Social media marketing research: a bibliometric analysis from Scopus

Objective The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to enhance understanding of the academic landscape of social media marketing research in the last decade. Methodology A complete keyword search within the Scopus database yielded 18,844 publications linking social media platforms to marketing. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 1872 relevant articles were analyzed. The PRISMA framework ensured structured selection, while VOSviewer was used to visualize research clusters and trends. Key findings The results underscore the growing prominence of social media as a transformative tool in marketing. Key insights include a detailed examination of leading countries, top institutions, prolific authors, and high-impact journals shaping the field. Emerging research themes such as AI-driven marketing, tourism marketing, digital advertising, and virtual marketing were identified. The research also reveals regional disparities in research output, particularly in the Arab region, emphasizing the need for localized research frameworks and better integration of Arabic databases into global academic discussions. Contributions The research emphasizes the need to adopt advanced methodologies, including empirical studies, thematic analysis, and big data analytics, to enhance the rigor of future research. It also advocates for bibliometric studies on Arabic databases to address regional disparities and enrich the understanding of electronic marketing in the Arabic context. It identifies several underexplored research areas like sustainability in social media campaigns, integrating virtual and augmented reality into marketing strategies, relations between influencer marketing’s impact on consumer decision-making, the psychological and behavioral impact of social media marketing, and the role of emerging social media platforms. This analysis also provides actionable insights for businesses, policymakers, marketers advocating for platform-specific marketing strategies, ethical AI regulations and the need for localized marketing approaches that consider cultural nuances. Additionally, it highlights social media’s role in sustainability, public health awareness, and crisis communication, offering a roadmap for organizations seeking to leverage digital platforms more effectively.