I recently had a client come and ask me about what is the correct way of setting up promotions or competitions on Facebook. She was very concerned about doing it correctly and not getting her Page banned which does, contrary to popular belief happen quite often. Competitions, their formats and rules have always been a bit of a hazy area, but since the new ‘Timeline’ has arrived Facebook have tightened it up and made it clearer, in a nutshell this is what you can’t do;
The Rules
1) You cannot run a Facebook Competition through your ‘Wall or News Feed’.
2) You cannot ‘Like’, ‘Comment’ or ‘Share’ a page as part of a competition. (However, liking a page maybe part of but not all of the condition to play).
3) You cannot directly upload a photo onto Facebook as part of a competition.
4) You cannot use the facility or action of ‘liking’ a photo or video as part of a competition.
P.S when running a competition don’t forget to put a disclaimer that it is your own competition and not Facebook’s.
Will you get caught??
With nearly 1 Billion Facebook accounts the truth of the matter is, if you are a small regional business the chances are you are more likely to fly under the radar of the Facebook Police. Unlike, the Coca Cola’s, McDonalds and Red Bull’s of this world but it does happen and Pages have been taken down. It would be wrong of me to encourage non-conformity of Facebook’s Rules and let’s face it, how long have you spent getting those precious ‘fans’ to risk it all on a small marketing competition. So my message is do it right and within the rules.
So what is the correct way to run a competition??
Well the good news is that with all problems comes a solution in this case you can look to developing your own Competition Application or looking to the ones that have already been created/developed. (Known as 3rd Party Apps).
The larger a Company is the more likely they are to go and get an Application developed specifically for them. This can be expensive but if you have a large fan base of say over 20,000 it can prove to be one of the best investments your company will ever make. If you look at a lot of the Alcoholic Brands like Heineken, Budweiser and Carlsberg etc they often tie in their customised competitions with events they sponsor like The London Olympics, Euro 2012 and the Heineken Cup Rugby. They work very well are easy to enter and are engaging. Who wouldn’t want to win a competition! We know these brands have huge budgets but what if you are a small company? Which let’s face it most of us are.
Luckily, there are a lot of companies established to meet this demand and at a very low cost to businesses by developing 3rd Party Apps. A lot even offer free trails! The ones to look out for are North Social, Short Stack, Wildfire App, Woo Box & Involver. These are very easy to use and very affordable. By visiting these sites you not only get ideas on how to run a competition but how to set them up. You can also very easily customise the app with your logo and brand so it looks extremely professional.
So get moving on your latest competitions they are a great way to attract new ‘fans’ and get a ‘buzz’ going about your business.
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