On August 27, 2013 Facebook changed its terms to allow for promotions (contests, games, sweepstakes) to take place directly on the Timeline. While the change does provide a new avenue for promotions on Facebook it doesn’t come without risk. Regardless of how brands activate a promotion, the brand is still responsible for the lawful operation, compliance, and fulfillment of the promotion. As prize value and promotion length increase, so does the risk to a brand. And as risk increases, brands should also increase consideration for more formal promotion activations. It is important to understand the risks and know when to host a promotion on the timeline vs in a custom app. We’ve developed this infographic help you understand your options and make an informed decision.

1. Eye On:
Facebook Promotions
START
HERE
IS YOUR PROMOTION
No
MORE THAN A FEW
Yes
WEEKS LONG?
IS IT DIFFICULT TO
FULFILL PRIZES?
WANT TO LAUNCH A
(QTY, METHOD OF
PROMOTION ON
DELIVERY, POTENTIAL
FACEBOOK?
Yes
LIABILITY, ETC)
Yes
No
SOLUTION 2:
IS THE VALUE
OF EACH PRIZE MORE
THAN $50?
Facebook Timeline
SOLUTION 1:
App/Facebook Tab
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
IS LEAD GENERATION
Yes
A GOAL OF THIS
PROMOTION?
IS IT A LARGE-SCALE
PROMOTION (BIG MEDIA
SPEND, HIGH-PROFILE,
INTEGRATED, ETC.)
No
DO YOU NEED TO
DO YOU WANT TO
VERIFY ENTRIES
No
MODERATE CONTENT
(AGE, PROOF OF
No
PURCHASE, ETC)?
FROM ENTRANTS
BEFORE IT IS
POSTED?
READY TO ACTIVATE?
Best Practices
Regardless of how a promotion is
administered, brands should follow these
best practices:
• Use a community management tool to
control access to the community and
track activity of moderators
• Engage the sweepstakes, games, contest
subject matter experts to review, prepare,
and protect the client and agency brands
• Consult with agency and client
legal teams
Facebook’s New Promotion Guidelines
YES, YOU CAN
NO, YOU CAN’T
Collect entries by having users:
Use actions on a personal timeline for
participation in a promotion; actions have
to be on the brand page
• Post on a brand page’s timeline
• Comment on or like a brand page post
• Message the brand’s page
Utilize likes as a voting mechanism via the
Like button plug-in
Announce a winner on a brand page
Require entrants to come back to the brand
page to see if they are the winner
Collect entries by requiring users to share
content to their timeline or another user’s
timeline
Have a brand page tag users or
encourages users to tag themselves in
content that they are not actually
depicted in
Users can post entries directly to a brand page
All sweeps rules, filings and legal regulations still apply and Facebook requires the brand to be responsible.
Eye On: Facebook Promotions. Vol 2, Issue 7, October 2013 © Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide
Contact: Marina Molenda (312.220.5465) or Amanda Mckinney (312.220.3886)