Does Your Business Know The Rules?

“Our business needs more "Likes" and "Followers!" Well let's have a contest!”  I am sure you've noticed that one of the most commonly used and even suggested strategies in obtaining "Fans" or "Followers" is holding a sweepstakes, contest or promotion. You hear and see everyone doing it, you think it's a great idea, decide on what to give away, and you’re good to go, right?

Not so fast, before you go out and start a social media contest, be sure that it complies with both Facebook and Twitter contest guidelines. David Canton, business lawyer and trade-mark agent focusing on technology issues, explains "Violating the rules is dangerous, as there is a risk that the social media site might simply terminate the page.

Use the below as a guide to make certain you follow the rules:

Facebook Contest

Facebook states that it is up to your business to guarantee any contest, promotion or sweepstakes you run are done so in a legal manner. In addition, you also must meet the following guidelines:

• Any contest, promotion, or sweepstakes is required to run through Apps on Facebook.com (canvas page or an app on a page tab)
• Every participant must release Facebook of liability
• You must display that the contest is in no way associated with Facebook
• Participants must know and accept that any information gathered for the contest goes to your business and not Facebook
• You cannot use any of Facebook's functionality for the contest. This means you cannot promote participants to enter by "Liking" a page or using a "Check-in". In addition, you can't require entrants to use a Facebook feature to be eligible - i.e Request them to upload a photo, "Likes", wall posts, etc.
• You cannot use the "Like" button for voting
• Each contest must have its own registration/entry form
• It is not permitted to inform winners through Facebook

Twitter Contest

Twitter also has its own terms, which include:

• Your business must verify the contest/promotion follows all laws and regulations
• You must discourage users from opening multiple accounts to enter your contest more than one time. Twitter will suspend your business's account if you are doing this
• You can't ask for "Retweets" for contest eligibility
• You must use unique and relevant hashtags. Using  #contest or #companyname can also violate Twitter policy

So now that you know how to comply with these specific rules, you can get started. But remember to make your contest, promotion or sweepstakes stand out by creating a situation where people will have to learn more about your business or brand - who you are, what your values are, what you offer - and then have them share it with their audiences.

Shape your contest around value and engagement - you want to get to know them and make them a part of your online community while giving you the opportunity to actually build a valuable relationship, which in turn will build brand advocates that can play an essential part in the world of online influence.

Has your business run a contest, promotion or sweepstakes on your social networks? We'd like to hear about it. 

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