How to Run a Giveaway on Facebook? A Step-By-Step Guide
Because of their playfulness, games are great levers to increase the visibility of your SME. Let’s see how to organize a Facebook contest, in the rules of art.
Why should you run a Giveaway on Facebook?
The Facebook contest can have several objectives:
→ Virality: recruiting new fans and gaining notoriety
→ Increasing the rate of engagement and interactions (likes, comments and shares)
→ Redirection to the website
→ Communication about a new product or service
→ Developing fan/customer loyalty
In the latter case, and a bit like the end of year gifts you give to your customers, think of it as a way to thank those who follow you, to make them happy.
In short, a good webmarketing idea!
But contests on social networks are not a lawless zone. It is better to be aware of your obligations as an organizer to avoid bad surprises. Don’t worry, we’ll see that a little further on.
When to organize a Facebook Giveaway?
Are there special times to organize your contest on the social network? The answer is that there are indeed good practices… which you are not obliged to respect, of course!
Generally, we will choose particular contexts and key dates, linked or not to your company.
For example, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, but also any other holiday related to your sector of activity. To know the dates/events not to be missed from a marketing point of view, type the query :
marketing calendar + year (example: 2021) in Google
You’ll come across sites that offer a calendar of dates or celebrations you can’t miss for that year.
Another suggestion: celebrate a special milestone, such as a fan base reached on your page. Give thanks with a contest, which should further strengthen the bond… and grow your fan base!
Run a Facebook Giveway: beware of the rules!
These rules are mentioned in the text on Promotions on Pages, Groups and Events that we are supposed to accept de facto… but that we usually haven’t read.
Let’s look at them together, and in plain language (hopefully!):
Prohibitions for facebook giveaway
It is not allowed to force the use of personal profiles or friends’ connections.
In other words, participants cannot be asked to:
→ tag a friend to participate in a Facebook contest
→ share a link on your own journal to participate
→ share a link on a Facebook friend’s journal to participate
Facebook also recommends (but does not formally prohibit):
→ encourage people to like the organizing page
→ give them the impression that liking the page will be rewarded
Source : Facebook
In short, everyone should have the right to try their luck, and membership to your page cannot be a condition!
In conclusion, the idea is to invite the user rather than to oblige him.
What are the risks of not following the Facebook Giveaway rules?
We can see that many contests on Facebook do not respect the rules.
Not seen, not taken, but the risk of violating the rules is the temporary or permanent removal of your page, often without appeal.
Indeed, the bots of the platform are warned when they catch certain signals such as the use of specific terms (e.g. “tag”) or a sudden increase of traffic on your page.
The goal of the social network is to keep interactions as natural and authentic as possible, he says…
With all the effort you’ve probably put into working on it, it would be a shame to lose it… so how do you comply with the terms and conditions?
Facebook Giveaway: conditions and best practices
→ Instead of asking as a condition of entry to “tag/identify a friend”, or “leave a comment”, instead invite the entrant to say who they’d like to share the gift with if they win. And that’s without obligation, of course!
This technique ensures that the friend in question is notified, while still following the rules.
→ In your replies to the comments under the post, invite participants to subscribe to your page to follow your news – or possibly try their luck another time. Again, no sense of obligation here, just an invitation. It’s all soft!
→ Once the contest is over, invite the people who reacted to it to like your page by clicking on “invite to like”, the feature offered (and allowed) by Facebook.
Writing rules for the Facebook GiveAway
The TOS for the contest states that you are responsible for the legality of the contest.
This seems logical.
But what is less known is that it is mandatory to write a document dealing with the legal mentions, such as: the conditions of the offer and terms of participation, deadlines, method of selecting the winner, treatment of personal data, etc…
In your rules, you will also have to mention that the promotion is not managed or sponsored by Facebook. Need a concrete example? Take a look at this link.
Finally, because legal issues are tricky, some platforms specialize in designing custom rules for your Facebook contests.
Where to place your Giveaway rules on Facebook?
Internet users must have the possibility to consult the legal requirements of the competition.
Until recently, the platform allowed to add an article from the tab “templates and tabs” of the Page, possibility that has now disappeared ….
One possibility is to write your rules in a Google Doc (Google Drive), put it in “publicly available” mode and mention the link in your publication.
Tips for running Facebook Giveaway
Some tips to organize your contest and gain virality. That’s the goal, right?
Define the purpose of the giveaway:
As mentioned above, the objective of a contest on Facebook is usually to gain notoriety and/or to retain an existing fan base.
Rarely is it about direct sales.
That being said, it is useful to know more precisely what you want to see your users do before organizing your game.
Do you want them to visit your website and subscribe to your newsletter? Invite them to look for the answer, which will be on one of your pages.
And don’t forget the pop-up to subscribe to your newsletter!
Do you want to give a quick overview of the products you offer? Create a nice photo montage or a duel between two products and invite people to comment on which one they prefer…
You’ll see, everyone loves to give their opinion… Even more when there is something to win!
Think about your Prize:
At first glance, one might think of movie tickets, concert tickets, subscriptions… but in the end, what is the best prize to offer to participants?
A high value gift that has no relation with your products or services would not be interesting!
On the contrary, it would risk attracting only contestants… Try instead to make participants discover your products. For example, we will think of products or services from your catalog, or a discount on them.
Satisfied, they will come back to you, become regular customers and the best ambassadors of your brand.
And while you’re at it, ask the winner if he agrees to share a picture of his prize on his own social networks, mentioning your brand. This way you’ll increase the reach of the contest!
Think about your Mechanics GAMES
A game mechanic is its process.
The most often used are questions/quizzes, where participants leave an answer as a comment.
Another idea is to encourage User Generated Content. Ask participants to share their best video, photo or text (invent a slogan? a rhyme?)
This content will give the signal to the platform that your publication generates a lot of interactions and it will highlight it.
For your random raffle, many sites offer them online. As I have not tested them myself, I suggest that you do a search on the Internet and make your own opinion
Pin the post to the top of the page:
It may seem obvious, but you can never be sure of a distraction! Throughout the contest, make sure it’s posted at the top of your Facebook page.
Use a professional platform:
You have a little more money and want to get in shape? There are paid applications for your games. Here are some of them:
They usually connect to your page via an API and you can integrate your own website or a mini-site dedicated exclusively to your contest.
These apps are more varied in terms of design and game mechanics possibilities, such as: quiz, instant win, timeline, raffle…
They also allow you to link all your platforms together to create a larger game.
The minisite has tabs leading to the contest on Facebook and to the brand’s Youtube channel.
Post your Giveaway in Facebook groups:
Search for groups related to your buyer-persona via certain keywords and ask to join them. Ask the admins for permission to post your game there.
Most of them will see it as an opportunity for their community and you will gain virality.
A win-win situation!
Proclamation of the winner:
Why not divide your prize into several lots and proclaim a winner per week? This will encourage users to continue to participate throughout the contest.
And don’t forget to invite them to your page the day the results are announced…
Facebook GiveAway: conclusion
I hope these ideas and recommendations will be useful for you to organize contests on Facebook this year.
Just like promoting your other events online, contests are still a great way to advertise on the most famous social network.
It’s up to us to use them wisely!
