Remember this when running a contest on Facebook

If you are planning to run a contest on Facebook, there are a few things to keep in mind. Make sure you follow Facebook’s terms as well as the laws in the countries where you plan to operate. 

A lottery is not allowed

In Sweden, the law is very clear when it comes to contests that are considered to be a lottery (Lotterilag 1994:1000 [Text in Swedish]). A lottery is defined [Text in Swedish] to be a contest where the winner is selected by coincidence or luck, i.e. there is no performance necessary and the participants cannot do anything to influence the result. To be allowed to perform a lottery in Sweden – the law states that you need to get permission by the government. A permission for a lottery cannot be given to a private person or a company.

Hence, when you are planning to run a contest, make sure you demand some sort of achievement from the participants. And remember, if the achievement is considered to be too easy to fulfil - the contest can still be considered being a lottery!

Important from Facebook

Contests can be administrated on Facebook via an application or on your company Page. Make sure to also follow the terms set up by Facebook. Some of the important ones are:

• You must acknowledge that Facebook in no way is associated with the contest.
• Be sure to be clear with the rules for the contest.
• You are not allowed to demand the user to share a post to enter the contest. Additionally, it is not allowed to demand sharing on a friends’ timeline or to tag a user in an image.
• You are not allowed to spam. The contest shall preferably bring value to the users.
• You are allowed to present the winner on your Page.
• You are allowed to use likes as a voting mechanism.

The rules for running contests on Facebook has changed considerably during the last few years and this is what is valid at the moment. Facebook has put together some guidelines with examples to be as clear as possible.

App or Page?

Whether you should run the contest via an app or on your Page depends on what you want to achieve with your contest, which are your objectives? One advantage with an application is the possibility to collect data about the participants. On the other hand, a Page is most likely preferred if you want more engagement fast and reaching more people.

Do you want to know more regarding promotion on Facebook or rules and regulations?