With around three billion monthly users, Facebook is one of the world’s largest social media platforms. For brands and businesses big and small, utilising the platform and running Facebook contests or a Facebook giveaway can be highly beneficial. Although it might look simple and easy to set up an online competition, there are official rules and regulations that you must follow. Keep reading to find out how to run a legal and successful Facebook competition.
What is a Facebook competition?
A Facebook competition is pretty much what it says on the tin – a competition that’s run solely on Facebook. This is where someone will promote their brand or business and the service or products that they offer by running a contest or prize draw on Facebook. This means that the only way you can enter the competition is through the social media platform itself.
The do’s and don’t’s of Facebook competition rules
There are a set of terms and conditions that Facebook have set out for anyone who wishes to run a competition on their site.
The do’s
Let’s first start with all the things you can do when running a competition on Facebook.
✅You can ask users to like and/or comment on a particular post as a way of entering the competition
✅You can encourage people to follow your page, but this must not be a way of participating in the giveaway.
✅You can motivate people to tag their friends and share the prize on their page, but again, this must not be a way to enter the competition or be incentivised in any way. For example, you cannot offer more entries for anyone who tags their friends.
✅You can ask people to post a photo or GIF in the comments section as a way of entering and building engagement.
The Don’t’s
❌You cannot charge people to enter the competition – it must be free and accessible to all.
❌You cannot require people to share the post on their wall or a friend’s wall in order to enter the competition.
❌You cannot ask people to tag their friends in order to enter or to gain more entries into the competition.
❌You cannot ask people to follow your page as a way of entering themselves into the competition. Again, it must be accessible to all.
Facebook rules on competitions
Now you know what you can and can’t do, it’s time to delve into the official competition on Facebook rules.
1. Provide clear and honest competition rules
When running a competition, make sure you create easily accessible and detailed terms and conditions. This can even be on a separate, easy-to-get-to landing page dedicated to the rules of the competition.
Some important rules you should consider are:
- Make it clear that no purchase is necessary to enter the contest.
- Make sure entrants know that making a purchase will not increase their chances of winning.
- Be clear about how long the contest will run, when it starts, and when it is set to end.
- Detail the judging criteria and explain how a winner will be chosen and how they will be informed.
- Clearly describe the prize or prizes, so entrants know exactly what they could win. This will also help with any prize disputes after the competition has ended.
- Be clear about your brand/business and who is running the competition.
- Make sure to include a release that states you can use any user-generated content needed for the competition or for publicity rights.
- State that the competition will be void where prohibited.
2. Be clear that Facebook is not a sponsor
This is very important. You need to make it clear that Facebook is not sponsoring or endorsing your competition, nor are they responsible for the entrants or participants in any way. The best way to do this is by creating a release statement for Facebook so people know that Facebook is not administering the competition.
3. Do not require “consideration” to enter
The term “consideration”, in legal terms, refers to the exchange of something valuable for your entry. This will benefit both the entrant and the competition holder. This is something that is prohibited on Facebook. It’s also good to note that in some countries, simply giving up your name or email address is a legal consideration as it is a person’s identifying information. Make sure to check where your competition will be held before you make it live.
4. Run the contest from a business page, event, or group
When you run your competition, make sure you do not run it from a personal profile. In order to comply with Facebook’s prize draw rules, you must run the competition from a business page, event, or group only, as contests on personal timelines are not permitted.
5. Don’t force engagement as a way of entering
We’ve mentioned this above, but it’s a super important point. You cannot ask people to share your post, like your page, tag a friend, or share to a friend’s timeline to get additional entries or to enter the competition in the first place. You can, however, ask them to like the competition post or comment on the post to enter.
If you do want to run a competition that requires entrants to partake in certain actions, then you can always lead participants off Facebook and onto something like your website, where actions can be asked for.
6. Facebook will not assist with your competition
As we’ve mentioned above, not only do you need to make it clear to your participants that Facebook is not associated with the competition in any way, but you too should understand this yourself. Whatever contest you run on the platform, you do so at your own risk, and Facebook will not be liable for any mistakes or rules and laws you break during your contest.
How Another Way can help
Sticking to the rules and regulations of Facebook competitions takes extra time and consideration, and running a competition might not be as easy as you first thought it to be. That is where Another Way comes in. We are a promotions and prize management agency that connects brands with consumers in a more meaningful way through prize promotions. We will do all the hard work for you and get your competition up and running while making sure it is fully legal. Plus we even offer winner selection and management for when your competition is finished!
If you don’t want to risk breaking the rules of Facebook competitions, let us help you. Contact us today or take a look at the amazing services we offer.
Recent Comments