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November 2021 - Wordle has 90 daily users

February 2022 - 2.7 Million people play daily

In 2 months Wordle took over the planet.

How in the “word” did it happen?

You’re about to find out!

Company Overview

Valuation: $1 Million (Source)

Daily Users: 2.7 Million (Source)

There are 2 types of people reading this:

1. The people obsessed with Wordle

2. The people soon to be obsessed with Wordle

For the latter of the two, let me give you a quick rundown of what you’ve been missing.

Wordle is a web-based word game developed by Welsh-born software engineer Josh Wardle.

Players have six attempts to guess a five-letter word; feedback is given for each guess, in the form of coloured tiles, indicating when letters match or occupy the correct position.

Wordle has a single daily solution, with all players attempting to guess the same word.

It may sound simple, it may sound not very interesting….

Let me tell you first hand, it’s addictive!

So how did a game developed by a software engineer from Wales become world-famous?

Let me explain….

Breaking Down The Strategy

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of Wordle.

The fact the game is fun to play is certainly a factor in huge success.

However, it’s not the limiting factor of its exponential growth.

What is?

It’s the ingenious way the app allows users to connect.

If you’ve been on Twitter recently you have probably seen a lot of posts like this.

This right here is the “secret sauce” of Wordle’s success.

What you’re looking at is how you are able to share your Wordle scores online.

Once you have completed your 6 attempts the below screen pops up.

Once the share button is clicked your result is copied to your clipboard - ready for you to share on your socials.

Here was my result for today (yes, I failed I know):

Wordle 231 X/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜

⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜

⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩

🟨🟩🟩🟨🟩

This simple share option completely revolutionized the game. It went from a simple word game to a worldwide competition.

Without even knowing it, this basic share feature ignites various different human traits:

• Competitive - We are naturally competitive, we watch sports to see people go against each other, we even compete against each other for partners. It’s ingrained within us. So when Wordle made it possible to share it ignites that fire inside us to see if we can guess the word in fewer attempts than everyone else.

• Ego driven - Something that is certainly more prominent in some than others, but nonetheless it is there. So when we get the chance to brag about how “intelligent” we are online we often jump at it.

• Social species - Humans like to do things together. Now, although Wordle is actually played solo, people share their Worlde with each other. They post their results in group chats with everyone seeing who did best. In a time where socializing is few and far between anyway to connect with family and friends was always going to be a hit!

It’s also important to mention that having a share function within a game is not unique, in fact, it’s very very common.

What’s unique about Wordle’s share function is the fact it essentially has no connection or links to Wordle.

This leads to a whole load of mystery around Wordle - or at least it did at first.

So when people see that a friend or celebrity has shared their results on Twitter they have to turn to Google in order to figure out what this “Wordle” thing is.

This means the searches for Wordle have absolutely rocketed.

Who needs an SEO team when you have this many organic searches?

Just to add to the insane momentum Wordle has had over the last couple of months, there is now a ‘Wordle Stats’ Twitter page that allows people to see what percentile they fell in each day.

Nearly 400,000 shares on Twitter on Friday!

Not to mention brands have been reacting to the huge rise which has only added to Wordle’s momentum…

Imagine a marketing campaign that got Square, F1, LEGO, Empire State Building, and even Teletubbies involved.

It would go down as one of the best campaigns EVER.

Yet Wordle did it with no effort whatsoever.

It’s such a simple game, but these really simple features are a recipe for success.

No marketing budget was needed. Wordle took off purely organically. Purely due to how the game was built.

Built to share!

As I write this…

• 12,000 people an hour are tweeting about Wordle.

• ‘Wordle’ subreddit has gone from 17 to 10,000 subscribers in 4 weeks.

• 359,679 have shared their results on Twitter today.

Looking at these stats it’s absolutely no surprise that Wordle was acquired by the NY Times this week for an undisclosed “low-seven figure fee”. (Source)

• Unbelievable search volume with no need for SEO

• HUGE social presence with no paid ads

• Crazy growth with no marketing whatsoever

One of the craziest, yet awesome rises I’ve seen in a long time.

As Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

Wordle embodies this wholeheartedly.

How To Implement It

If you are building a simple application/game to Wordle, I would give you two pieces of advice to replicate what Wordle has done:

1. Make it simple to share

The first reason for the social presence of Wordle is the fact it is so simple to share. You press one button and it’s copied to your clipboard.

Yes, this isn’t Wordle’s competitive advantage. What it is, however, is a necessity in order for people to share Wordle as they do.

1. Make it built for sharing

Whether it was done on purpose or not Wordle is essentially a social game, it’s made for sharing.

So, if you’re looking to be the ‘next Wordle’ you have to make your app one that everyone can be enjoyed together.

Not necessarily played together, but certainly played together!

Last but not least, if you’ve never played Wordle before… let the addiction begin!

https://www.powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle/

This has been a breakdown of Wordle’s marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy into your business!

Don’t forget to subscribe to get next week’s breakdown straight to your inbox!

I’ll see you next Sunday!