Facebook has become a really common place for businesses to run contests and promotions. True, it’s a great place to run campaigns and promotions because a lot of people will respond and it’s so easy to refer your friends, too. However, it’s important to be careful that you aren’t violating Facebook’s Terms of Service when you run contests and promotions.
When businesses first started flocking to Facebook, the terms of use were pretty broad and businesses could do just about anything they wanted when it came to getting new fans, running contests, and posting photos. In the past few years, Facebook has really tightened the rules when it comes to what businesses are allowed to do to promote themselves with a campaign where a winner is selected.
Here are some common Terms of Service that are violated:
- Hosting a Campaign – Facebook restricts how you host a campaign on Facebook and requires that all contests and promotions be hosted in a third party application. For example, say you want your fans to submit a picture of their favorite hairstyle in order to enter a raffle for a free service. You cannot ask them to upload the picture to your wall, you have to send them to an application where they submit the picture.
- Using Facebook Features – you can’t use any of the Facebook features – like, share, comment, upload, etc. Hence the need for a third party application to do all those things for you.
- Responsibility for Laws – if you choose to run a promotion on Facebook, you are responsible for knowing the laws and restrictions governing contests in your state.
- Disclaimers & Rules – You are required to have a disclaimer and set of rules on your promotion that states that the promotion is not endorsed by Facebook and absolving Facebook from any responsibility.
- Notifying Winners – Facebook absolutely cannot be used to notify people who have won a contest. A good way to avoid this problem is by collecting email addresses from people who enter any contest or promotion.
Facebook has recently added some restrictions to businesses as far as cover photos, too. Cover photos are great because they are the first image someone sees when going to your page but again, salon owners need to be sure they are in compliance with Facebook’s guidelines. Facebook’s rules for cover photos for Pages are as follows:
- Covers can’t be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on anyone else’s copyright.
- You may not encourage people to upload your cover to their personal timelines.
- Covers may not include images with more than 20% text.
It’s important to keep these rules and regulations in mind when you are using your Facebook page to promote your business. You are in jeopardy of having your page taken down completely if not. Stay up to date on what Facebook requires to ensure the best results from your promotions there.
Author Bio: Valorie Reavis
Social Marketer, foodie, closet geekA marketing professional who has focused primarily on the hair and beauty business for of the past decade, Valorie now runs linkup marketing, a digital marketing agency for the hair and beauty professional. Valorie works to engage clients in the marketing process and help them successfully engage with their clients and community. Energetic and passionate about the industry, Valorie focuses on blending traditional and digital media in order to bring salons closer to their clients.
