The Future of Digital Strategy

This assignment analyzes the declining traffic to traditional online platforms like social media and reviews sites, exploring factors such as fake reviews and poor content quality. It discusses the shift towards privacy calculus theory and users seeking relevant information independently. The assignment examines the implications of these trends for marketers, agencies, and brands, emphasizing the need for user-oriented content strategies and a more community-minded approach.

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Running Head: DIGITAL STRATEGY
Digital Strategy
Student’s Name
Institution

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DIGITAL STRATEGY
Digital Strategy
Social Media is dead. What’s next?
The Deloitte study showing a decline in traffic to online reviews’ sites, brand’s social network,
and social media platforms indicates changing needs among us. These sites are unique platforms
that give potential customers insight into a company including its services and reputation.
Through these platforms, we can obtain adequate information about a brand which is key in
making an informed decision. Despite the valuable information given by these sites, the reducing
traffic as shown in the study is an indicator of our changing information needs. This change can
lead to negative business implications as many firms rely on social media, reviews’ sites, and
brand-specific social network to attract new customers and improve brand awareness.
The decline in traffic can be attributed to two factors: fake reviews and poor information. Online
reviews’ sites such as sitejabber and gamespot are known to be abused by companies that seek to
influence their reputation. It is estimated that over 15% of reviews on these sites are fake.
Businesses post fake reviews on such sites to boost their reputation which can raise suspicion
from potential customers and create a negative perception. The growing trend of fake reviews
may have influenced us to distrust online reviews’ site leading to a decline in traffic. Poor
information is another key factor that could be influencing web traffic. This implies that firms
are posting inaccurate and short content which fails to appeal to us. Content is a key aspect of a
website that significantly influences web traffic. For example, I will visit social media marketing
blog if it offers detailed information about social media marketing tips. Halvorson mentions that
detailed and unique information that includes an attractive writing style and visuals is a traffic-
magnet for any site. How many of you have read inaccurate information or content with
grammatical errors? If you have encountered a site with such kind of information, it is likely that

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DIGITAL STRATEGY
you were unimpressed. Poor information turn off customers who would have otherwise been
valuable traffic to a site that may be converted to a sale.
In the perspective of privacy Calculus theory, the decline of traffic could be attributed to our
preference to find relevant brand information on our own instead of getting involved in social
interactions.
This is a form of social withdrawal indicating our need to find information that aligns with our
expectations. A recent study conducted indicated that Australians are reluctant to pay for
premium content when they can access such information for free. This trend is an antecedent to
the declining traffic. Social withdrawal implies that we shift towards finding information about a
brand or a product without interacting with others. This behavior can be an indicator of waning
influence of peers or social reviews on our buying decisions. With respect to privacy theory, we
shun social media and other sites where we interact with people in order to find information that
meets our needs or reflects the quality of the brand we intend to buy from. This could be
influenced by the need to identify unique and truthful information which is a sign of a maturing
digital marketing environment in which we focus on quality instead of quantity.

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DIGITAL STRATEGY
The new user browsing behavior have varying implications on all stakeholders. The marketing
manager has to focus on our needs as the target audience in order to determine the content that
can be crafted to meet our needs. Agencies have to become user-oriented in order to deliver
content that aligns with our expectations. We as the consumers are likely to visit sites which
have detailed blog content. Additionally, the brand has to adopt a unique way of developing
content that is personalized for a specific target audience to engage them and encourage them to
take action.
Let’s face it, you either love or hate social media. Ironically, we get stuck in real traffic and then
in our cars, we download social media traffic to pass the time stuck in traffic. The future is
already here and businesses need to almost be prophetic in their choice of information sharing
and marketing strategies. Yes, we are fatigued, yes we do need a good nap, but trends are
backing a more community minded approach and valuing connections.