New Rules for Your Insurance Agency’s Facebook Page

Does your agency have a Facebook page?  Do you want to grow your number of Fans, but are worried about Facebook’s rules and regulations around promotions and contests?

I am excited to share with you the big change that Facebook has made in how they allow company pages to run promotions and contests!

In the past, Facebook has imposed tight regulations on promotions and contests, specifically not allowing them to be run on a page unless it was done through an application.  One of the most common violations of their rules was to ask people to like or share a picture or post to enter them into a promotion or contest.  If discovered by Facebook, this agency’s page could be deleted!  HUGE problem for any company.

As of August 27th, Facebook has updated their Page rules to allow for Pages to run contests and promotions directly on their timeline.  (Please note, you are not allowed to run these on your personal pages.)  They have made this change “in order to make it easier for businesses of all sizes to create and administer promotions on Facebook.”

Here is what you need to know about changes in administering promotions and contests on your Agency’s Facebook Page;

1. Promotions can now be administered both on your Page’s Timeline and through an app.  It is now ‘legal’ to use both your timeline or an application to run your promotion.
2. You can ask someone to like or comment on a post to enter your contest. It is now ‘legal’ to ask people to like/comment on a post to be entered into your promotion.  You can even use a “like” plug-in on your website to enter people into your Facebook contest.
3. You can now ask someone to message your Page to enter.
4. You can now ask someone to like a post in order to “vote”. Someone’s like can now be counted as a vote on a post (or picture).
5. You can now ask someone to post on your Page’s Timeline to enter.  Someone’s posted comment or picture on your Page’s Timeline is now allowed to be counted as an entry.
6. You can announce the winner on your page.  You can now announce the winner of your contest directly on your page.
7. You can require people come back to your Page in order to see who won the contest. You are now able to ask people to come back to your Page to learn who has won the contest, rather than communicating with them directly.  This is another opportunity for them to see your content – and for Facebook to add your registrant’s interest in your page to their algorithm.  The more often they visit your Page, the more likely they are to see your posts in their News Feed.
8. Wait!  It is ‘illegal’ (yes, Facebook law is law) to tag people in your post, if it is not directly about them.  For example,  fictional Sue’s Ice Cream Shack posts, “We love our new Pumpkin Paradise Ice Cream! – with Kristin O’Leary, Cathy Baldwin, Julie Stevens, and 34 others” (Thanks JM Wilson Friends for allowing me to use your names…)  Cathy, Julie, and I do not have anything to do with this specific post, so it is illegal for Sue’s Ice Cream Shack to tag us.
9. Also!  It is ‘illegal’ to ask people to tag themselves in a post or picture, in exchange for the chance to win.  You can ask them to like it, or even comment, but you can’t ask them to tag themselves.
10. And! You cannot count someone liking your page as an entry.  Facebook’s reasoning behind this regulation is that the contest is then not taking place on the timeline.  Note : If you use an application, you can still like-gate!  Like-gating  is requiring someone to like your page before they can enter your contest.  Their ‘like’ enables to them to enter your contest.  It is important to differentiate that their like is not their entry.
11. Finally! You cannot ask someone to share a post in exchange for entry. We are allowed to ask someone to like or to comment, but not to share.

Want more information?  Here is a video from Facebook outlining their policy changes.  You can also access the complete Facebook Promotion Guidelines here.

What was your latest Facebook promotion?  What do you have planned?  We would love to hear your latest thoughts and ideas!

About The Author : Kristin O’Leary, Project Coordinator

Kristin has been a proud member of the J.M. Wilson Marketing Team since 2005 and currently serves as the Project Coordinator.  She graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing.  Outside of the office, she enjoys running, exploring the great outdoors, kayaking, hiking, and spending time with her husband and their Miniature Schnauzers, Vinny and Maggie.

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Disclaimer :  This article is for informational purposes only.  There is no legal advice being suggested or proffered.  The author assumes no responsibility or liability for the actions taken or not taken by the readers based upon such information.  This article is the opinion of the author and is not supported or endorsed by J.M. Wilson.  It should not be relied upon and may contain inaccuracies or content may have changed over time, contact your underwriter for the most current and accurate information.  Any comments or responses are the opinions of their authors.  Content on this site is believed to be covered under Fair Use. Legal

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