10 Tips to get your Facebook page banned by Facebook

The social web and its usage culture is still on the minus one level in Hungary, both on users’ and marketers’ side. This means on the one hand, that we are just starting to get hooked on social gaming, we don’t know how to use our privacy settings, we are not feeling harrassed by the spams we get through social media platforms, we are still learning the technical background of this phenomena called the social web.

On the other hand however marketers, and agencies are also in acclimatization phase, trying to understand the strategic and tactical usage and implementation of social media in our everyday life. This is a natural evolution, and both sides are growing together, as expectations change, marketers and brands will also change their methods. It is however outrageous, how some people calling themselves experts, use social media ignoring rules that can endanger their clients’, (both SME’s and multinationals) digital strategy and their national reputation (if not international).

Facebook has a detailed regulation called „Promotions Guidelines” describing the way marketers should administer a contest on Facebook.

„A "contest" or "competition" is a promotion that includes a prize and a winner determined on the basis of skill (i.e., through judging based on specific criteria).”

These guidelines make it clear, that a promotion should in any case be administrated through an application, not through the Facebook platform.

What does this mean?

You should never use likes, tagging, posting on your wall as a tool to give any prizes to your fans.

What’s the logic behind it?

There is a very basic explanation to understand why Facebook drew the line so sharp. A social media platfrom present all over the world allowing any marketers to create fan pages, branded content on its platform (for free!), has no capacity of monitoring all the contests and comeptitions one might create. This also means, Facebook is not able of checking the rules and methods one uses to give prizes or select winners. So if a fan or anyone questions the runoff of a contest, Facebook doesn’t want to be questioned in any ways. That is why Facebook emphasizes the usage of a third party application, so the developer company and the marketer can be made responsible for any abuses during the contest process.

But everyone is doing it!- you might say.

That is right, most of the marketers don’t take this in consideration, although it can even lead to your page being banned from Facebook. For example, if a disappointed fan, who didn’t get to win on your contest just clicks on „Report this page” button, you might even be banned from any present and future usage of the platform. So if you don’t mind losing thousands of fans, then the next examples are for you:

Here are 10 examples to make sure your page will be banned

1. User uploading a photo or video to the page’s wall and earning the most “Likes” to win a prize

This is the most common method of conducting Facebook promotions. It violates the promotional guideline “ You will not condition entry to the promotion upon taking any other action [other than liking the page] on Facebook, for example, liking a status update or photo, commenting on a Wall, or uploading a photo”.

2. Downloading a photo from your page, and making it the profile picture to win a prize

Violates the same guideline as above.

3. Uploading a photo to your profile and tagging as many as friends to win a prize

Same problem.

4. Using Facebook as the “sole method” of announcing the winners of a contest/prize draw.

Facebook promotions guidelines state “you cannot notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles or Pages.” Facebook allows you to collect the email address, postal address of the participants of a promotion and notifying them through such communications. You can write a wall post on your page to announce that the winners were selected and informed, and invite them to check their inbox to see if they are winner or not. However, you cannot post the names of the winners on your Facebook page and make that the sole communication to announce the winners.

5. Using Facebook comments as a tool to collect entries into a promotion, prize draw or a sweepstake

You cannot use Facebook’s standard features to collect entries for such prize draws or sweepstakes.

6. Giving points for users to collecting likes for a picture created through a third party application and rewarding winners based on the points earned.

This is a tricky one. Many people believe, using a third party application will cover you from all the Facebook promotions guidelines. However, if you use your application to encourage people to use Facebook standard features, in order to increase your chances of winning; then that will again violate the guidelines.

7. Conducting raffle draws for users who “like” your page

I’ve seen certain brands conduct raffle draws “One lucky winner will win XYZ when we reach 10,000 likes on this page”.

8. Tag yourself in this photo and win tickets.

This method is well known for IKEA’s great promotion in 2009, when people could get the furniture from the uploaded showroom that they tagged themselves on. Since that time facebook promotion guidelines changed a lot.

9. Mention our page in your status to win a prize

It’s not the most common way pages promote themselves, but still not legal.

10. Award the most active member of your page

Some pages select monthly or weekly the most active fan, which is obviously quiet a subjective category, and of course is totally against the promotion guidelines.