Social Forces presents:Promotions, Sweepstakes + Contests, Oh My!

It might have slipped under your radar, but Facebook made some major updates to their Promotions Guidelines this week.

We thought we’d take a moment to let you know what this might mean for you and your social efforts.

Drinking is Cool Again.In the not-to-distant past, Facebook had a bunch of pesky restrictions on what you can promote. No booze. No smokes. And a number of other things (even gasoline!) Well, now the restrictions are gone.

What’s that mean for you? As far as Facebook is concerned, you can now administer promotions and sweepstakes for products like alcohol and tobacco — and even offer these items as prizes.

You’re the Boss.The flip-side of Facebook’s new lenient policies? They’re washing their hands of responsibility. They’re taking steps to very clearly put the onus for legal issues on YOU. You’re no longer allowed to use Facebook’s name, trademarks, copyrights or any other intellectual property in connection with a promotion.

What’s that mean for you? You and only you are now responsible for the lawful operation of your own promotion and compliance with industry and/or legal regulations — so it may be worth calling your lawyer before that next big Facebook contest...

Depends on what your definition of “is” is...Facebook is further covering their legal tail by getting specific regarding the differences between “contests” and “sweepstakes,” and even offering their definition of terms like “administration,” and “communication.”

What’s that mean for you? Your plausible deniability is eroding. It’s now more important than ever to ensure you adhere to the rules and regulations outlined in these guidelines. So if you’re not quite sure what the difference is between a “contest” and a “sweepstakes”, you better read up.

The More Things Change...The more things stay the same. A lot of the guidelines are sticking around.

What’s that mean for you?• You still must require every entrant to release FB from any responsibility.

• You still cannot require that someone “like” anything other than your page, nor “check in” to anything, or “connect” to an app, to enter a contest.

• You still must administer your contest/promotion/sweepstakes through a page “tab” with iFrames content hosted on a server outside of Facebook. (And yes, SoFo can help with that kind of stuff...)

Anything else?

These are just some of the changes Facebook has made to its Promotions Guidelines. All in all, you’ve got a lot more freedom and we’re pretty excited by the opportunities this creates — a strategic, well-run promotion could be the key to explosive growth on your fan page.

For all the nitty-gritty details and plenty of fine print, see the official guidelines at www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php

And if you have anything you’d like us to help with, contact our team today through kris@socialforces.com