You have to play by the rules.

Promotions and giveaways are great ways to interact with your fans and gain more visibility for your business on Facebook and other social networks. But if you are going to do a contest, it is important to play by the rules.  Developing a social media promotion takes some research and planning before you can share publicly that you are giving something away.

Before you launch a Facebook promotion, check out Facebook’s rules and guidelines https://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php. There are certain things you are and are not allowed to do on Facebook. For example, you are not allowed to collect entries through Facebook comments or photo uploads, but you can use an official Facebook app to announce and run your contest. As the admin of a page, it is your responsibility to read and understand these rules before starting a contest or giveaway on your page. Facebook has the right to reject or remove any page that does not follow their guidelines.

5 Tips to Create a Successful Contest:

1.    Define your goal
2.    Come up with a creative and interesting idea
3.    Utilize other social networks
4.    Keep the length of the contest in mind (typically 2-4 weeks)
5.    Measure the results

By taking the time to prepare your contest and make sure that you have followed the guidelines set by Facebook, your contest or giveaway may be a successful promotion for your business or company. You could gain valuable interaction and feedback from your current customers and even gain some new customers and fans.

For more on this topic, see this article posted by Mashable http://mashable.com/2012/03/05/facebook-promotion-guide/

"Rachel has a love for all things creative. She is passionate about what she does and loves to create new things."

Does your business have a Facebook page? Are you using it to its maximum potential? Facebook pages have been around for a while, but it can be a great advantage to your business if used correctly. Facebook pages can be used to connect with your existing customers and reach out to new ones.

It is important to start with a set of goals for your Facebook page that will benefit your business. These may include:

• To be found by people who are searching for your products or services
• Connect and engage with current and potential customers
• Create a community around your business
• Promote other content you create, including blog articles
• Generate leads for your business

Once you define the goals you want to achieve with your Facebook page, it is time to start posting. Some things to keep in mind when posting are:

• Start with exposure
• Generate awareness
• Motivate your followers to interact with your business
• Be entertaining and interactive in your posts
• Use images, videos, contests, and interesting information for your customers
• Write simply and plainly; keep it conversational
• Keep consistent activity to engage your fans
• Use Facebook to grow your email list, and vice versa
• Introduce new products or services
• Connect and ‘like’ other business pages

With your Facebook page now booming, you can’t forget about promoting your page and connecting it to your website and other marketing materials. Make sure that you link customers to your Facebook page from your website and post info on your page that will send them back to your website.

If you don’t have a Facebook page set up for your business, you might want to consider getting one. It is a great tool to use in our socially connected world.