Like many other mediums, content marketing gets analyzed and dissected regularly by marketers and others. And, like many other mediums, there is a bit of debate on whether it is a science or and an art. The consensus is that it's probably both.
What the question really brings out is the need to know how it works and why? Content marketing is not a new discipline, nor is it particularly unique. Most observers will point back to 1895 when the John Deere company first published The Furrow, a magazine for customers.