<div class="gn-article"><div class="gn-hero gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-hero__image"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/69fa7126515b0cc8d6e19f06_129794-68aca9107b2d4362217999.jpeg" alt=""></div> <div class="gn-hero__head"> <span class="gn-kicker"><span class="dot"></span>Growth</span> <h1 class="gn-title">The Return of Friction in AI Content</h1> <div class="gn-meta"> <strong>The GO Network</strong> <span class="pip"></span> <span>31 July 2025</span> <span class="pip"></span> <span>7 min read</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gn-body"> <p class="gn-lede gn-reveal">The shift underway is not about abandoning AI-generated content altogether, but about reshaping how it is created and consumed. For the past few years, the focus has been on making content as smooth and seamless as possible. Every barrier was stripped away in the name of optimisation. The result was material that could be consumed instantly but also forgotten just as quickly.</p> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">01</span>What's Changing</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">Leading strategists are beginning to question whether this pursuit of frictionless flow has gone too far. Instead of optimising only for speed, they are deliberately designing purposeful interruptions into content experiences. These interruptions may take the form of reflection prompts that encourage readers to pause and consider their own perspective, subtle ambiguities that require interpretation before moving on, or micro-interactions that invite a click, a choice, or a reveal. Each technique introduces a moment of pause that shifts the audience from passive scrolling to active engagement.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/69fcafd481da058e023c611a_69fcafd3fb18b64d6670815d_1739168220105-68ac8f7e6ff29434805859.jpeg" alt="Purposeful friction in content strategy"></div> <figcaption>Purposeful interruptions shift audiences from passive scrolling to active engagement.</figcaption> </figure> <p class="gn-reveal">This approach aligns closely with findings in cognitive science. Research has shown that when people invest even a small amount of additional effort to process information, the likelihood of them remembering it increases significantly. The act of pausing, interpreting, or making a decision creates stronger memory traces than passive reading ever could. In other words, people remember better when they are asked to think, however briefly.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">When applied with intention, friction becomes a strategic tool. It no longer represents a barrier to engagement, but a mechanism for recall and differentiation. For marketers and agencies, the lesson is that content should not only move quickly across a feed, it should also have the power to stop a reader in their tracks and make them reflect.</p> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">02</span>Techniques Being Revived</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">Marketers are revisiting and reinventing classic engagement techniques through this lens of valuable friction. What once felt like small creative flourishes are now being recognised as powerful tools to deepen involvement and improve recall.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">These methods are not new, but when used intentionally they transform content from something passively consumed into something actively experienced.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Examples include:</p> <aside class="gn-callout gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-callout__label">What this means for you</div> <h4>Five friction techniques agencies can apply now.</h4> <ul> <li><strong>Self-assessment questions that invite readers to test their knowledge mid-article.</strong> These simple questions break the rhythm of reading and force the audience to reflect. For agencies, inserting quick checks into long-form content, webinars, or newsletters gives the reader a sense of participation and helps reinforce key learning points.</li> <li><strong>Reveal-on-click stats or quotes that turn reading into interaction.</strong> Rather than showing all information at once, agencies can design content that holds something back until the user makes an action. This small moment of effort creates a stronger impression and makes the insight feel earned, which increases its stickiness.</li> <li><strong>Story interruptions that introduce puzzles or challenges to be solved.</strong> By pausing a narrative to ask the reader to think, predict, or solve, the content builds curiosity and tension. For agencies, this can be particularly effective in campaign storytelling, training materials, or thought-leadership where the goal is to shift the audience from passive to engaged.</li> <li><strong>Interactive analogies that require participation to unlock meaning.</strong> Analogies are already powerful learning tools. Making them interactive, such as sliders, draggable comparisons, or fill-in elements, forces the user to engage directly with the concept. This turns abstract points into memorable experiences.</li> <li><strong>"Choose your path" flows in email and video that allow the user to decide what comes next.</strong> Branching journeys put the audience in control, which creates a sense of agency and ownership in the experience. Agencies can apply this technique in nurture campaigns or brand storytelling videos to keep users actively shaping the journey rather than drifting away.</li> </ul> </aside> <p class="gn-reveal">Each of these techniques adds a moment of resistance, but the resistance is purposeful. It encourages the audience to slow down, participate, and connect more deeply with the message. In a content landscape dominated by instant consumption, these small interventions make the difference between a forgettable impression and a lasting memory.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/69fcafd581da058e023c611e_69fcafd37cc9aac8d92f85d3_create-interactive-elearning-content-in-3-steps-68ac8f7e7d900680755930.png" alt="Interactive content techniques for deeper engagement"></div> <figcaption>Interactive techniques transform content from something passively consumed into something actively experienced.</figcaption> </figure> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">03</span>Defining Insight</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">The central goal of this shift is not reach for its own sake, it is resonance. In a marketplace where audiences are saturated with content, the brands that will stand out are those that are remembered, not simply those that are seen.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Friction, when designed with intention, becomes a mechanism for memory. It slows the audience just enough to create a moment of cognitive effort, which is what allows an idea to take root and stay with them long after the content has been consumed.</p> <aside class="gn-quote gn-reveal"><q>Friction, when designed with intention, becomes a mechanism for memory.