Zuckerberg’s announcement came on the same day as a social media training session to agents in which I said, “Social media is an ever-changing landscape. So in that kind of environment, your strategy should be to connect genuinely and deliver moments of value regardless of tactics.” This statement could not have been validated any clearer!

If you have been following average organic reach per post term-over-term, you may have seen a consistent decline in deliverability to page followers’ news feeds. You may have also read articles about the company’s test to move Page content over to the Explore Feed in other countries. And you may have noticed some of the incredible new features available to groups and to user profiles. The latest announcement is no bombshell, but it instead confirms everything that we intuit from changes over the past two years.

So far, the reactions from marketing professionals have been varied. While we can agree that the changes promised by the social media giant will impact Pages, we don’t yet know to what extent they will be affected. It’s important not to put on the blinders and cruise-control through the next year. Keep an eye on developments and always seek out opportunities to flip your tactics on its head. This is an exciting time that will give big and small brands alike new opportunities to engage with consumers. It will also challenge marketers to consistently offer meaningful experiences – even if those experiences aren’t everyday occurrences.

Here are three of my biggest takeaways from Zuckerberg’s latest announcement:

DAILY CONTENT CURATION MAY NO LONGER APPLY

The practice of sharing and posting links to articles that you or your company didn’t directly create is called content curation. Content can be curated by you, or it can be curated for you by a third party service. As a generally accepted norm, content is curated on a daily basis and typically covers lifestyle or industry related information. Zuckerberg made it clear: the days of content curation are limited. We have seen a sharp decline in post reach for curated content throughout 2017. In 2018, expect this practice to depreciate as new approaches to take center stage. Invest more thought into leveraging micro-moments and disappearing content such as Stories. For agents and office managers, focus on thought leadership opportunities (such as this post!) and take advantage of Facebook Live as a way to engage audiences in meaningful discussions. Remember: it’s about content engagement… not production value. For brokerages, consider chat bots to help aid your outreach when interactions take place on your Business Page posts.

LEVERAGE YOUR INTEREST GROUPS AND COMMUNITIES

Groups have been given a huge boost in 2017. Admins can schedule posts and view insights. Pages can link to groups and post directly into them. People can Go Live into groups and join other groups recommended by the admins. It’s not hard to imagine groups to get another big update in 2018. For agents, connect with your community groups as a way to branch out and grow your social sphere. Promote your business in interest groups. Create a group for your clientele with your brand at the center to increase customer service and customer experience. At the brokerage level, create a closed or secret group for your agents as a safe space to ask questions, learn about upcoming office activities, and engage with learning opportunities remotely. At the brand level, a part of our strategy at ERA Real Estate is to connect our affiliate network through brand support groups such as the ERA Marketing Network.

DIAL UP YOUR AD STRATEGY AND AUDIENCES

With the higher demand for consumer attention on Facebook – and Pages’ reduced access to it – the cost of ads are likely to increase this year. It’s time to start thinking smarter about your ad strategy. Separate your buyer and seller audiences into highly specific segments so that they can experience relevant and meaningful ads for your real estate business. Start this year by tuning and refining your Saved Audiences. Test your ad sets and ads constantly to discover what resonates best with your audience. Experimentation and split testing will empower you to be confident about high stakes advertising on Facebook. Avoid boosting organic posts that may be affected by algorithm changes and stick to the Business Ad Manager to create your campaigns.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Facebook’s continued commitment to creating a positive and engaging environment for users should be seen as confirmation that the platform giant is not just here to stay, but determined to drive purposeful engagement, foster growth and encourage positive experiences. While change can be unsettling at first, change signals new opportunity and is the herald of creativity. Expect great things both from yourself and from others this year.