We began with an introduction, explaining the deliverables, and then moved into a short lecture about content design.

Reflection - This lecture was interesting and got me thinking about the way everything we create is content, everything we say and do is content. It can be displayed on social media and you can interact with others content. Thinking of content this way has made me view social media, as my own feels so personal and curated but not forced on me (except for adverts). When I would have it in my head that content is something that is done by companies, not friends, it made me think about how we all add in our ways. It also made me think about how you build everything around content, an app face to what I wear as others have created content of the clothes (which is also content) and it has influenced me.

Sarah Richards - Content design defines content design as ‘not limiting yourself to just words’ and ‘you start with research to help identity what your users actually need’. I liked the way this book has been written it feels like it is pushing you and making you aware you are capable.

One quote that stood out to me was ‘You are not editing anything. You are barely writing anything. But you are designing content’ page 126, it made me feel that I can create anything with the content, this book is written in an empowering way that gets straight to the point making it a very enjoyable read.

There are different types of content pull and push are two clear categories of content. Push content is when a product or service is ‘pushed’ to the target audience through marketing or promotion, like advertising the newest laptop and all the features it offers. Pull content is considered a nicer form of advertisement that takes a gentler approach and is not as aggressive as push as it is aiming to attract the customer to the product.

We can see the push content everywhere, we open a delivery app and 5 minutes later it will ask us if we are still hungry and to hurry up. It feels like we can't have any app without push notifications, this does become very overwhelming as it has become the norm but it is incredibly effective. An example of push content is when you leave items in a basket, you'll get a reminder that those items are waiting for you. Here's ASOS version of this, very friendly approach but with a demanding tone. This props you to open the app again, even the emoji used creates an approachable version that doesn't feel like a marketing approach and is more personalised.

https://iterable.com/blog/push-notification-marketing-examples/

Pull content is less noticeable than push but is also still visible on everything. Social media is mostly made up of pull content not just from the company's social media accounts that are constantly pulling you into buying but also from the influencers they are paying to promote a product or experience.

This has become an increasingly popular career and in 2024 69% of marketers plan to increase their influencer marketing. We have always been influencers people telling others about what they like and what they should get. As brands have grown they have increased their identity they need to be seen, like through their mascots, and eventually through celebrities especially major sports figures who are all known for their partnership.

As time has moved on content has become more available for everyone across all platforms, and the pull content is seen largely with influence. 70% of teens trust influencers more than traditional and 74% of people use social media to discover products, they are all pulling you to buy items that they are recommended. Audience Vocabulary I believe is part of the reason it's so successful as it is normal talking that is understandable and friendly.

I think this content form is really interesting cause it has become the norm for everyone, if I want to buy a book or makeup I will straight away look up on social media what everyone else is recommending. I will say however if I am scrolling through social media and a video comes up that is labeled as an advert I will not watch it cause it's more of push content than a subtle pull that I will be more willing to watch.

https://www.aspire.io/blog/the-evolution-of-influencer-marketing

Ease of use "The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use" is also an important thing to consider when designing the content as we need to create what they need not what they want. Otherwise, it means giving some ease of use but doesn't fulfill the need. This means that because people are used to similar designs that designs can end up being hard to break the typical design layout. But that's exactly why we should design with the content instead of creating the content. This also helps create great trust between the customer and the brand, as they know it's reliable.

This article recommends that you write a statement for each characteristic of each user group allowing you to fully understand and make sure you are achieving this. This can be helpful to get a user analysis, I’ll keep this in mind when I get to this stage to ensure I am achieving everything I’m setting out to.