Facebook promotions (i.e., contests and giveaways) have guidelines businesses and individuals must abide by. I wrote about the Facebook Promotions Guidelines in 2011. I included a copy of the main points of the guidelines and explained how to interpret those points. I also explained out that you could lose your page if you fail to adhere to the guidelines. Responses then and now, privately and publicly, include questions about whether Facebook is really monitoring fan pages for violating the promotions guidelines. Usually, Facebook relies on others to alert them to an issue where someone is violating the terms of service or promotions guidelines. However, there are cases of Facebook business pages being deleted in India, and now a Facebook business page in New Zealand has also been deleted.
“So what?” you say. Those pages are on the other side of the world and it’s not happening in the US. Although I haven’t seen any pages being shut down in the United States, the fact that Facebook deleted a New Zealand page leads me to believe it won’t be too long before US pages come under scrutiny. Why? Because any time Facebook wants to try out a feature that is almost ready for mainstream US, they release it in beta in New Zealand first. I’ve seen this with a few things: New Zealand saw Timeline before the US, Facebook launched a new app called Pages Manager down under, and Facebook is currently testing its Highlighted Posts option in New Zealand. Now that Facebook is paying attention to and shutting down pages for violating the Facebook Promotions Guidelines, I wonder how long it will be before Facebook fan pages in the United States will also be more vulnerable.
The page in New Zealand that was shut down lost 9,500 fans and all of its content because it was running a promotion that asked people to Like their page to be eligible to win a portion of the largest lottery jackpot in that country’s history. A similar promotion ran in the US in April, 2012. I was disappointed to see at least two Facebook experts touting this Facebook giveaway as “a great way to get MASSIVE engagement on Facebook!” and “a fantastic contest” when, in fact, that giveaway was blatantly not following the Facebook Promotions Guidelines.
Unfortunately, I see these kinds of promotions on Facebook all the time. I usually ignore, or, if I know the company running the promotion, I contact them privately. I think most businesses just don’t know about the Facebook Promotions Guidelines or understand them. I try to educate when I can, and if you’re my client, I’m adamant that we follow the guidelines. There’s a certain level of responsibility that comes with advising others.
If you’re running a Facebook contest or giveaway, please be sure you’re adhering to the Facebook Promotions Guidelines. Don’t risk your page, your content, your fans, and your brand reputation by taking the easiest route — especially with the excuse that “everyone else is doing it.”
Thank you Melanie for keeping the community up to date on the rules of promotion. I see these kinds of contests all the time, and knew it was only a matter of time before a page was deleted for this kind of contest.
Kelly recently posted..Weekly Deals Round Up- 5/13/12
I wish more people knew this. I see ppl violating the FB TOS all the time. Drives me batty.
Jo-Lynne {Musings of a Housewife} recently posted..My Day Registry | A Review
Melanie thank you for continuing to share this I am constantly directing people to your previous posts. Have we ever determined if you can link to a post on your page wall for a contest? I know if I have a sweepstakes on my blog I still post the link on my wall.
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Allie, thanks for stopping by! It’s not a problem to link to a giveaway or contest, you just can’t host the actual giveaway or contest on your FB wall. Hope that helps.
Melanie Nelson recently posted..Tips to Get More Shares on Facebook
Melanie,
I do a weekly game of trivia on my Facebook page. Currently I don’t give a prize to the winner but I was considering it. How would this fit into Facebook’s guidelines?
Thanks!
Tshanina, if you start giving prizes, that would violate the FB promotions guidelines. I explain those in-depth here: http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/2011/07/running-a-successful-facebook-giveaway-or-contest. Thanks for stopping by!
Melanie Nelson recently posted..Tips to Get More Shares on Facebook
Thanks for the heads up. Can you please clarify something for me? If I host a giveaway on my blog and use something like Rafflecopter, with one of the entry options being a “like” on my facebook page, is that violating the TOS?
Amanda @ Click. The Good News recently posted..Teleferico Cerro Otto
Amanda,
Yes, the way I interpret the FB Promotions Guidelines, Rafflecopter is a violation. I explain why I think that in my post deciphering the rules: http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/2011/07/running-a-successful-facebook-giveaway-or-contest/
Melanie Nelson recently posted..What Is An Online Community Manager?
This is a wake up call for facebook users to be careful. Some actions might just end up getting your page deleted, and you know how it might be hard to establish a large fan base sometimes.
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We REALLY appreciate your encouragement toward integrity! We ran one photo/story contest on our Business page last year (before Thanksgiving). That was before this rule was brought to our attention. On the 8th of January 2013 we noticed that ALL our Messages (from our inception in 2011, till the day before) had been deleted from our page. I say the day before because I had looked up a phone number of a customer the evening before and everything was still there. There was nothing in archives etc. The Messages function was working fine just wiped out! We sent several emails to the Help center but never got an answer. All this to say….could the deleting of our Messages have been a “slap on the wrist” message to get our attention for offering that one contest? Would Facebook close down a page without notifying them first of an infringement? We had been considering having another giveaway so I was looking up info for inspiration. That’s how I first ran across your post. SO glad I did! We have worked hard for our 449 “likes” … rarely have we even suggested our people “share” “like” or “comment” …. and those are just for jokes etc that we use for fillers. Ugh! Anyway, what do you think…did they wipe out our Messages for this reason….or was it just a glitch? By the way, we save all communications now…just in case this happens again…
Hi Tessa,
I’m not sure why your messages would disappear. Usually, if Facebook is going to penalize or remove a page, they simply delete it and it’s gone. They do not contact you to let you know that it will happen or why — it’s just gone (and it’s very rare that it is reinstated).
I do want to be clear about asking for shares, likes, and comments. You can definitely ask for those things with a regular status update (e.g., the jokes you post). As long as you aren’t rewarding that behavior in some way (like a giveaway), then it’s OK. As soon as you try to give something away or have a contest of some sort, that’s when you have to use the third-party app and you can’t have likes, comments, or shares as an entry. I hope that helps.
It does help…thank you again! Now I’m letting everyone know about your article. It’s amazing how many of us did not have a clue! So VERY glad I found you!