Purpose

Contemporary practitioners of content marketing (CM) often suggest their discipline is an ancient one, yet mainly limit its origins to the custom-published magazines of the late 1800s. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize some of the many definitions of CM and to report the first scholarly history of its development and practice.

Design/methodology/approach

This study’s purposes led to the following research questions: To what extent were CM strategies and tactics used before the 20th century? How have the uses and characteristics of CM changed or remained the same over time? Sources included general histories focusing on the earliest uses of advertising and promotions and edited book chapters and journal articles on the histories of branding and early print advertising, marketing and advertising practices in ancient and medieval periods and the development of consumer cultures around the world.

Findings

Research findings support three conclusions: CM existed much earlier than often acknowledged; has emerged as a unique marketing discipline, strategically and tactically distinguishable from the others (e.g. advertising and sales promotion); and possesses objectives, strategies and tactics that have remained remarkably consistent in practice across the millennia.

Originality/value

The research supports several insights to the history of marketing and the practice of CM. Some of the CM strategies and tactics identified in this paper, for instance, have previously been concluded to be part of advertising’s history. Findings also reveal that many of advertising’s American pioneers actually used CM to persuade 19th-century businessmen to adopt widespread advertising. In addition, the emphasis on interactive, digital media in CM definitions offers a likely explanation for the recent enthusiasm behind CM as a response to global trends in consumer preferences and global competition, as well as why contemporary CM practitioners have often failed to recognize they are practicing a “new” discipline that has actually been in use for thousands of years.

中文翻译：

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内容营销的历史

目的

当代内容营销 (CM) 的从业者经常认为他们的学科是古老的学科，但主要将其起源限制在 1800 年代后期的定制出版杂志上。本文的目的是综合 CM 的许多定义中的一些，并报告其发展和实践的第一个学术历史。

设计/方法/方法

本研究的目的导致了以下研究问题：在 20 世纪之前，CM 战略和战术在多大程度上被使用？随着时间的推移，CM 的用途和特性如何发生变化或保持不变？资料来源包括关注最早使用广告和促销活动的一般历史，以及关于品牌历史和古代和中世纪早期印刷广告、营销和广告实践以及世界各地消费文化发展的编辑书籍章节和期刊文章。

发现

研究结果支持三个结论： CM 的存在比人们通常承认的要早得多；已成为独特的营销学科，在战略和战术上与其他学科（例如广告和促销）区别开来；并且拥有在数千年的实践中一直非常一致的目标、战略和战术。

原创性/价值

该研究支持对营销历史和 CM 实践的一些见解。例如，本文中确定的一些 CM 策略和策略之前已被认为是广告历史的一部分。调查结果还表明，许多美国广告先驱实际上使用 CM 说服 19 世纪的商人采用广泛的广告。此外，CM 定义中对交互式数字媒体的强调为最近 CM 背后的热情提供了一个可能的解释，即对消费者偏好和全球竞争的全球趋势的回应，以及为什么当代 CM 从业者经常未能认识到他们是练习一门已经使用了数千年的“新”学科。