In brief…
- If we are developing a marketing campaign, a promotion, or even a news release, make it simple to read and understand.
- If your marketing campaign insists on only reaching those above retirement age, or a small locale, or if your product news releases is only sent to a few vertical trade media, you are selling yourself very short.
- If you need a red team or a partner to get your brand out there in PR, branding or marketing, talk to us.
Wordle is a simple online word game that went rather viral, and still is. Just recently, even a Chinese radio station host was chatting about Wordle to her co-hosts, about how Wordle is pronounced, and if there should be a Chinese version of such a game.
Wordle is simple to learn, simple to play, engages many players, uses both linguistics and reasoning, and leverages on social media to gain even more engagement.
So, what can we as communicators and marketers learn from the Wordle phenomenon?
1) KISS (Keep it simple, silly)
If we are developing a marketing campaign, a promotion, or even a news release, make it simple to read and understand. This means that customers should find it easy to participate, without needing a PhD. A journalist who receives our news release should not need to Google or ask you, to find out just how many trade or proprietary words actually mean. Use simple language, succinctly, to the point. And use as FEW steps as possible to reach the end of the funnel or promotion, without customers needing to go through hoops.
2) Multi-audience
If your campaign is too specific, or if your product can only reach a few, you are limiting your audience. For example, if your marketing campaign insists on only reaching those above retirement age, or a small locale, or if your product news releases is only sent to a few vertical trade media, you are selling yourself very short. Reach as many people as possible. If you do not know how to reach many people, get help.
3) Multi-sensory
Just as Wordle appeals to both language and logic, likewise, your marketing or PR campaign should too. Don’t take the easy way out of just having a textual news release and hope for the best. Dedicate budgets and efforts in working with your PR agency to develop textual content, audio and video content (b-roll, interviews, demonstrations), animations, charts or infographics, and more. The more assets you have, the more likely you can target even more media to engage them to use them, especially if you can white-label them so that they are even more widely adopted.
4) Multi-platform
Just as Wordle engages many people and allow them to go social, your marketing and PR campaigns should too. For example, when you provide news to a media, and if the media publishes it, do you share that on your social media platforms? Do you get your people and partners to do the same? Do you go different platforms to stream or share to each of those audiences? The world is so connected now that if you are not doing that, you are missing out.
And most of all, let me remind you of (1), the KISS rule, the most important nugget of gold for all communications and marketing. Do it like Wordle.
If you need a red team or a partner to get your brand out there in PR, branding or marketing, talk to us.
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Dr Seamus Phan – Global C-suite Publicist & Strategist (Biochemist, Cybersecurity & Webdev pioneer, Author, Journalist) with 37 years of professional field experience.