</q><cite>The GO Network · Growth</cite></aside> <p class="gn-reveal">For agencies, this insight has important implications. It pushes conversations with clients away from vanity metrics such as clicks or impressions and towards indicators of depth and durability. These include recall over time, the ability of a message to influence behaviour weeks after exposure, and the contribution of content to long-term brand equity rather than short-term bursts of engagement.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">This is not about making content difficult for the sake of novelty, it is about designing purposeful moments of pause that create stronger connections between message and memory. Agencies that can explain and implement this principle will position themselves as partners in building lasting impact rather than suppliers of quick wins.</p> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">04</span>Proof Point</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">The results of this shift are already visible in practice and not just in theory.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">At the 2025 MarketingProfs Friday Forum, keynote speaker Robert Rose highlighted a series of case studies that compared content optimised for smooth AI-driven efficiency with content designed to introduce deliberate moments of friction. The findings were striking. Content that included purposeful friction achieved a <strong>42% increase in message recall</strong> and a <strong>38% increase in time-on-page</strong>. These figures suggest that friction does more than slow audiences down, it materially improves the stickiness and depth of engagement.</p> <div class="gn-stats gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-stat"><span class="gn-stat__num">42<em>%</em></span><span class="gn-stat__label">Increase in message recall from purposeful friction content.</span></div> <div class="gn-stat"><span class="gn-stat__num">38<em>%</em></span><span class="gn-stat__label">Increase in time-on-page from purposeful friction content.</span></div> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">For agency leaders, these numbers are not academic details to note in passing. They are proof points that can be used directly in client conversations and pitch material. When an agency can demonstrate that friction-rich content leads to measurable improvements in both cognitive recall and behavioural metrics, it elevates the strategic value of creative decisions. It also gives agencies a stronger foundation for shifting client expectations away from surface level metrics such as click-through rates and towards indicators of lasting impact.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">This is an opportunity to strengthen the business case for creativity. By pointing to hard data that connects purposeful friction with improved performance, agencies can reframe content strategy as a driver of memory, resonance, and long-term brand equity. In a crowded and automated content environment, that evidence is what will separate agencies that lead the conversation from those that are simply executing it.</p> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">05</span>Research Angle</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">One way to demonstrate the value of friction in practice is to design a controlled experiment that directly compares flow and friction. This does not need to be theoretical. It can be built into live campaigns where data is already being captured.</p> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Version A</strong> would be optimised for smooth, rapid consumption. The design would prioritise fast reading, minimal interruption, and the kind of content flow that has become standard in most AI-assisted publishing.</p> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Version B</strong> would build in intentional speed bumps, such as layered reveals, decision points, or reflective questions. These elements would be designed to slow the reader just enough to encourage deeper processing without creating frustration. Both versions would then be distributed to matched subscriber segments so that the only variable being tested is the presence or absence of friction.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The key metrics should extend beyond surface indicators such as clicks or open rates. They would include engagement depth, measured by scroll completion, dwell time, and bounce rates. They would also capture sharing behaviour, which is often a stronger signal of emotional connection than a single click. In addition, brand recall could be measured at seven and fourteen-day intervals to identify how long the message remains in memory.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The value for agencies lies in what comes after the test. With enough data, agencies could develop a friction scoring model that benchmarks content against multiple dimensions of engagement and recall. This model could then be used to evaluate future campaigns, guide content strategy, and demonstrate to clients that friction can be measured, managed, and optimised just like any other performance lever.</p> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">06</span>Takeaway for Agencies</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">For agencies, the lesson is clear. In a landscape saturated with frictionless automation and AI-generated material, the brands that make people pause and think will be the ones remembered. The ability to create resonance rather than just reach is quickly becoming a differentiator, and agencies are in the best position to help clients make that shift.</p> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Friction is not the enemy of good marketing. Boredom is.</strong></p> <p class="gn-reveal">When content flows too smoothly it risks being consumed without attention and forgotten almost instantly. Purposeful friction, applied with care, turns that risk into opportunity. It ensures that audiences do not simply skim past a message, but engage with it long enough for it to stick.</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/69fcafd481da058e023c6117_69fcafd4589cfd288fcf7fcd_crossroads-concept-choice-choosing-right-600nw-545763502-68ac8f7e7e30e580345647.webp" alt="Crossroads concept representing choice in content strategy"></div> <figcaption>Purposeful friction ensures audiences engage with a message long enough for it to stick.</figcaption> </figure> <p class="gn-reveal">Agencies that recognise this shift and guide their clients through it will gain more than short-term campaign success. They will build a reputation for strategic leadership in an environment where many competitors are still chasing volume and efficiency. By reframing content not as a numbers game but as a driver of memory, recall, and long-term brand equity, agencies can elevate their role from supplier to partner.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The future of content may belong to those bold enough to slow it down. For agencies, that means testing friction techniques now, embedding them into creative strategy, and using evidence to prove their value. Those who act early will set the benchmarks, define the language of this new era, and strengthen their position with clients who are looking for more than clicks.</p> </div></div>