So how would you plan on running a Facebook competition? By getting people to create and upload images or videos whilst tagging a million of their friends in order to get in with a chance to win? By inviting folks to submit artwork, poetry or whatnot so that you can judge it then announce the winners via Facebook? Or simply by randomly picking from the various people who ‘like’ your request to ‘like me to win’? It all sounds so easy right?
Do that, then use that little promote button that makes it show higher up in friends’ news feeds.
Cool, now go ahead and try it and risk getting your page getting shut down completely. Yep, it’s true. All those competitions run on Facebook are probably ‘illegal’ in their world. You see, Facebook has an extensive list of terms and conditions and this means that all those ways that you probably have considered running your competition are likely not gelling with Facebook’s T & C’s.
So how do you set up a competition on Facebook in such a way that it doesn’t upset Zuckerberg? Well, it’s not as easy as you’d think. Facebook’s rules are a little wonky and have had many folks confused and scratching their heads considering what is and what isn’t allowed. However, it can be done and it’s probably not going to be free, but here’s how you do it:
Firstly – Consider WHY you want to run a competition. Is it to promote a new product? An attempt get more eyes on your page? To pick up a bigger fan base and advocates for your company? You need to be clear in your objective and not just do it because your best pal did it (and probably went against all T &C’s). Make sure that the prize is a worthy one and that the competition is not excessively complicated. Although it probably won’t get your Facebook page shut down, most people will probably not bother with anything that’s not simple.
Secondly – Here’s where most people go wrong. You’ll need to create an app for the competition. You can either do this yourself by using a third party application, or get someone else to do it for you. Either way, unless you adhere to this rule, you’re likely to be breaking Facebook’s T&C’s. If you have a search around on the web, you’ll be able to find a few third party applications that will help you with this (not usually free). Make sure you’ve familiarized yourself with Facebook’s T&C’s by this point.
Thirdly – Once you’ve created the app, you can promote it on your page and make reference to it using your timeline. It’s handy to keep track of the people who are entering the competition so you know who your potential customers are. Here’s where you can also promote it using other social media platforms.
Finally – Use Facebook ads as a way to promote your competition. If you want to of course. You can create Facebook ads through the ad creation tool located in Facebook. But user beware! Facebook ads come with their own plethora of rules. So make sure you read them thoroughly first.
So there you have it: the (slightly odd) way to run a competition which abides to the ‘laws’ of Facebook. Alternatively, you could always walk away and use other social networks, which might be an easier way to do things. But let’s face it, Facebook is the place to be these days and if you’re not running your competition on Facebook, then you’re probably not going to reach as many people as you potentially could. Zuckerberg gets the last comeback.