Mapping the digital landscape: a bibliometric analysis of the role of digital marketing in customer engagement

In a dynamic digital age, businesses are increasingly perceiving the vital role of customer engagement in achieving sustainable success in the long term. It has taken centre stage within a decade, as evidenced by publications ranging from sixteen in 2012 to 133 in 2023 and 103 in 2024. This study uncovers the bibliometric techniques to investigate the intellectual structure of the field and discovers highly influential areas and keywords in the dataset of 479 English-language scholarly articles drawn from the Scopus database, spanning from 2012 to 2025. VOS viewer is utilised to map prominent contributory journals, create a network of co-occurrences of keywords, identify prominent study areas, and lead future research fields. This study focuses on the impact of digital marketing on customer retention and business growth and provides insights for digital marketing consultants, academics, and practitioners.