This week, Facebook has made changes to its promotions
guidelines, making it easier for companies to manage and administer
contests from their Facebook Pages. In the past, companies who
wished to offer a contest had to use an app to collect entries, as
Facebook did not allow companies to use Facebook services to
administer a contest. Facebook's updated Terms now allow
companies to run contests either through apps or directly through
the business' Timeline post. According to the new Pages Terms, businesses can now:
- Collect entries by having users post on the Page or comment/like a Page post
- Collect entries by having users message the Page
- Utilize likes as a voting mechanism
Like the old Terms, these promotions are limited to business
Pages and cannot be done through personal Pages. Facebook's
updated Pages Terms also prohibit encouraging people to tag
themselves in content that they are not actually depicted in. So,
under the updated Terms, businesses cannot ask users to tag
themselves in pictures of a product to enter a contest. In
addition, a business cannot request that a person "share"
the promotion to enter or gain additional entries. The updated
Terms also require that businesses communicate the terms and
conditions of participation and release Facebook of all
liability.
Facebook has published a helpful summary of its Promotion
Guidelines, including "Best Practices," which can be downloaded here.
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