The History of Content Marketing [Updated Infographic]

By Joe Pulizzi published

If you want some insights into where the content marketing industry may be headed, it might just help to take a look at where it’s been.

As we pointed out when CMI shared its History of Content Marketing infographic in 2012, brands have been telling their stories to audiences for hundreds of years. Not to mention that storytelling itself is one of the oldest forms of communication.

While we used to consider John Deere’s The Furrow to be the oldest example of content marketing, Robert Rose and I have unearthed several more examples on our weekly This Old Marketing podcast:

1732 – Benjamin Franklin first publishes the yearly Poor Richard’s Almanack. The goal is to promote his printing business.

1801 – Bookstore Librairie Galignani employs creative content strategies to grow its business, including opening a reading room and printing a newspaper that featured articles from influential authors and books.

1861 – Samuel Wagner launches American Bee Journal, a magazine that is still being published.

1867 – Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company debuts The Locomotive, which is now said to be the oldest company magazine continuously published under the same name in the United States.

1882 – The Edison Electric Lighting Company Bulletin spreads the word about the benefits of electric lighting.

1887 – Charles Scribner’s Sons publishes Scribner’s Magazine, which provides a look inside the lives of its most famous authors. It competes with Harper’s Monthly and Atlantic Monthly, but its goal was to generate sales of Scribner’s books.

1888 – Johnson & Johnson launches a publication called Modern Methods of Antiseptic Wound Treatment that is aimed at the needs of doctors to whom the company sold bandages. The company also launches two publications to share helpful articles with the medical community.

But despite the age of the technique, the power it wields hasn’t diminished at all. In fact, examples of brands using content marketing – and the impact of those efforts – have increased exponentially over the years. That’s why we thought it would be a good time to update our infographic to include some of the most significant achievements that have happened over the past few years.

Share this image on your site – Just copy and paste code below

If you are looking for more stories of brands using and succeeding with content marketing:

Want to be part of content marketing history? Register today to attend the largest content marketing event in the world this September. Use code BLOG100 to save $100.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

• That’s a very interesting and simplified read on content marketing, well designed.

• • Great stuff Scott. Keep it coming!

• Joe, I’m trying to find out when the first print mag on content marketing was published. I know Kontekst – a mag on content marketing – was first published in 2006, so 10 years ago. Does anyone know of any older print mags in the world dedicated solely to content marketing?

  • I’m not sure when Content Council launched their magazine…I’m thinking 2001-2003 perhaps. We did a mini-magazine on it for B2B when I was with Penton called B2B Marketing Trends. That was in 2004. But I’d have to think there were earlier examples.

• I earn around six to eight thousand dollars monthly doing an online job. So if you are looking to complete simple freelance jobs for several hrs a day from your home and make solid profit in the same time… Then this job is for you… SELF90.COM

• Very cool post, Joe! It’s fun to learn from the great examples of our forefathers in content marketing. Have a happy Fourth!

  • I currently make approximately 6000-8000 bucks /month with my online job. For anyone ready to work simple freelance work for 2-5 h a day from your living room and get good paycheck while doing it… This is an opportunity for you… FAVE.CO/29lfYDj

• Great infographic and I am stunned that the concept was around late in the Victorian era. Still, a nice discovery. The platform may change but the concept remains I believe.

• Wonderful example Steve. Thanks for sharing.

• This is great! I am presently writing a dissertation on The influence of Content marketing on Customer engagement. I now have the opportunity to review the Literature Review on Content Marketing. Thank you Joe and Robert for your efforts, God bless!

  • Wonderful news. Thanks for sharing.

• very interesting post to read history of content marketing. What’s simportant is to understand the ideas and events that define history.

• I do not understand:
  2001 – J&J buys BabyCenter from eToys.
  Why is this important in history of content marketing?

  • Sure Martin. Two reasons. First, BabyCenter is a content marketing platform that J&J still uses today. But second, it was one of the first examples of a brand purchasing a platform instead of home-growing it…a trend we are seeing pick up at the present time. Thanks for the comment.

• Solid Information you have here.Though I personally think that the Stamina of
  an infographic is it can be Create into a series of infographics. You’ll
  be able to grasp neighboring Subjects to add contents to your Site then you make an infographic.

• Thanks for the post. Content marketing is now evolving in the world of SEO as one of the powerful strategy any strategist can implement. You can do anything great with the unique and timely content. This can be one of those reasons that can make your website stand out among the rest. With perfectly matched content to the queries, nothing is impossible in keeping your website to the best and top search results.