Giveaways are a great way to build your audience and increase engagement on Facebook. When done properly and legally, giveaways allow you to grow your follower count, email list, website traffic, and more. However, there are rules and regulations regarding giveaways that you must follow to avoid getting your Facebook page shut down. In this comprehensive guide, we will cover everything you need to know to successfully run a giveaway on Facebook.
Facebook’s Promotion Guidelines
Facebook has specific rules regarding promotions and giveaways that you must follow. Their Pages, Groups and Events Policy states:
“You must not use Facebook features or functionality as a promotion’s registration or entry mechanism. You must not use like or share buttons or other plugin social buttons as the sole method of entry or voting in a promotion.”
This means you cannot require someone to like, share, comment or otherwise interact with your Facebook page in order to enter your giveaway. You need to provide an alternative method of entry, such as a Google form or website.
Some other key Facebook promotion guidelines:
- Giveaways must be open to the general public and not just your existing fans.
- Don’t name your giveaway anything that would imply Facebook’s involvement or endorsement (ex. “Facebook Giveaway”)
- Clearly state who is sponsoring or providing prizes for the giveaway.
- Include terms and conditions as well as entry and eligibility requirements.
Make sure to thoroughly review Facebook’s promotions policy so that you don’t unintentionally break any rules. It’s also a good idea to check their guidelines regularly since they are subject to change. Violating their terms could result in your page being restricted or shut down.
Choosing a Giveaway Platform
To legally and successfully run a Facebook giveaway, you need to use a third-party app or platform to collect entries. This keeps the giveaway completely separate from Facebook. Some popular giveaway platform options include:
- Rafflecopter – One of the most well-known giveaway platforms with free and paid plans. Easy to set up and compatible with Facebook.
- Gleam – Provides free and paid plans. Offers options for video giveaways, photo contests, sweepstakes and more.
- Wishpond – Has specific Facebook giveaway functionality with various templates. Free and paid plans available.
- Vyper – Designed specifically for viral giveaways with strong social sharing incentives. Free and paid options.
- Woobox – Specializes in social media giveaways, coupons and contests. Integrates with Facebook. Free and premium plans.
Do your research to choose the giveaway platform that best fits your needs and budget. Make sure they provide deep integration with Facebook to help collect and verify entries.
Giveaway Ideas and Best Practices
Now that you understand the legal requirements for Facebook giveaways, let’s explore some creative ideas and best practices for running successful contests on your page.
Giveaway Idea – Sweepstakes
A sweepstakes giveaway is the easiest type you can run because it simply requires entrants to provide basic contact information to enter. You can have a sweepstakes for any prize your target audience would value. Some examples:
- – Gift cards to popular stores related to your niche
- – Free products or merchandise from your business
- – Ticket vouchers for events, movies or attractions
- – Discount codes for your online shop
- – Partial cash prizes like $100 or $500
The great thing about sweepstakes is that anyone can enter, so you can rapidly grow your reach and email subscriber list. Just make sure to clearly outline the eligibility and legal rules.
Giveaway Idea – Photo Contests
Photo contests are another excellent giveaway format for Facebook. To enter, you ask people to post a photo on their profile based on a specific theme or your brand. For example:
- – Share your best vacation photo
- – Post a photo wearing our new t-shirt design
- – Show us your creative home office setup
You can choose winning photos based on number of reactions, creativity, or other criteria. Offer prizes the appeal to your target demographic. Photo contests generate fun user-generated content and increase engagement.
Giveaway Idea – Quizzes and Trivia
Turning your giveaway into a quiz, trivia game or challenge offers a more interactive way for people to participate. Platforms like Wishpond and Woobox make it easy to create different types of giveaway contests. Some examples:
- – Movie trivia quiz
- – Retweet for the correct answer to enter
- – Share for a chance to guess the photo
- – Complete fitness challenge to win
This format gives you creative flexibility, stimulates shares and comments, and lets you connect with fans in a fun way. You can get as creative as you want with the contest design.
