An open letter to social media managers about Facebook frustrations

You’ve spent all this time building your communities, working out which content works best, and generally prescribing to the principle that Facebook is a social network, not an advertising platform.

Well, things have changed, and although the new Facebook is not what it once was, it’s not all bad.

Before we get into the reasons why you shouldn’t lose faith in Facebook, let’s quickly recap the changes that have caused a stir.

The most contentious addition? Facebook’s newly launched promoted posts.

At first, this seemed like a subtle change. We’ve become accustomed to Facebook ads and sponsored stories, so promoted posts seemed like a logical progression.

If you’re not familiar promoted posts, they allow you to do two things:

1. They give your posts more visibility in the news feed among people who already “like” your page;

2. Or for a little extra investment, you can get some added visibility among people who “like” your page and (most importantly) their friends.

The reaction from many page owners, especially smaller businesses, is that you can’t succeed on Facebook anymore without throwing money at it.

This is a very understandable reaction as it is a big “rule” change.