Facebook have just published new guidelines for running draws, giveaways and any other kind of promotions on fan pages. This is very interesting for me as I administer the active PuddleDucks Facebook fan page. I am sure that Facebook have good reasons to cover themselves legally for possible liability from promotions but I feel that these new restrictions are hugely over the top.
I am a big fan of the possibilities for customer engagement on fan pages. In the last six months, our Facebook page has been the most interesting, exciting and successful form of social networking with customers for PuddleDucks. On the page we engage with fans in many ways. Here are some examples that these guidelines say are outlawed in future.
- We run a monthly draw among our fans for a prize of DVD’s, fridge magnets, etc.: NOT ALLOWED
- We communicate the name of the winner on Facebook: NOT ALLOWED
- We occasionally ask fans to post photos and select a winner among them e.g. our recent Halloween pumpkin contest: NOT ALLOWED
- We run occasional fun contests and ask fans to guess by posting their answers by commenting on the status update: NOT ALLOWED
I am not sure what problem Facebook are trying to address here but the new guidelines are complete overkill and if enforced, will alienate small business users of Facebook fan pages. I hope Facebook will reconsider.
PuddleDucks Blog 
adloussopy said
even i also hope Facebook will reconsider this guidelines…
Thanks,
adloussopy,
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SPACIFY/79444799925
desbyrne said
Thanks for interesting comments. I have just gone live online this week with http://www.facebook.com/longlex and http://www.twitter.com/longlex and am frustrated by how difficult it is to get traction on Facebook compared to Twitter
Hopefully we can help each other in the future
Best wishes
Des
puddleducks said
Hi Des,
Thanks for your comment. Glad you found the post interesting. I think things have moved on a little since the restrictions were announced. I have still run giveaways on the Facebook page and there don’t seem to be issues. Although I have also run a competition (as an app) which conforms with the guidelines.
I am a big “fan” of Facebook myself and seems to suit our business and suits our engagement with customers. I am a little less active on Twitter and use it more for peer engagement than for customer offers, etc.
I’d be interested in comparing notes at any time. You can reach me at aedan AT puddleducks DOT ie.
All the best,
Aedan
James said
with new information.boys suits I have found it extremely useful.