From universal accessibility to spoiler-free sharing, Wordle’s viral success is an excellent example in successfully cutting through the noise of social media. Considering Wordle’s organic viral success provides a look at how to cultivate a community and generate buzz in a never ending stream of online content.
Wordle only had 90 users in November and in January was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. What can your brand learn from this success?
Word(le) of Mouth
Wordle is testament to the fact that word (or wordle) of mouth is king. With only 90 users in November, Wordle used ambassadors to promote the game. For something to go viral, it requires multiple people telling lots of people, creating a snowball effect. Wordle did this very well, demonstrating the power of trusted ambassadors and how these can be used to create traction and the importance of word of mouth on social media to creating viral buzz.
Spoiler-free sharing
Every online experience today comes with a ‘share’ button, and Wordle is no exception. However, one thing that separates Wordle from other games is how its social sharing is designed. Wordle not only copies your answer directly to your clipboard, bypassing the result screenshots that tend to dominate most online games but also presents scores using colour-block emojis, meaning that players can share their score spoiler free.
The end result is visually engaging and enigmatic, both stopping the scroll and encouraging intrigue into the game. The distinct aesthetic of the colour block results suggests an element of ‘insider knowledge’, thus triggering our social need to be in on the know.
Sense of Scarcity
Wordle is a product with FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) built right in. One word is only available for a limited 24 hours, and if you miss it, you miss it. Additionally, the ability to only play one word at a time maintains the hype, as users aren’t able to spend hours guessing words. This encourages a sense of routine, with Wordle becoming as routine as your morning coffee! Wordle demonstrates the power of scarcity and exclusivity in relation to products. Creating a sense of exclusivity encourages fandom and hype around your product.
Simplicity
The overarching success of Wordle is down to its simplicity. If you can spell in English, you can play the game. Choosing to use five letter words adds accessibility and furthers the notion that anyone can play. This, in correlation with its sharing capacity allowed the game to gain online traction and cut through the noise.
Ultimately, great content creates trust and loyalty. The creator of wordle saw huge organic success through filling his funnel with people who love his content.
Are you mad on wordle? What was your score today? Let us know in the comments below!