Iconfinder designer report Q2 2020
Latest data from the Iconfinder marketplace
Introduction
This new report is created for icon designers who are selling their work on the Iconfinder marketplace. We look at data on the supply and demand of icons and try to break it down and make it easy to understand. This report gives recommendations on what opportunities there are for April, May, and June 2020.
Seasonal searches in Q2
First, we looked at what icon searches are specific to the second quarter of the year. We found that these keywords are related to events and festivities happening during this quarter.
These are, in chronological order:
- Easter * (April 12, 2020)
- Mother’s Day **(May 10, 2020 in US and most countries)
- Father’s Day***(June 21, 2020 in US and most countries)
- Ramadan (April 23 - May 23, 2020; dates may vary by country)
- Summer (starting in June)
*Note that Easter falls on a different date each year (the graph below corresponds to 2019 when Easter fell on April 21).
**Check the dates for Mother’s day in each country.
***Check the dates for Father’s day in each country.
The chart below shows when searches for each type of keyword happen. In most cases, searches start to slowly increase until reaching a peak. It is recommended to upload themed icons well in advance, to take advantage of the entire sales period.
Marketing campaigns in Q2
Every quarter, we plan campaigns where we promote seasonal icons and offer a deal to customers, most commonly on subscriptions. Here are the campaigns planned for this quarter.
*Exact dates are subject to change.
Remember to upload seasonal icons weeks in advance, to get a chance to be featured.
Coronavirus icons
Due to the unfortunate coronavirus outbreak, we have experienced an increase in the number of searches for virus-related keywords.
The chart below shows how searches evolved during the month of March 2020.
And the table below shows how much the searches for other coronavirus-related keywords have dramatically grown in the last couple of months.
Because of this, Iconfinder is running a free-icon campaign to help people communicate around the virus spread: Free icons for virus awareness. The page has already received 250.000 visits to date.
All the free coronavirus sets uploaded to Iconfinder will be added to this collection of free coronavirus sets to be promoted. We prefer the icon sets to be offered as free, but you can also decide to sell them, in which case, they cannot be part of the campaign.
Most searched keywords
The table below contains the keywords that customers used to search for icons on Iconfinder during one year, updated with the latest searches in 2020. The list is ordered by most searches to least. So, at the top, you will find the most popular keywords.
The column called Supply-Demand ratio shows how competitive the Iconfinder market for that keyword is:
- A ratio lower than 1 means that there is space for more icons.
- A ratio higher than 1 means that the market is very competitive — there are more icons than searches for that keyword, so sales are not guaranteed.
Keywords with unmet demand
From the list above, we selected only those keywords that offer more opportunities to add icons, meaning that their supply is lower than their demand. This translates into a Supply-Demand ratio lower than 1 in the table below.
Subsequent searches
Looking at individual searches is interesting, but what is even more telling is looking at pairs of keywords used one after the other when searching on Iconfinder.
In the following table, we can see, as an example, that customers searched for “phone” and, immediately after, they searched for “email” and this happened 13.660 times in one year.
This not only gives an idea of what icons to include in the same icon set (using the Complementary keywords), but it also helps with tagging your icons better (using the Synonym keywords).
- Complementary keywords: they tell us what icons customers may buy together. Examples of complementary keywords: “facebook” & “instagram”, “phone” & “email”, “edit” & “delete”, “plus” & “minus”.
Tip: include icons for these keywords in the same icon set or icon family.
- Synonym keywords: these show how to tag your icons so that they are easy to find by customers. Examples of synonym keywords: “access” & “unlock”, “home” & “house”, “file” & “document”, “help” & “support”.
Tip: use these keywords to improve the tags on your icons.
To make it easier for you, we grouped the data by the first keyword in the table below.
Here is an example of the subsequent searches for the keyword “clock”:
Top seller category-style pairs
Here are the category-style combinations that sold the best on Iconfinder in one year, including the latest data from 2020.
Not surprisingly, the top five is:
- Business & Finance in Outline style.
- Business & Finance in Glyph style.
- Business & Finance in Flat style.
- UI in Outline style.
- UI in Glyph style.
The column called Supply-Demand ratio shows how competitive the Iconfinder market for that keyword is:
- A ratio lower than 1 means that there is space for more icons.
- A ratio higher than 1 means that the market is very competitive — there are more icons than searches for that keyword, so sales are not guaranteed.
Given that these top sellers are also very competitive, we recommend you to go for high-quality execution and for personal style. To help with that, here are some examples of what we consider as high-quality icon sets for the top seller category-style pairs.
Category-style pairs with unmet demand
If you want to tap into niche markets, the table below identifies the category-style combinations whose demand is higher than their supply. This means, there are opportunities to add more icons.
The top five, based on the number of icons sold, is:
- Network & communications in Smooth style
- NSFW* in Outline style
- NSFW* in Glyph style
- Transportation in Smooth style
- Nature & outdoors in Smooth style
*NSFW stands for “Not suitable for work” and refers to icons that may be inappropriate to see at work or in a public environment. Check out the NSFW category.
Below, we included some examples of good-quality sets fitting in the category-style pairs with unmet demand.
The icon market
Based on your questions on our Community Forum, we prepared a short overview of the state of the icon marketplace based on data from Iconfinder only.
Preferred PNG sizes
This is the ranking of icon sizes, as per customers’ preference. The size 128x128 is the most popular, followed by size 512x512 in second place, and 64x64 in third place.
This ranking holds true also when we divide it by styles, though with slight differences.
This can be a guide for you to optimize the icons so they can look best at those sizes. A niche opportunity here is to optimize the icons for very small sizes such as 32x32 or 16x16.
If you are interested in knowing more about what type of customers visit Iconfinder and what they use the icons for, check this section from the Designer report Q1 2020.
Number of subscribers
Overall, we are seeing an increase in the number of subscribers.
The weak months in terms of subscriptions correspond to the winter vacation period (December-January) and to the summer vacation (May-July). A series of successful marketing campaigns and of new subscription management options (such as the roll-over of unused downloads or the ability to pause the subscription) is being effective in maintaining the number of subscribers and bringing in new ones.
In terms of demand, we see a stable amount of premium downloads every month (both from subscribers and individual buyers).
Value per icon
Additionally, the value per icon from Pro subscriptions is also keeping stable at around $0.40 per icon.
SVG is the future
There is a slow transition away from icon fonts and towards SVG. We can already see how the Bootstrap framework, a tool widely used by front-end designers, is already taking this step and working exclusively with SVG files for icons.
Update to Sales Analytics
Finally, we released a new and improved version of the Sales Analytics for your Iconfinder shops, based on your feedback. You can now get a better overview of your sales, for both individual icons and icon sets.
Read more about the Update to Sales Analytics and try out the new version here.
This report is part of a series that is released every quarter. It crunches data on supply and demand on the Iconfinder marketplace, hoping to lead designers to create the right icons.
Drop us a message at support@iconfinder.com if you have any questions or feedback.
Are you interested in becoming a contributor on Iconfinder? This is the place to start: How to sell icons on Iconfinder
