If one of your professional New Year’s resolutions is to do more with your company’s Facebook page, one of your ideas is most likely holding a contest (aka, a promotion), be it a photo or video contest or a sweepstakes.
Before you get started on any planning, it is well worth your time to familiarize yourself with Facebook’s rules for promotions so you don’t get banned.
In summary, here is what you need to know (you can read the full list here):
1. The product or service you are promoting has to be yours, either as an authorized merchant or the manufacturer.
2. You are responsible for ensuring your contest does not break any laws, rules or regulations and you must clearly state the official rules, offer terms, and eligibility requirements.
3. Promotions must use Apps on Facebook and state that Facebook has nothing to do with the contest.
4. You can ask entrants to Like a Page, check in to a Place, or connect to your app when they enter the contest, but that action cannot automatically enter them. You cannot ask them to take any other action on Facebook, like leaving a comment on your wall.
5. The Like button cannot be used for voting.
6. You cannot notify winners through Facebook.
To ensure your Facebook contest is successful, here is a handy checklist to follow:
Have a goal: Whether it’s more Likes, increased brand awareness, new product promotion, better user engagement, etc., have a goal so you can measure whether or not your contest worked.
Make it interactive: A fun, interactive experience will draw more entries and encourage word of mouth and social sharing.
Be creative with contest prizes: Your contest prize can be something with broad appeal – a gift card to Amazon – or niche appeal – a private souffle baking class. Whatever you decide, make sure it appeals to your target audience.
Choose a third party app that is easy to use: Look for one that is customizable, cost-effective (some are free), and mobile-friendly and that can be embedded on your website.
Make it easy to enter: Ask for the bare minimum amount of information from entrants (like name and email), and make it easy to enter, like answering a trivia question or uploading a photo of a pet.
Follow up: Once the winner is announced, follow up with the entrants by responding to feedback or simply thanking them for becoming a part of your community.
Google+Web.com is now offering forums designed to support small businesses in cities throughout the US. Learn more about these forums here: http://Businessforum.web.com/
Tags: Marketing, small business, social media
Posted in Marketing, Small Business, small business, Social Media, social media | 8 Comments »
