How to Run a Successful Facebook Competition

How to Run a Successful Facebook Competition

Our latest blog explains how to run a successful Facebook competition without breaking the strict rules set by the social media giants!

“How would you like to win a three-course meal for you and 5 of your friends? All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is like our page, like and share this post and tag the friends you’d take with you! Good luck!”

Look familiar? Of course, it does. We see so many posts like this across social media platforms almost daily. However, did you know, that these sorts of posts violate the regulations of popular social media sites such as Facebook?

This type of wording in a competition post, asking people to actively share your page in return for some sort of reward violates the Facebook Developers Policy. Pages are allowed to ask people to like that specific post relating to the competition itself, comment on the post and (where applicable) post to the page directly.

The BIG No-No’s

However, BIG no-no’s in posts of this nature are:

• Instructing people to share the post or page – people can do this at their own discretion, but it can in no way be a term of the competition directly.
• Encouraging participants to ‘tag a friend’ – again, this is allowed as a part of the post, but it CANNOT be a compulsory step to winning the competition itself.

A point also worth noting is that if a post is deemed to have violated that sites competition policies, they can (and WILL), shut down your page – permanently.

Lastly, a disclaimer MUST be published at the bottom of each post that involves any kind of prize, clearly stating that the competition is in no way affiliated with that site – for example Facebook requires the following wording; “This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with Facebook”

Protocol dictates that the site does not ask the winner to get in touch to claim their prize as fraudsters have been known to clone accounts and/or email  addresses and pose as the winner in order to claim prizes not belonging to them. Safety dictates that you message the winner and wait for them to respond to you within a predetermined time period.

Whilst it seems like a lot of specifics and subtlety within the rules, it is necessary when it comes to protecting your business.

Structure is Key

A proper structure is key, including all the relevant and acceptable Terms and Conditions for entry to your draw. These should be:

• The prize – be specific and do not leave any room for speculation or confusion
• A closing date and time – if this is a global competition, this must include which time zone the draw will be measured by
• Entry restrictions – age, location yet without ostracizing a particular demographic based on race/religion etc
• Entry instructions – clear, concise steps on exactly how to enter
• How the winner will be selected – we recommend Fanpage Karma Good Luck Fairy, although there are others
• Who is promoting the prize draw – reference the name of your company somewhere in the post
• Disclaimer text – the previously mentioned text regarding Facebook affiliation

Your post then becomes:

“How would you like to win a three-course meal for you and 5 of your friends? Delicious Dinners is giving away a superb three course-meal from our new menu! To enter, simply Like this post! Although not mandatory, we would love to know who you would take?

T’s and C’s – The winner will be drawn on the 1st
December 2019, 23:59 hrs using Fanpage Karma Good Luck Fairy.

UK Entrants only

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with Facebook”

We hope that this post helps you run a successful Facebook competition successfully in the future.  If you would like any further assistance with your digital marketing, please don’t hesitate to contact greensplash today!