If you are reading this, chances are you have played Wordle or know someone who plays Wordle.
Chances also are that if you have opened Facebook, Twitter, or heck, WhatsApp, you have run into cryptically stacked green, yellow, grey boxes.
Yes, Wordle has (for now) taken the world by storm, NYT bought it, Josh Wardle created it for his wife, in an endearing gesture, so far removed from the You-must-have-a-side-hustle hustle of modern lives.
Why is Wordle so addictive?
It’s simple. Guess a 5 letter word. Poof, a kid can do that.
It’s sharable. Since the modern world is all about catching up with joneses.
There is no learning curve to start.
It hardly takes time, in a world where we all seem strapped for time.
There is no commitment. We don’t need an app.
There are no rings, bells, dramas.
There is one shared experience, you got ‘Ulcer’ in two tries, damn girl!
But most importantly, it gets just the right amount of gamification right.
It gives you a consistent, mini dopamine hit of feeling smart every day, comparing scores, and feeling excited or zapped depending on the number of tries it took.
It’s not endless, there’s no Product Manager hooking you to be on Wordle by extending features and versions. There is no advertising. There is no app in a world of apps.
So, is this post about Wordle? After all, this is a Marketing blog and there are so many Marketing blogs crackling over how Worldle went viral.
However, as marketers, we can reverse-engineer, tweet our thoughts, pitch endless ideas but for anything, that goes viral hindsight is 20/20, and timing is paramount.
Hence, looking at Wordle as an inspiration is a tough call. (How do you know you have gone to the dark side as a marketer? You have made a Wordle meme for your social media).
A brand that gets the same principles right is Tinder.
Irrespective of whether you use Bumble, Hinge, OkCupid, Tinder or despise dating apps, Tinder is the OG.
How did Tinder stand out? It wasn’t the first or best.
It did something else. It enhanced the user experience for a segment. That and not technology is the differentiator.
Whether it was match dot com or OkCupid, they originated as desktop era dating websites (just like how most digital games have some internal gatekeeping, downloading, having to log in etc)
How did Tinder then get mind share? How did Wordle get us hooked onto word games with our morning chai?
They turned non-users into users like a classic case of disruption.
The audience that plays Wordle is not the one that solves NYT Minis or doodles about playing online puzzles. It bought new people into the fold. The trialists liked it and repeated the experience. Similarly, if you have ever been single in the point of time, Tinder was at its peak, you have swiped or been swiped on.
It let the technology go. The conventional wisdom is that technology is the messiah and the ‘thing’ to enhance. That’s what legacy desktop dating websites worked on. They enhanced the algorithms that led to better compatibility and matches - not for a world that was just starting to use iPhones (in addition to having dating woes). Tinder kept crashing and wasn’t the best at matching, but introduced a fun, swiping experience that focused on the bare-bones of the dating experience. You see someone and you wanna say ‘Yay’ or ‘Nay’ without caring if they are vegan or can write witty bios. Wordle too works for a disconnected, individual world staying in tune with their friends by tweeting about their guessing games.
They also ultimately changed and enhanced the user experience. Sean Rad, even said, “We always saw Tinder, the interface, as a game.”
Josh Wardle too saw this for what his wife, a real person, would like instead of 3 Focus Group Discussions with control and test groups and feedback surveys and rate our app on the play store to bother her (and thanks to that, we aren’t being bothered either).
So, what could we learn as marketers (and if we get lucky and enough buy-in, and budgets, we could actually roll something based on similar principles?)
To do something new, identify a niche not optimally served by incumbents. It could be adjacent (you don’t have to create a category). No dating app serves for a mobile-first, fun experience. Welcome, Tinder. No dating app serves for a mobile-first, fun experience for people who are looking at settling in and not dating a lot. Enter Hinge. There are niches, within niches and money to be made and attention to be gathered every day.
Don’t focus on current consumers too much for your category. Just like dear old Steve Jobs said, consumers who ride fast horses will ask for a ‘faster horse’ instead of a car deluding into believing that you have hit on an insight. Focus on barriers people face not what they’d want. Or you’d have a 7 word - Wordle with banner ads and tracking pixels.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication is a cliche. But, reduce barriers to consumption. I once reduced the cost of acquisition on a campaign by 120X by taking it to a one-click experience from three clicks. Use icons (it’s a match is a heart, wordle uses blocks and obvious colors like green when you are right). Minimal dissonance, maximum game.
Lastly, have fun. Do not over-engineer, over-think. Marketers are notorious for coloring within boxes, checking brand guidelines, and not be looking at the overall ‘ah-ha’ factor. It’s human to be married to what you have created but have fun with the product and the process!
(Show this article to someone who asks you to ‘gamify’ an experience basis a committee decision. Are you keeping it simple, sharable, and segmented for an under-served need with minimal user barriers?)
This post was written by Ayushi Mona. Say hi to her on Twitter here. You could also not say hi to her on LinkedIn here.
Next week, another, sellout, Priyanka Neelkantan writes her views (on something else, and cool).
Disclaimers: All information copyright with Ayushi Mona and credited authors. To be reproduced with prior consent only.