Tips & Tricks: Organizing a contest on social networks

It is possible to win everything on creative contests. From handmade little things, clothes, shoes, techniques to food. And everyone are participating, trying, following instructions and enjoying the anticipation of the winner being announced. But is everything really that simple for the organizers of the contest? Certainly not.

To make sure that the prize competition you organize is in accordance with the rules, we bring you a few points that you should pay special attention to.

Rules of the competition

Each prize winning contest must have its own rules in which the data of the person / company that organizes the prize competition can be found, the exact duration, the manner in which to participate and the time in which the contestants can expect the announcement of the winner will be specified. Each platform has its own rules so don’t miss a good read of what’s allowed on the platform you’re targeting, and what things could make your contest disappear even before it starts. To be faster we leave the rules for Facebook on the link here, and the rules for Instagram here.

It is important to indicate what are the factors that can lead to the disqualification of a participant and all the technical difficulties that may be crucial, for which the organizer is not responsible. It is extremely important that each participant has an equal chance of winning.

What exactly is shared and under what conditions

While it may seem obvious, the award is also essential to be described in detail. How many prizes are there and what exactly a particular prize contains, how they are ranked if they are different for different winners, how many times you can participate, etc. Is it a multi-prize competition where speed, accuracy or some other measurable role plays a key role in winning the prize? You will want to better define the conditions of participation. Whether one person can win the prize more than once or once he / she wins the prize, he / she is not entitled to participate further. That decision will depend only on you, but try to define it well in advance, because otherwise the competition could only get frustrations and counter-effects.

Who can participate

Depending on the product or service you would like to give away, emphasize to users who can participate. The most common question that is asked and mostly will not be skipped  is the possibility of sending the prize to another country. Often social media profiles have followers from neighboring countries. When you do not have the opportunity to send the prize to one of the other countries, you will emphasize this, but do not forget about the services. If the service you want to give can only be used in a specific geographical location, emphasize this before the start of the contest so that you are not unpleasantly surprised after you choose the winner. You may have slightly fewer participants by emphasizing the limitations, but ultimately it will also be less misunderstanding and dissatisfaction.

Depending on the service or product you are giving away, you will attract different age groups. In addition to the usual definition of the countries from which participants can be, state whether only adults participate or minors are also allowed to participate. Do not forget to state how you collect personal data within the competition and explain how and in what way the participants would agree. In the case of the participation of minors, consent must be given by the persons authorized to represent them.

The whole organization may seem like a big hassle for something as simple and beautiful as giving „presents“, but it’s worth it. The more effort you put into the organization the more frustration you will spare yourself and the participants in your competition.