If increasing paywall conversion rates is on your mind, this article might be worth your time. I’ll walk you through what we did and what we learned. I’ve outlined the factors behind the results, offering this not just as a case study but as a potentially actionable reference.
The experiment
I haven’t seen this approach used in other apps before, so there’s a slight chance it might be new to you as well. Long story short, instead of using a traditional paywall, we integrated animations before triggering the paywall. Notably, we tested both animation + paywall and paywall-only approaches. Our goal was simple: to create a more engaging user experience and evaluate its impact on conversion rates. For context, the experiment was conducted in the CoinStats app, a crypto portfolio tracker operating on a freemium model.
A user’s perspective
Consider this scenario: it’s Black Friday, and you open your crypto app. A green animated hand icon appears on your homepage, enticing you to tap. You tap it, and suddenly, Pepe the Frog emerges from a swirling black hole. It strides towards you and throws black champagne at your screen. Yes, you heard it right: black champagne at your screen. A message pops up: “Everyone deserves Premium this bull run.” Pepe winks and shows you a paywall with a significant discount for Premium subscription.
Notably, the animation wasn’t limited to those who tapped; it also triggered automatically when users opened the app. Eric Schmidt once said, “Don’t tell me, show me.” Watch both approaches in action in this video.
Animation + paywall vs. paywall only
Source: CoinStats
The results
Upon analyzing the data, we discovered that the animation + paywall combo achieved an impressive 2.9x higher conversion rate on average compared to the standard paywall (paywall only) across both iOS and Android apps. While the experiment had its limitations (e.g., lacked control groups), the consistency of the results strongly suggests the animation had a significant impact.
Conversion rate comparison
Source: CoinStats
The animation is designed to trigger automatically when the user starts a session and can also be activated manually by tapping an animated icon (Pepe’s hand) on the app’s homepage.
App session start animation
Source: CoinStats
Upon analyzing the icon click event, we discovered that iOS users showed significantly greater curiosity about Pepe’s hand compared to Android users. The difference in engagement is noteworthy.
Icon tap frequency per user
Source: CoinStats
What made the animation strategy effective
Here’s why I think the animation + paywall approach outperformed the standard paywall. While my subjective thoughts may not cover every contributing factor, they highlight key elements that likely drove its success:
A strong hook
How often do you see a frog stepping out of a black hole on your app screen? Exactly. It’s unexpected, and that’s what grabs attention. A strong hook is essential for any content nowadays. This principle isn’t new; even in the 1940s, advertising legend Raymond Rubicam emphasized its importance, famously stating, “The way we sell is to grab attention first.”
This campaign employed two grabbing moments: Pepe’s surprising appearance from the black hole and the splash of champagne on the screen. Both created moments that stopped users in their tracks and encouraged interaction.
Emotional connection
Establishing an emotional connection with users is fundamental in marketing, and using cultural icons is one of the best ways to achieve this. People love memes and are emotionally connected to them. And our campaign tapped directly into that connection.
As advertising wizard Roy H. Williams once said, “Show me what a person admires, and then you’ll know how to connect with them. You’ll know how to attract future customers through your ads when you understand what they admire.”
With this idea in mind, we incorporated two well-known memes into our 10-second animation: Pepe the Frog, a widely recognized cultural icon in the crypto space, even inspiring the creation of his own meme coin and the Leonardo DiCaprio champagne meme from The Great Gatsby. These references created a connection with users by leveraging familiarity and cultural relevance.
Our previous success with memes in situational marketing campaigns further validated this approach.
Black Friday and the message
People enjoy Black Friday, and the theme was seamlessly integrated into the animation: black champagne and its playful tossing onto the screen. The headline, “Everyone deserves Premium this bull run,” likely struck a chord with users, but who knows?!
The New Year campaign with the Giga Chad meme
For the New Year campaign, we combined animation with a paywall approach using the popular Giga Chad meme. Since Giga Chad is well-known and adored in the crypto community, we reimagined him as Santa Claus, delivering a huge New Year discount as a holiday gift. The animation wasn’t limited to those who tapped; it also triggered automatically when users opened the app.
New Year 2025 Giga Chad animation
Source: CoinStats
The Halloween campaign
Before Black Friday, we had conducted a test run with a Halloween-themed campaign featuring a spider animation that looked like the Bitcoin logo. The promising results gave us the confidence to proceed with the Pepe campaign.
Halloween paywall 2024 animation
Source: CoinStats
How we set it up
The animation and icon can be configured directly from the backend infrastructure, eliminating the need for app updates when launching new campaigns. The paywalls were built using Superwall, which also allows for changes without app updates.
For the animation format, we used Lottie, which is lightweight and versatile but has some limitations, such as challenges with effects like perfect glow. Keep this in mind before starting the animation design. For audio, we’ve used AAC and MP3.
On the technical side, as the animation concludes, it sends an event to Superwall, which then triggers the paywall. You are welcome to reach out to me if you have any questions about this setup.
To avoid delays with app approvals on the App Store, I recommend disabling animations during submission and reactivating them post-approval.
Final thoughts
This case study highlights the potential of using creative, engaging content in driving conversions. Animations added a layer of fun and emotional connection, making the paywall feel less pushy. The Pepe animation + paywall combo achieved an impressive 2.9x higher conversion rate on average compared to the standard paywall (paywall only) across both iOS and Android apps. I’d love to see other apps experiment with this approach and share their results.
Meanwhile, I’ll continue testing it myself and will share my findings on my InsightOut newsletter on Substack, LinkedIn, or X.
