Rules Not To Be Ignored When Running Facebook Competitions

Running a Facebook competition can be a great marketing angle to raise awareness for your business and bring in new customers. It also gives you a great opportunity to connect with existing customers.

You need to make sure your prize offers value and that you comply with the rules. You don't want it to backfire, where your business ends up in

One of the worst things is ending up in Facebook Jail

Facebook Jail, and you don't want to anger your customers.

To keep your Facebook Page compliant, you need to make sure that you adhere to all of Facebook’s competition rules. Go over this list before you launch your next contest to ensure that you get the exposure you want without risking your account. Social Media Bridge can assist you with this, to make sure all your bases are covered and provide tips on how to increase engagement.

Facebook Rules To Keep In Mind When Running a Competition

1. Provide detailed contest rules:

• Make it clear that there is no purchase necessary.

• Tell entrants that making a purchase does not increase their chances of winning.

• Tell entrants when the contest begins, ends and how long it will run.

• Tell when and how a winner will be chosen by spelling out the judging criteria for the contest.

• Tell who is running or administering the competition.

• Clearly describe the prizes. This is important since many territories require clear descriptions of prizes. Here is an example of a set of contest terms that goes to great lengths to describe the prizes:

• Include a release that allows you to use any user-generated content that is needed for the contest, as well as a release for any publicity rights.

• State that the competition is void where prohibited.

2. Make it clear that Facebook is not your sponsor

• When running a contest or promotion on Facebook, you need to acknowledge that it is not endorsed, sponsored or administered by Facebook.

3. Understand which contests are allowed, and which are not

• It’s important to understand which kind of contests are allowed on Facebook and which ones are not.

• Sweepstakes and drawings, where someone only needs to enter to win and winners are chosen by chance, are permitted.

• Contests where entries are judged and the sponsor or their agents choose a winner are also allowed.

• However, lotteries, where someone must buy a ticket to win, are not.

4. No “consideration” allowed for participation

• Consideration means having to exchange something of value for your entry.

• In some places personal information is a consideration, make sure to check what laws apply to your area.

5. Don’t force people to engage in actions to enter

• Facebook does not allow you to require actions on its platform in exchange for entries.

• This means that you can’t ask for likes or shares on Facebook as a means of entering.

• However, you can have a contest that leads participants off Facebook and asks for actions there.

• You also cannot require that people tag friends in order to enter.

6. Make sure that the contest is not administered on a personal profile

• If you have accidentally created a personal profile for your business instead of an official Facebook Page, make sure you straighten this out before running your contest. Social Media Bridge can help you with this.

• According to Facebook’s rules, you can only run a contest from a Facebook Page, Group, Event or App.

• Contests on Personal Timelines are not permitted.

7. Get explicit permission to use submitted content

• If you are running a competition where entrants submit photos, video or other content, make sure that you have a place where they can acknowledge that they agree to you using it.

• Entries from previous contests can be used in promotions going forward if you have attained permission to do so.

8. Understand that Facebook will not assist in your promotion

• Facebook’s contest and promotions rules are that they will not administer your contest or assist in it.

• Additionally, any Page running a promotion on Facebook does so at their own risk. What this means is that Facebook is not to be held liable.

Ready To Go!

Now that you know the rules, are you ready, or do you still need a little help? Did you know that we design and run campaigns and competitions for our customers at Social Media Bridge? We can take care of the entire competition from conception to implementation, including engagement and monitoring. Get in touch today for a quote.