Discuss the fun task of marketing a t-shirt shop. Where to advertise, local marketing tips, word of mouth, press releases, search engine marketing, keyword advertising, magazines, etc.
Awesome post and will be quite useful as we are about to do our first facebook contest/ad. And thanks a ton to DivineBling for posting on how to change the settings to allow people to tag themselves in your pics, I thought facebook changed it so you couldn't do that anymore.
Question though, how exactly do you pick a winner for a contest? I mean, if you post multiple pics and get a ton of people to tag themselves, is there an easy way to organize their names? Or even just count the total number of people taged in pics? (not sure if it will say "10 people taged themselves in this photo" or not, sort of like how it says for likes on a post)
Reading facebook's policies trying to understand what they actually are, I find this amusing gem:
You cannot: Condition entry in the promotion upon a user providing content on Facebook, such as posting on a Wall of a Page, uploading a photo, or posting a status update. You can: Use a third party application to condition entry to the promotion upon a user providing content to the application. For example, you may administer a photo contest whereby a user uploads a photo to a third-party application to enter the contest. You cannot: Administer a promotion that users automatically enter by liking your Page, checking in to your Place or connecting to your Platform integration. You can: Require entrants to like your Page, check in to your Place or connect to your Platform integration before they provide their full entry information, such as name and contact information. You cannot: Notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles or Pages. You can: Collect an email or address through the third-party application for the promotion in order to contact the winner by email or standard mail. You cannot: Instruct people (in the rules or elsewhere) to sign up for a Facebook account before they enter the promotion. You can: Instruct users to visit the third-party application to enter the promotion (as described in Section 2.3.2.1). Since users must have a Facebook account in order to access an application on the Facebook Platform, if you give this instruction, they will be prompted to sign up for a Facebook account if they do not already have one.
Amusing because I am pretty sure that every single ad on facebook violates some of those things. However it does mean that running a contest is a bit risky since FB can just shut down your fan page if they feel like it.
Also, someone earlier posted that they usually send a message to the winner, can't do that according to his joke of rules
Wow! That's totally eye-opening! What in the world could they possibly have as a reason for those rules? Oh, yeah... they get money from third-party applications. :
__________________ Synergy 17 OOBling Pro Rhinestone Software, Sticky Flock, Heat Presses, Rhinestone Fonts Divine Bling Facebook The EXPERT in anything was once a BEGINNER.
Amusing because I am pretty sure that every single ad on facebook violates some of those things. However it does mean that running a contest is a bit risky since FB can just shut down your fan page if they feel like it.
Also, someone earlier posted that they usually send a message to the winner, can't do that according to his joke of rules
Yeah I wouldn't mess with Facebook's rules for promotions. They will summarily take Pages down for violations. Every day it seems like I see a Page running a contest where if you click Like you're entered, or they'll pick a winner based on comments on a post, stuff like that.
It does suck, but you have to use a third-party app. Or, of course, make your own third-party app, where everything is hosted off of the Facebook site. As you mention, you can't use Facebook Messenging to alert your winner; it must be via email. (Though as far as I'm aware, you can congratulate the winner in a post, after you've contacted him.)
They don't want to have anything whatsoever to do with your contest. Sorry to say but I think anything to do with tagging people in photos (which is a Facebook app) and pulling names from there is almost certainly a violation as well.
Of course, you'll see lots of people running contests either knowingly (or more likely, unknowingly) that violate Facebook's rules. Most probably will not ever have any problems with Facebook, but some will. It depends on how much of a gambler you are.
Here is an article about all of this that helped sort it out for me:
That social examiner site is great - lots of info on social media.
And I agree, it's probably better not to gamble and just use a 3rd party app or some other work around instead of just violating the rules, even if that's what everyone else does.
Off the top of my head, unless I'm misremembering, I think the stipulation that your contest must include "a complete release of Facebook by each entrant or participant" is new.
edit: n/m, I guess that must have been there in the last update as well.
Very nice, though its a shame that its against the rules I guess... I wanted to use this method! I see pages do it, but eh... (For example, "leave a comment on this post explaining such-and-such for a chance to win!)
So you *can* for sure congratulate a winner on a wall post and/or status update?
(You must not notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles or Pages.)
Can you do "first comment on this post wins a shirt!"?
Also, on RANDOM.ORG - True Random Number Service , it talks about (under paid services) getting audited for lotteries and sweepstakes, and to have the info to show you did the drawing?
It's on their "paid services" page I think.. Somewhere.
Last edited by ishredbanez; May 23rd, 2011 at 09:36 AM..
Very nice, though its a shame that its against the rules I guess... I wanted to use this method! I see pages do it, but eh... (For example, "leave a comment on this post explaining such-and-such for a chance to win!)
So you *can* for sure congratulate a winner on a wall post and/or status update?
(You must not notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles or Pages.)
Can you do "first comment on this post wins a shirt!"?
My understanding is that you can congratulate people on the Wall, but you have to have told them previously that they've won. No, you can't have a contest tied to Wall comments, as you'd be using Facebook's "features or functionality."
Quote:
Originally Posted by ishredbanez
Also, on RANDOM.ORG - True Random Number Service , it talks about (under paid services) getting audited for lotteries and sweepstakes, and to have the info to show you did the drawing?
It's on their "paid services" page I think.. Somewhere.
Yeah, I use that. You can use the free Random.org service to randomly pick a winner, but they don't hold the records of the drawing. If you're confident that your entrants aren't a particularly litigious bunch, then this would be fine. If you use the paid service, which starts at $5.00 for 500 entrants per draw, they'll keep the record for you if you ever need to prove it to someone.
These are the Facebook rules as of May 26, 2011 - lord knows they could change it all tomorrow ...
We have one up and running with the drawing on May 31.
Is there a way to change the header/name of the ad? Example of ours below, the header says Showdown Poker Gear. I would like to change that but it seems to be a greyed out section? Anyone else been able to do that?
Showdown Poker Gear Free T-Shirt Giveaway Contest! Enter to win a t-shirt of your choice from Showdown Poker Gear! T-shirts available for men and women!
Off the top of my head, unless I'm misremembering, I think the stipulation that your contest must include "a complete release of Facebook by each entrant or participant" is new.
edit: n/m, I guess that must have been there in the last update as well.
I'm no great legal mind, but doesn't this pretty much make this contest talked about here basically illegal? I could definitely use some help clarifying that. Thanks.
I'm no great legal mind, but doesn't this pretty much make this contest talked about here basically illegal? I could definitely use some help clarifying that. Thanks.
As far as I can see, yes. Because you're using Facebook Photos, which is their app and their functionality.
I like this I did sumthin similiar in my first month of starting out since. But u can't beat hard work and graft I've been getting my Seo sorted and since I opened 10 weeks ago I've I had I've 3000 hits on my site using Facebook etc but most referrals come from google! This week sales have Bren outstanding!
__________________ Northern Tees - T Shirt & Hoodie Design Online Store
Re: A Facebook Contest That Works 
I wanted to use this method! I see pages do it, but eh... (For example, "leave a comment on this post explaining such-and-such for a chance to win!)
Free T-Shirt Giveaway Contest! Enter to win a t-shirt of your choice from Showdown Poker Gear! T-shirts available for men and women!
