Understanding Content Marketing & Consumer Engagement

This assignment explores the concept of content marketing and its role in engaging target audiences. It delves into how marketers utilize content to build brand awareness, foster relationships with consumers, and influence purchasing decisions. The text examines various psychological theories like self-congruity and their application in shaping consumer perceptions and brand loyalty. Examples are provided to illustrate how brands leverage content to create emotional connections and align with consumer values.

Running head: DIGITAL STRATEGY
Digital Strategy
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1DIGITAL STRATEGY
CONTENT MARKETING AND MASS ENGAGEMENT
Content Marketing is basically a process of creating relevant and valuable content in
order to engage the target audience. It enables us to know what an advertisement is about.
Advertisers always try to find out different ways in order to maintain and build a strong
relationship between the target customers with some particular brand for the growth and
survival of a business. Being the target groups, we are so vulnerable to those things which
lure us. For instance; I have been using many social networking sites and I have seen
marketers promoting their products and services in different ways in order to gain mass
attention. Advertisers examine the relationship process which affects the congruity between
consumers’ concept and emotions, such as love, joy and pride, with brand personality. It
helps in fostering a long term relationship between a brand and its customer through self
esteem and brand attachment building process.
Advertisers have to do loads in order to gain mass attention. Many a times, huge
content may not engage a customer, as he/she may change the channel or scroll down in case
of a social networking site. They overlook the advertisements. We, the target groups are very
demanding, we want content but that needs to be short but crisp. We tend to maintain and
follow a long term relationship with a specific brand, which is reliable and has a consistent
image in their minds. In self congruity theory, the concept of trust and commitment comes
into play, which is considered to be a crucial factor in forming a successful and long term
relationship. In relation to this, brand commitment is described as the construct with an
additional brand loyalty aspect, or as an intention in order to maintain and build a consistent
relationship or bond with some particular brand.
Self congruity is considered as a crucial element in the aspect of market segmentation,
as it provides valuable insights regarding the brand position as well as advertising research

2DIGITAL STRATEGY
for the marketers. It helps the marketers to gain a psychological knowledge regarding the
target consumers wishes and demands. We try to express ourselves through various products.
Whenever, we buy something we transfer our meaning into it. For instance; there was once
an advertisement of Coca Cola, which depicted sharing. Now, the advertisers set a notion
here, whoever loves Coca Cola, he/she loves sharing. I don’t like to share my drink with
someone else, but does that mean I don’t like Coca Cola? Therefore, the advertisers’ aim is to
portray a product as per their choice, but we, the consumers will interpret it in our own way.
Consumers build a strong bond with anything which is self expressive and which
reflects their attachment with the brand. In an advertisement of baby products, say Johnson
and Johnson, the baby-mother relationship is portrayed, which shares an emotional bond.
Mothers of new born babies would attach themselves more with such advertisements.
Experimentation with various brands and the way they are advertised lures the customers and
helps in developing a wide variety of self concepts.
A consumer’s love for a brand is some attachment building process; it builds
emotional dependency and anxiety. The more the consumers are attached to a particular
brand, the more they are dependent on it. If you are not attached to a particular brand after
seeing its advertisement, then it is more likely, that you may not buy that product. Consumers
tend to express themselves through the products they wear or use. It defines our personality.
For instance; I love cars and my first preference is Porsche, but my friend Jack, has an
ordinary car and only uses it when necessary. Now, the car will define my personality. The
society will have the notion that I am rich and posh. Therefore, brands help in identifying
one’s personality and even have the capability of reshaping it.

3DIGITAL STRATEGY
References
Aguirre-Rodriguez, A., Bosnjak, M., & Sirgy, M. J. (2012). Moderators of the self-congruity
effect on consumer decision-making: A meta-analysis. Journal of Business
Research, 65(8), 1179-1188.
Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory
study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology &
Marketing, 32(1), 15-27.
Das, G. (2014). Impacts of retail brand personality and self-congruity on store loyalty: the
moderating role of gender. Journal of Retailing and Consumer services, 21(2), 130-
138.
Pulizzi, J. (2012). The rise of storytelling as the new marketing. Publishing research
quarterly, 28(2), 116-123.