Every day when managing Facebook accounts for my clients, I see their competition breaking Facebook’s terms and conditions and in the process, which could result in their pages being shut down without warning by Mr. Zuckerberg and Co. Have you ever entered a promotion on Facebook when the page asks you to “Share on your Timeline to win”, or, “Tag your friends to get an extra entry” etc. If you have, you haven’t done anything wrong, but the page administering that promo on Facebook is in direct violation of Facebook’s terms and conditions.

In Facebook’s T’s and C’s, you’ll find it under Section E Promotions, clause 3. The exact working is;
Promotions may be administered on Pages or within apps on Facebook. Personal Timelines and friend connections must not be used to administer promotions (e.g. “share on your timeline to enter” or “share on your friend’s Timeline to get additional entries” and “tag your friends in this post to enter” are not permitted).

I personally know of one client I’ve worked with who had run a promotion this way, their Facebook page had over 11,000 Likes and it was shut down without warning, the reason? For violating the T’s and C’s. In the end, they had to create a new Facebook account, and have been chasing their tail ever since. They copied their promotion from a huge major Australian brand, whose Facebook page is still running and they continue to run promotions the same way, in breach of the rules. It seems Facebook has a small team checking over 40 million business pages that are currently live and the process of shutting down accounts in breach of the terms is a slow and random one.

As a Social Media Manager in Canberra, I show my clients the rules when they ask to run a promotion and tell them of the risks involved, and while it’s certainly frustrating for clients when they see their competition flaunting the rules, they understand the risk of losing their entire Facebook profile with no warning isn’t worth it. Content is king in all forms of social media, promotions are a great way to get a boost in Page likes, and you can still run successful Facebook promo’s that tick all the boxes, but engaging and original content that creates a conversation with your audience will always win out in terms of brand recognition and attracting new clientele.

If you are time poor and have trouble navigating the Social Media Minefield, contact Scott Masters Media now, we can help take care of your Social Media Marketing, and let you concentrate on running your business.