Designing a Model for the Effect of Content Marketing on the Effectiveness of E-Customer Relationship Management (Case Study: Iran Public Libraries Foundation)

The present study aims to design a model for the effect of content marketing on e-customer relationship management (E-CRM) in the Iran Public Libraries Foundation (IPLF). This research is applied in terms of its objective and mixed (quantitative-qualitative) in terms of its approach. The statistical population of the qualitative part of the research consists of experts who are fully acquainted with the subject of content marketing, including 17 professors in the departments of information science and knowledge, business management with the marketing orientation, information technology (IT), computer engineering and content production experts have chosen using purposeful and snowball sampling method. The statistical population of the research in the quantitative stage includes all managers, staff, and, librarians of Iranian public libraries, i.e. 7000 people. Using Cochran's formula and by stratified random sampling method, 364 people are selected as the total sample size. Due to sampling error (0.05) and the possibility of non-return of some questionnaires, 375 questionnaires are distributed and 366 questionnaires are collected and analyzed. Data collection tools are semi-structured interviews in the qualitative part and researcher-made questionnaire in the quantitative part, which is designed based on the findings of the qualitative part of the research. Also, the standard Kamalian, Amini Lari and Moezzi (2009) questionnaire is used to assess ECRM. In this study, theme analysis is used to identify the factors affecting content marketing, the fuzzy Delphi technique is used to consolidate the opinions of experts, and confirmatory factor analysis is used to evaluate the validity and reliability of the questionnaires. Results: Based on the study of texts and exploratory interviews with experts, five dimensions of strategic planning, content supply, and production, content distribution and dissemination, content analysis, pricing, and sales are identified for content marketing. Among these, content supply and production factor with an impact factor of 0.931 has the most impact and is the priority. Factors of content distribution and dissemination with a coefficient of 0.917; content analysis with a coefficient of 0.894; strategic planning with a coefficient of 0.877; and pricing and sales with a coefficient of 0.642 are in the second to fifth priorities in terms of effectiveness, respectively. Also, the impact factor of content marketing on the effectiveness of ECRM is calculated to be 816%. Findings at the error level of 0.05 indicate that content marketing has a significant effect on the effectiveness of ECRM in IPLF. ECRM in IPLF can be explained by the content marketing model. In addition to producing useful content related to the needs and preferences of its audience, it creates a powerful tool to gain trust and change the audience's attitude towards the services provided. Moreover, by increasing the skills of staff and managers, IPLF has made more efforts to identify, attract and retain audiences, which in the long run will lead to customer satisfaction, increased revenue growth, and achievement of competitive advantage.