The MAGIC behind Wordle? Video Marketing Examples #58

^{Obligatory disclaimer: This isn't an ad or sponsored content. We simply wanted to share this analysis with you as a great, recent example of video marketing.}

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably obsessed with Wordle right now. 

But if you HAVE somehow missed it, it’s a word game that’s about as simple as it gets: six chances to guess one five-letter word, which refreshes every day.

The game was released in October. 

On November 1st it had just 90 users.

By mid-January this had risen to 300,000, and - from there - things took off again.

By the end of January, millions were playing daily. And the game was subsequently acquired by the New York Times for a ‘low seven-figure fee.’ 

Search ‘Wordle’ on Google and you’ll even see a custom-made Google Doodle…

But why are we writing about an online word game?

Well, it’s because part of Wordle’s appeal is almost certainly down to motion - and it’s motion you mightn’t even have noticed.

It’s not a massively over-designed game - quite the opposite. It lives on a super minimalist page with loads of white space.

All you actually see on the page when you land on it are the logo, a few minimalist icons, the grid for your word guesses and an on-screen keyboard which you can use to enter letters. 

When you enter your guesses - and again, you may not have even consciously noticed this until now - there’s an animated effect which just adds that little bit of ‘sizzle’ to the experience. 

The letter tiles flip over and reveal, one at a time, whether they’re right or not.

Get the answer right and all the green tiles animate in a sort of victory dance.

These little animated moments - almost incidental to the experience - are often called ‘microinteractions.’

And they’re used by amazing brands to enhance basic experiences like entering passwords… 

Clicking buttons… 

And even reacting to social media posts… 

And it just goes to show that the appeal of animation goes far beyond video.

In a crowded digital world, these tiny, fun, often subconscious moments create engaging, scrollable websites that are enjoyable to use. 

And enjoyable websites give you time, and buy audience attention, to make sure your message lands - giving you a crucial edge on your competitors. 

Feeling inspired?

We use the same skills that we use to create beautiful animated videos, to create exceptional animated graphics and microinteractions that really turn your website into a fun place to be.

Click the button below to chat to an expert!

(And by the way, we wrote a full post about microinteractions, featuring heaps more examples - it’s here if you’d like to check it out.)