You Can Now Run a Contest On Your Timeline! Facebook Updates Terms of Service

That’s right, you can now run a contest by asking people to comment or like a post from your page on Facebook.

Previously we shared that Facebook did not allow running a contest using basic Facebook features for which they were fairly strict and recently they introduced updates to their terms of service which now allows SOME contests to be run on your timeline directly.

While you can read the updates yourself, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• You still cannot ask people to like your page as a contest entry mechanism the way clicking ‘Like’ on a post can act as an entry. Given that 35% like pages to enter contests, by “like-gating” a form which someone completes as their entry, it means only some of your contests should use the newly allowed timeline methods
• You still need to use a third party application to randomly choose winners and access entry data for things like building an email list/subscribing them to a newsletter (though you’d need to note that entering the contest also adds them to your email list which they should be able to opt-out of at any time)
• Asking people to “share on your Timeline to enter” or “share on your friend’s Timeline to get additional entries” is not permitted

When to run a contest using Comment, post-Like?

• If you have a low-value prize
• If you just want to get people involved with a community-interest topic like a ‘caption-contest’
• When you want it to be a quick-hitting contest
• When you want to grow exposure for a given post

When not to run a contest using native Facebook features i.e. continue using a 3rd party app?

• When you want to run a longer contest with the ability to promote the contest in multiple ways (instead of a single post)
• When you want to build your fanbase by like-gating the contest
• When you want to highlight multiple sponsoring brands, images, or the contest is simply more detailed
• When you want to run a photo contest, a video contest, etc and you want entrants to then promote themselves to win

Here is more reading on the topic:

• Facebook: Updated Promotion Guidelines
• Jon Loomer: Facebook Timeline Promotions Are Now Legal: What You Need to Know
• AllFacebook: Third-Party Apps No Longer Required To Create Facebook Promotions

Want to run a social promotion to grow your fanbase, email opt-ins and even drive real revenue? Check out some suggested Social Promotion topics for September then give us a shout. Locable is happy to help.