Facebook competition fail

22 January, 2013

An example of how not to run a Facebook competition comes from Skillens, providers of fine jewellery. A subsequent post by the winner (since deleted) who also posted as the Admin of the Page caused some confusion, lots of reaction across social media and several statements from Skillens.

One point that seems to have been missed is that the competition is in breach of Facebook’s Pages Terms which includes the following under the Promotions section: “Promotions on Facebook must be administered within Apps on Facebook.com, either on a Canvas Page or a Page App.” The competition was run on the Page’s Timeline. The Terms go on to state, “You must not use Facebook features or functionality as a promotion’s registration or entry mechanism. For example, the act of liking a Page or checking in to a Place cannot automatically register or enter a promotion participant.” As explained by Skillens above, entry into the competition was made by liking and sharing.

A key lesson learned from this example is to ensure that your competition is set up using a Facebook App. For advice on how to set up a Facebook competition using an App please get in touch.