We knew this day was coming.

Facebook announced that it would dramatically cut back the influence of brand and publisher pages within the News Feed.

I get why Mark Zuckerberg is doing it. He wants Facebook to be a place for people to connect with friends and families. Makes perfect sense.

It’s tough, though, for social media professionals who have built entire communities within the platform. While this shift from Facebook will no doubt have significant implications for our social strategy, I’m not in a complete freak out zone. Here’s why.

#CSUSocial’s purpose is to give fans a sense of belonging to fuel their fandom for Colorado State – all while pushing the envelope. We still will do that.

Our team philosophy is to Listen Deeply, Share Meaningfully, and Build Community. This is an opportunity to double down and stay true to the core of why we use social media in the first place.

We will continue to produce content that our fans want… and will engage with. We are notoriously picky (or as we like to say, strategic) about what and how we post to Facebook (falls into the share meaningfully mentality). The move from Facebook does not change that. Quality over quantity. It has always worked better for us.

We will still foster an authentic community where fans can engage with one another and their university.

Finally, we are prepared to spend money to make sure our content gets in front of our fans. We’ve been boosting posts for a couple of years now and will continue to do so in a strategic manner.

All in all, I feel like we are in a good space to respond to Facebook’s changes based on the solid foundation we have built. We’re lucky to have the opportunity to connect with our fans in enriching ways on this platform and others. It will no doubt be more difficult on Facebook but I’ve always liked a good challenge 😉

👉 Be sure to check out Ashley Manweiler’s tips for optimizing content for the new changes on Facebook.