Content Marketing Scientific Articles in the WOS: A Bibliometric Analysis

Purpose: Despite the widespread diffusion and interest aroused by content marketing, little attention has been paid until this moment to building a framework that presents the main currents and studies of the field. Hence, the main aim of this study was to cover this gap by analyzing bibliographic information as complementary sources and enable a wider understanding and grasp of the content marketing field.Method: For this purpose, a bibliometric study of the publications indexed in Web of Science (WoS) between ۱۹۸۵-۲۰۲۲ was conducted. The search process used in this review was informed by PRISMA guidelines. During the search process, a set of ۳۷۱ documents (research  and review articles) were obtained. Also, the bibliometrix R-package and VOSviewer software were used for quantitative analysis and visualizing bibliometric networks.Findings: The descriptive statistics showed that content marketing studies have rapidly grown since ۲۰۱۱. The US and Spain are the countries with the most publications of the field. The most prominent journal concerning content marketing research is Brand Journalism (with ۱۱ articles), and the most prolific author is Bull A (with ۱۱ articles).The results of the thematic analysis showed that ‘digital marketing’ and ‘brand storytelling’ are emerging themes and have replaced ‘content marketing’. The co-word analysis of author’s keywords defines ۸ clusters: ۱) platforms and techniques ۲) content marketing concepts, ۳) influencer marketing and advertising, ۴) digital and social media marketing, ۵) brand management and brand storytelling, ۶) brand journalism, ۷) private and native media, and ۸) corporate and public communication.Conclusion: Simultaneously with the development of content creation platforms, these platforms have been welcomed in the field of content marketing. Content preparation has undergone changes in recent years. The style of information content based on news and specialized knowledge has shifted its focus to storytelling and narrative messages from the brand. This paper introduces the main areas of interest and possible gaps. It also contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a comprehensive overview of content marketing literature.

Keywords:

bibliometric analysis , Brand Storytelling , Content Marketing , Web of Science