Have a Facebook Page? Great. Want to hold a contest on that page? Did you know there’s specific rules about what you can do and what you can NOT do?
Nothing new – they haven’t changed since December 2009 yet everday I see pages holding contests where they could easily be tossing their entire page following away.
http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php
Here’s the two parts you’ll probably need to read (really important parts in RED)
Section 3. Administering a Promotion through the Facebook Platform
You may not administer any promotion through Facebook, except that you may administer a promotion through the Facebook Platform with our prior written approval. Such written approval may be obtained only through an account representative at Facebook. If you are already working with an account representative, please contact that representative to begin the approval process. If you do not work with an account representative, you can use this contact form to inquire about working with an account representative.
Sounds easy – right? How much did you spend last month on advertising on Facebook? Was it over $10,000? That’s what it will take to “get” an Account Rep. No Really…
Leave it at “Less Than $10,000” and you’ll get a reply that there is no account Rep available at this time to service your needs.
And then here’s where most pages go afoul of the rules…
Section 4. Publicizing a Promotion on Facebook 4.2 In the rules of the promotion, or otherwise, you will not condition entry to the promotion upon taking any action on Facebook, for example, updating a status, posting on a profile or Page, or uploading a photo. You may, however, condition entry to the promotion upon becoming a fan of a Page.
So how do you legally hold a contest on Facebook?
There are a few third party applications that Facebook has vetted and allowed to run contests on your behalf. They understand the rules and issues of Facebook and can help your page legally run the contest. Remember that these are not actually Facebook but 3rd party Applications.
So now that you understand the rules – Did I win that iPad?
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