Are You Breaking Facebook’s Promotions Guidelines?
While looking at mall Facebook pages, we’ve seen some great contests that are, apparently, quite rule breaking. Circus Strategic Communications Inc. recently published a blog post running down the ways to run Facebook contests without breaking the rules, and we’re reposting an excerpt here (with permission). If you’ve been running contests on your wall, you should read this, and make sure to click through and read the rest:
“Can holding a contest on the wall of your Facebook result in your page being shut down? The answer is YES as per Facebook’s Promotions Guidelines.
Too often we hear from our clients, “I saw someone running a cool contest on their Facebook page and we would like to do the same”. Usually what we find is a brand asking people to like their page, and holding a draw or contest among their fans on their Facebook wall. What this means is that the page admins don’t know that this activity can jeopardize the brand’s presence on Facebook.
Circus will not recommend a contest to our clients, that is prohibited by Facebook. As per Facebook’s current promotions guidelines you are NOT able to:
- Hold a contest on your wall that users can automatically enter by liking your Facebook Page
- Hold a contest where entrants need to post on your wall, upload a photo or make a status update
- Notify winners via the Facebook platform using a post on your page or the entrant’s page or profile”
So there’s the bad news. For tips on how to create a Facebook promotion that doesn’t break the rules, read the rest of the post here. The company is also running a Facebook promotion that follows the rules on its own page if you’re looking for an example.
Disclosure: Circus Strategic Communications, Inc. is a regular advertiser in our publications. This posting is not a paid placement.
