Thinking of running a contest on Facebook to get some new fans?
Well, don’t just jump in without learning about Facebook’s rules and regulations around running a contest. Yes, you read that right, you can’t just run a contest on Facebook without okay’ing it with them FIRST! You risk having your contest or even your page taken down without warning if you don’t follow their guidelines.
Here’s a few highlights of what you CAN’T do:
- The prize cannot contain alcohol.
- You can’t run a contest that’s open to individuals in Belgium, Norway, Sweden, or India.
- You can’t mention ‘Facebook’ in the rules except in a few specific ways.
- You cannot notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles or Pages.
It’s especially important on Facebook to have your updates show up on the top of fans’ News Feeds rather than getting buried under the bounteous (and more recent) other updates being made. Timing is of the essence. So when are women online to actually receive those brilliant marketing messages you’ve created? 
