It is very important to keep up to date with the ever-changing rules on Facebook.

If you do not follow the rules you will be at risk of being blocked for a period of time (Facebook Jail). You need to test and measure yourself; it will be beneficial to have a look at what others are doing. If the competition says ‘Sponsored’ then it is a paid competition. Have a look at the ones that are not sponsored, stalk them and learn from them how you can apply it to yourself.

Remember it is important that your competition is adding value to you and your business so make sure it is specific to a particular celebration and time your competition or giveaway accordingly. Competitions are a lot of effort so it needs to be worth it.

• You have to list the T&C’s. This can be by way of a link to your website or landing page where you have the Terms and Conditions listed. You need to list who is eligible, start and end dates etc.
• You must research if it is necessary to have a license to run a competition, this is normally state-specific. However, if the winner is selected based on an answer to a question this normally does not require a license. Also, take note that if the price is a high-value item this will catch the attention of the Tax police.
• It is extremely important to have a sentence in your post absolving Facebook or any association or liability for the competition or prize.
• You are not allowed to ask people to tag their friends or ask others to like your page or share it on their timeline. You are also not allowed to offer more entries if they do. A way around this is to offer free entries to people who tag who they will share the prize with.
• The rules and eligibility need to be clearly defined.
• No Like-Gating. The ban on like-gating has been in effect since 2015 and is still very much enforced. You cannot restrict competition entry only to those who like your page.
• Liking and commenting on the post. Whilst you cannot ask people to like your page you CAN ask them to like the post and comment. You can offer more entries if they comment on the post, but the comments must be meaningful, not just ‘done’ or ‘Okay’. Perhaps ask people to comment on their favorite thing about your services, or their favourite essential oils etc.
• You can also collect entries by using the call to the action tab and linking other URL like your webpage or landing page. Now the loophole is that you CAN ask people to like your Facebook page here as it is not on Facebook and you can use this to collect 3^rd party information. I.e. ’Thank you for entering the competition please insert your email here” or ‘Don’t forget to like our page for more entries’. Tracking these entries can be a bit of a pain but worth it in the end as you are getting more exposure and interest.

Messenger plugins, apps and bots. As annoying as these are they are allowed. With Messenger, you can nurture followers before, during and after the competition

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