Ujjwal Mishra, Amit Gautam, Gyanendra B.S. Johri
Digital marketing has evolved as a critical enabler for SMEs aiming for competitiveness, resilience and growth in the rapidly growing digital business sector. Despite an increasing body of literature, research on digital marketing in SMEs remains fragmented by themes, methodology and geographical contexts. Addressing this gap, the current study investigates the evolution, intellectual structure and research trends in SMEs-focused digital marketing research using a thorough bibliometric analysis. Performance analysis, co-word analysis, thematic mapping, factorial analysis and life cycle modeling were applied to a dataset of 301 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2015 and 2025. The data were extracted from the Scopus database. The results reveal a steady rise in scholarly output, with a significant increase in recent years, suggesting rising scholarly interest in the field. Thematic analysis reveals a shift from early adoption-focused research towards more strategic and capability-based perspectives that connect digital marketing with business growth, innovation, and entrepreneurial orientation, aligning it with Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG 9), which focuses on industry, innovation, and infrastructure. The results point out the limited integration of modern digital technology, sustainability concerns, and global business viewpoints. Collaboration analysis highlights uneven global knowledge contributions, implying that research activity is centered in a small number of developed and emerging nations. Overall, this study contributes by systematically mapping the evolving landscape of SME research on digital marketing, identifying prominent and emerging themes while offering future research directions.