How to Fix Your Next Facebook Contest


February 28, 2014

facebook contest

For years, Facebook did not allow brands to host promotions and contests on their timelines (or walls, as they used to known as.) But after a few changes to Facebook’s page terms in late 2013, brands have been hosting contests and giveaways daily. However, many are making mistakes that are hurting their reach and the true potential of their contests.

Fortunately, these mistakes are easy to fix and often done without knowledge. Skip these on your next Facebook contest or promotion to see a better return:

Rewarding the First Comment or Like

We all want to be first — but when it comes to contests online, the best strategy for brands is not for a quick winner, but instead for many comments and likes to reach as many users as possible. When you limit the contest to firsts, you’re rewarding those who are on and not even giving a chance to those who are off. Instead, encourage many comments and likes, even if the answers are the same, and pick a random winner from all entries.

TIP: If you still want to reward the first, keep time and day of the week consistent for your giveaway so users are aware of when to be on. This will also encourage your followers to look for your page or post consistently.

Encouraging Shares as Entry

Even though this behavior is against Facebook’s Page Terms (“Personal Timelines must not be used to administer promotions”), we still see brands asking for fans to share their content as entry to a giveaway (Example: “Share on your Timeline to enter” or “share on your friend’s Timeline to get additional entries” is not permitted). Not only is this not permitted, it’s also not the best way to track entries as content shared by users with privacy settings in place cannot be seen by brands. Avoid this!

Not Gaining Value from Promotion

For a contest or promotion to truly work for your brand, you must make sure the giveaway aligns with your brand mission or business objectives to make this a relevant touch point. Consider giving away a product or service that your organization provides or asking for feedback on a product or your organization itself to act as an informal survey. Another fun idea may be to ask trivia questions about your company and use the promotion as an opportunity to inform your user base.

Not Announcing The Winner

While this may seem like common sense to most, we often see brands who have contests or giveaways end and never publicly announce the winner. While we’re sure they’ve sent a private message for the user to claim, many other entrants may be waiting for the results. After too many times of this, users may also begin to question if the giveaways are legitimate. Save yourself the trouble by being more than open about winners as soon as you select.

Have you been guilty of the above mistakes? It’s not too late to make up for it! Consider how your organization can host a Facebook giveaway or contest soon.

Want to take winning a step further? Have a follow-up in place with your winner. Depending on your giveaway and the prize, consider a blog post, a quote from the winner to create a shareable social image, or even a video interview to show the excitement of the lucky recipient.

Photo via Flickr user FACEBOOK(LET)
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is a strategist, speaker, educator, and author of Brand Now: How to Stand Out in a Crowded, Distracted World and Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small. He is the Chief Brand Strategist at Brand Driven Digital, an educator at the University of Iowa, and host of the On Brand podcast. More about Nick.