People love to do contests on their websites and that is great! If you do so, make sure you have a good terms of use and privacy policy written up, put what you give away on your taxes, and you can probably have a successful and worry-free contest to increase your traffic. The problems comes when we begin to utilize third-party web applications like social media networks that have very strict rules.
Here are some things to keep in mind when using social media for your contests.
- Twitter is fair game.
Twitter’s guidelines is actually very simple compared to others. In essence, there are have to-do’s and also others that are strong suggestions. Do not spam, encourage contests that retweet with your Twitter handle on it, provide a link the rules, and discourage creating fake accounts. In fact, they allow you to give prizes away to the 2,000th follower or whomever retweets your tweet the most. Go crazy, just don’t be dumb. - Google+ Is Tougher.
Google+ has no problem when you promoting your contest on their site. Post an update with a link to your website and show off the site. The problem occurs when you use Google+ to host a contest. What their policy does not allow is “run[ning] contests, sweepstakes, offers, coupons or other such promotions.” At the same time, you cannot do anything that involves their +1, including how many people +1 your link or update. - Facebook Is Too Much Work.
Unless you go all in on your investment with Facebook Pages, you probably will not be able to do any contests here. If you use their Like button, require sharing, or put the contest somewhere on Facebook’s servers, you can instantly lose your Page. The only way that you are allowed to do Facebook contests is if you create your own custom tabs. Make sure your contests and giveaways follow their policy.
Now that you know the rules, will you be doing any contests or giveaways through social media?
It’s actually very simple and completely within the TOS of Facebook to run a contest…as long as you use a third-party app. I’ve used http://www.wildfireapp.com/ for a recent contest and it worked GREAT. The app allows you to put a like button in the contest entry form but not require it. I read the rules before jumping in and this app abides by it all.
Completely agree, but I know many people are against using third-party apps that are not fully-customizeable. Is the Wildfire App? The alternative is to make your own custom landing page, which is not impossible but is time consuming. Thanks for that share!
Not sure about “fully” but I was able to do enough with it. There was a cost associated with using the level of the app I used, but the features included compared to the free level and another free app I tried made it worth it. Plus we had tremendous success with the promotion, so worth every penny in my mind.
Great! What is the cost of it? If too high, some might find value in the free and duel purpose for writing their own custom landing page that can double as a contest.
I love that this post and the one on Terms of Service, keep the legality of everything in perspective. Keep em coming! Thanks for the tips!
Thanks for sharing! Do you think you will be utilizing these articles?