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How To Run Facebook Competitions Without Getting Banned

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Facebook are fiercely protective of their user experience.

And they’ve come to the conclusion that sometimes, when businesses run competitions on their Pages, it can affect users’ enjoyment of their time on Facebook.

So. Here’s the cold, hard, fact: running the wrong sort of competition on your Facebook page can get you banned.

Fact is, running a bad competition can get your Facebook Page banned. Click To Tweet

Unless you run them within the rules set out in Facebook’s Pages Terms.

Want to know how? Read on…

1. What ISN’T allowed

Any of the following will put you on the wrong side of Facebook’s Terms of Service:

– asking Facebook users to share your Page post (so no “share this post to enter!”)

– asking Facebook users to tag themselves – or their friends – in your Page post (N.B. this applies to all types of Page post, not just Competitions)

– asking Facebook users to share something on their own profile page to enter

– running a competition from your Personal Profile (and not from your Page)

– tagging Facebook users in content they don’t appear in (also known as “tagjacking“).

2. What IS allowed:

– Collecting entries by asking users to post directly on your page, comment on a post on your page, or like a post on your page.

– Collecting entries by asking users to message your Page directly.

– Using “likes” on your Page as a voting mechanism

So, let’s say you run a bar, you’ve created a new cocktail, and you want to run a Facebook competition to promote it.

DON’T DO THIS: Post a picture of the new cocktail, with the caption “Tag your friends in the comments for a chance to win a £50 bar tab!“.

INSTEAD, DO THIS: Post a picture of the new cocktail, with the caption “Help us name this new cocktail! Comment below with your suggestions, and the best entry (as judged by our bar staff) will win a £50 bar tab!“.

Simple, yeah?

Want some help?

You don’t have to do this alone – we can do the hard work for you, and get your business up and running at full steam online.

Plus – and this is the good bit – we’re GIVING AWAY free 30 minute one-on-one workshops to get you started.

Limited spaces are available, so request your session NOW. Just click above to get started.

All of these rules are correct as of August 2016 – though do be aware that Facebook can change the rules at any time. Here’s the link to Facebook’s Page Guidelines to find out more.

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David Trott

David has worked with countless UK charities, businesses, and schools - with a brilliant track record of helping them with their biggest challenges. David is the founder of the Impact group - including Impact Charity Advisors, Impact Business Advisors, and Impact Education Support.