Is your Facebook Competition Legal?

Is your Facebook Competition Compliant?

 Did you know that any competition run through your Facebook wall or timeline is ILLEGAL and might get your page shut down for not being compliant - meaning you need to start from scratch again building a new fan base.

 

Facebook competition rules clearly state: "The only way you can create this type of functionality is by using a third party application.”

 e.g. A Facebook developer can create a separate Facebook app and add it to your page.

 

“Your application must be registered with Facebook and include a disclosure adjacent to any promotion entry field: 'This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administrated by, or associated with, Facebook.”

 

Does your Facebook competition comply..?

 

  If not, the only solution is to create a Facebook Competition Application which is registered with Facebook as detailed above, or get someone to do it for you.

 Here at CDM, we ensure that all our clients are in full compliance with Facebook guidelines, and our view is simple - rules are rules, and must be followed.

 We can build a custom Facebook competition app which ensures you keep within the rules and have maximum impact in your social marketing.

 Our competitions are “custom 3rd party apps”, registered as such with Facebook, and we ensure we have a link on each page to terms & conditions – something else which few companies seem to do, without these you could be breaking Advertising Standards.

 

 You might ask, why are all these other companies ignoring the rules and getting away with it, or my competitor does that so why shouldn’t I..?

 

 Facebook has shut down pages without any notice, so is it really worth the risk…?

 

 We researched this further with other Social Media & Ad Agencies and received the following replies;

 “We understand it is frustrating when we/you see other companies or individuals flaunt Facebook guidelines unchecked. There has been a huge increase in the "like and share this page to win a prize" and "when we reach 5,000 likes - everyone goes into a draw" style of promotion which is completely against Facebook promotion rules.”

“I can confirm though that we have been approached by 5 businesses recently who have run promotions contravening Facebook rules and have been shut down, page removed without recourse. They have come to us in a panic looking for help and are surprised when we tell them that there is nothing that we can do except write an appeal letter / email to Facebook to apologise and plead for their page back (This sometimes works but it's becoming more rare that Facebook even respond).”

“Without naming individual companies - I can confirm that a large retailer in Blanchardstown with 9k+ fans had their page pulled, a bicycle shop in Naas, and numerous restaurants & pubs in various County Dublin locations all got the following from Facebook and had their pages removed/shut down.”

"Facebook’s security systems determined that you were repeatedly using the same feature or engaging in the same behaviors in a short period of time. Because you continued this behavior after receiving multiple warnings, your account was disabled. Facebook cannot provide any specifics on the rate limits that are enforced.”

Despite emailing Facebook daily none of them have received a response.
We've spoken to a few business owners/managers in Ireland this year that have had their pages pulled for flaunting Facebook's competition guidelines.

 There didn't seem to be any recourse and the pages are still down after several months. One of the companies, well known but who shall remain nameless, had around 15,000 fans one day and the next, their page was gone. They were getting people to 'like' and 'share' their competition wall posts in obvious contravention of Facebook's guidelines. Fair enough.

 There are a few other examples including a well-known Dublin Radio Station which had their page pulled for repeatedly flaunting the guidelines.

 So, there you have it, real world examples of what can happen if you continue to ignore or flaunt the Facebook competition rules.

 

 

The bottom line is clear for all

 

 Don’t ignore it simply because your competitors all do, be the first to do it properly and be assured you will not incur the wrath of Facebook and wake up one day minus your hard earned fan base.

 

 

 

You need to do this, or we can do it for you!

 

 Call us today, to arrange a consultation and ensure your next Facebook competition is legal. Contact Corrie-Dee Whaite on Tel 01294 559480 or Mob 07411 170758.