ inspired mask on his face.
2. The second variation featured the app icon with a **smiling pumpkin head**.

As it turned out, a **pumpkin head won**. In terms of conversion, the app icon with the pumpkin head **did** **9,3% better** than the control version.

Analyzing this result Mytona decided that the main factor which helped to achieve this result was the **replacement of the human-like character** with an inanimate object.

Generally, there is not that much difference between characters, but in this case, the **animated pumpkin** turned out to be much more effective than the serious human face.

MyTona launched a follow-up test with **3 app icons**. The third variation depicted a smiling witch which **supported Halloween theme** as well.

## **Result**

The **pumpkin app icon** trumped the serious man once again, but the breakdown was more humble this time, only **3.5%**. The witch image beat the first two app icons, with a **9.1% conversion growth**.

This proves that it’s always worth creating several versions of a single idea. If a **human-like character** competes with an **inanimate one**, consider designing a few versions of app icons representing each of them.

By following this strategy, you are more likely to **find the right formula** for performant app icons that entice users to download the app.

**«Action Mouth»** is a trick you should definitely try in your app icons. If you look through the top games, you’ll discover something specifically common to most of them: the app icons have **characters with their mouths open**.

In the above-mentioned app icons case, all versions with ‘action mouth’ characters **performed far better** than the control icon depicting the man with his mouth closed. The fact that this app icons trick works still surprises many mobile marketers, but you **can’t argue with numbers**.

It’s also important to mention that **details really matter** when it comes to app icons design. Take a look at the **angle that each face is looking back** at you, the hats on their heads, and the clothes they’re wearing.

> All these elements help influence the **particular expressions** on the faces and convey particular emotions to potential players via your app icons.

### **Seasonal App Icons Optimization Takeaways of MyTona**

- Consider designing a **few versions** app icons for each of the tested ideas;
- Review some of the app icons of the **top performing applications** across your categories, find the **things which are common** in the majority of them, and run a test.
- Play with **angled and expressive faces**, check human-like characters against inanimate objects, test if a character with an open mouth on app icons has more of an influence on **users’ decisions to download** the app.