Facebook is awash with consumer promotions, but not all of what you see is allowed. What promotions can you run on Facebook?

Entry mechanics

The Promotions Guidelines and Platform Policies contain rules about entry mechanics. You can ask entrants to:

• Like or comment on a post.
• Publish something to your Page.
• Direct Message your Page.

You cannot ask entrants to:

• Like a Page. You read correctly – you can’t do it. ‘Like-gating’ is banned.
• ‘Share this post’ or ‘Like and share’ to enter. (It’s ok ask entrants to share a post after they have entered, but only if they want to. You can’t force them to do it in order to enter.)
• Tag themselves (or others) in photos in which they don’t appear.

Other considerations

• Include in your T&Cs wording required under the Promotions Guidelines.
• Tell entrants where to find the full T&Cs (eg within the App or on your website).
• Comply with gaming laws – they apply to all games of chance, including on Facebook.
• Respect users’ privacy. Don’t collect more entry data than you reasonably need to run the promotion, even if Facebook lets you!
• Avoid misleading statements – promotion posts must be an accurate reflection of the promotion (including prizes).
• Moderate games of skill, or your promotion could be hijacked (cue PR nightmare). Make sure your T&Cs allow you to do this.

If you get it wrong

Facebook can remove a post or Page for breaches of its policies, which can be hugely problematic. Big dollars are often spent building communities, even removing a post can cause PR troubles.

If Facebook takes down a game of chance promotion, you could also have problems under gaming laws, especially where permits were issued.

Problems are easily avoided by simply following the rules.