Giveaway Best Practices
Here are some top tips to run successful and legal giveaways on Facebook:
- – Make the prize something exciting and relevant to your audience
- – Keep the entry process simple by linking to an outside platform
- – Promote the giveaway through posts, ads and email
- – Follow Facebook’s rules and all local laws
- – Set clear start and end dates
- – Randomly select winners fairly and as promised
- – Announce and contact winners through the platform
- – Post winner announcements on your Facebook page
- – Follow up with a thank you post tagging winners
Following proper procedures helps ensure your giveaway goes smoothly and safely builds your community.
Giveaway Promotion Strategies
Running an awesome giveaway means nothing if you don’t have a strategy to promote it. Here are proven tactics to spread the word about your Facebook giveaway:
Promote Across Your Own Platforms
– Share posts about your giveaway multiple times from your Facebook page leading up to and during the contest.
– Promote it in your Facebook group if you have one.
– Send an email to your subscriber list informing them about the giveaway.
– Post on your Instagram, Twitter and other social accounts directing people to the giveaway.
– Run Facebook ads targeting your follower demographics.
– Add a link to the giveaway in your Instagram bio and YouTube descriptions.
Run Paid Advertising
– Boost Facebook posts promoting your giveaway to reach more of your target audience.
– Run a Facebook like campaign to build followers and increase entries.
– Run Instagram and Facebook ads with the giveaway entry details.
– Retarget people who visited your page or posts with ads encouraging them to enter.
Recruit Influencers and Partners
– Reach out to influencers in your niche to help share and cross-promote the giveaway. Offer incentives for their participation.
– Partner with complementary brands or businesses to co-sponsor the giveaway and expand reach.
– Ask happy customers or micro-influencers to post about the contest.
– Share the giveaway in relevant Facebook Groups you or others run.
Make it Go Viral
– Include strong calls-to-action in your posts to like, comment, tag friends, etc. to trigger the Facebook algorithm.
– Require social sharing as part of the giveaway entry process.
– Add incentives for referrals like bonus entries.
– Share interesting user-generated content like contest photos posted by entrants.
– If your giveaway really takes off, expand the prize pool or extend the duration.
Measuring Giveaway Success
It’s important to track giveaway performance so you can optimize for future contests. Here are key metrics to watch:
Number of Entries
The most basic metric is how many entries your giveaway receives. This shows the level of interest and reach of your promotion. Benchmark against your follower count and past giveaways.
Shares and Comments
Look at how often your giveaway is shared organically as well as the number of comments. This shows how compelling your contest and prizes are.
Email Signups
If you offer email signup as a means of entry, measure how many new subscribers you generated from the giveaway.
New Page Followers
Analyze how many new Facebook followers you gained during the contest period. Promotions are proven to attract new fans.
Social Reach and Engagement
Track how many people your giveaway posts reached along with reactions, clicks, shares, etc. Shows how interested your audience is.
Landing Page Traffic
If you linked to your website or blog for entry, check how much traffic increased as a result of your giveaway.
Contest Entrant Information
Look at demographic data like age, gender, and location on the giveaway platform to better understand your audience.
Troubleshooting Common Giveaway Issues
Despite best efforts, sometimes things can go wrong when managing a Facebook giveaway. Here are tips for troubleshooting common problems:
Not Enough Entries
– Make the prize more desirable to your target audience
– Simplify the entry process
– Add more ways to gain entries like sharing and referrals
– Extend the duration of the giveaway
– Put more budget into promoting the giveaway through ads
Violating Facebook’s Rules
– Review Facebook’s policies again and adjust your contest accordingly
– Move the entire giveaway to a landing page instead of Facebook
– Use a compliant third-party platform to collect entries
– Remove any requirements to like, share, or tag for entry
Legal Issues
– Carefully check local laws on contests, permits, taxes and fees
– Hire a legal professional to review the full giveaway terms and conditions
– Make sure you meet age restrictions, registration and bonding requirements
Multiple Invalid Entries
– Adjust settings on your giveaway platform to limit entries per entrant
– Add CAPTCHA or email verification to prevent bots and fake accounts
– Manually review entries and remove any that seem duplicated or fraudulent
Conclusion
Giveaways are a smart strategy to grow your Facebook presence when executed properly. By following Facebook policies, using a separate entry platform, promoting creatively, and analyzing results – you can run contests that attract new followers and engages your existing fans. Just be sure to make the prize enticing, keep the entry process smooth, and spark viral shares for giveaway success.