Leading up to Christmas is the perfect time to run a competition giveaway! Competitions are great for generating engagement, brand awareness and brand equity. Not only do they lead to an increased following on your social pages, they can also foster a closer relationship with your followers and promote your business as generous and caring.
There are heaps of cost-effective ideas for prizes in a competition which you can run on your socials. For example, our clients give away gift vouchers, a free service, or a product bundle – which can provide exposure for your products or encourage the winner to keep spending with your business. You need to make sure however that your competitions are allowable by Facebook and your Allied health regulatory body (such as AHPRA). We break it down for you below!
Facebook Guidelines for Competitions
Facebook is an awesome platform to hold your competition, as you can set entry requirements such as following your page and liking the post. Following Facebook’s competition rules will ensure your competition stays up and remains in the favour of the algorithm. This increases the reach of your page and directly contributes to a greater brand awareness among your community. However, you need to be aware of the following:
You can’t:
- Ask entrants to tag a friend as an entry requirement,
- Ask entrants to share your post as an entry requirement,
- Promote your business in a deceptive or misleading manner.
You need to include:
- Competition Terms and Conditions (the best way to do this is to publish these on your website and add a link in your competition post),
- Competition eligibility requirements (for example, must be over 18 and live in your geographic area),
- An acknowledgement that your competition is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Facebook.
You must also ensure that your competition meets regulatory guidelines, such as the AHPRA Advertising Guidelines.
Regulatory body guidelines (AHPRA)
Understanding AHPRA’s guidelines will ensure your competition is allowable (and won’t get you into any strife!). We go into greater details on AHPRA’s advertising guidelines and what they mean to allied health business owners here. Here’s what you need to know:
You can’t
- Promote your business in the competition in a way which is misleading or deceptive,
- Encourage clients to book an appointment to enter in the competition (or otherwise encourage the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of your services in the competition).
You need to include:
- Like Facebook’s rule, you must state the Terms and Conditions of your competition either in the ad, or on your website and link it to the ad.
If you would like to familiarise yourself further with AHPRA’s rules, check out this resource or contact us today – we’d be more than happy to help!
Offering a competition can help grow your social media reach organically and increase your brand awareness and equity among new and current clients. Holding a competition promotes your products and services and gets your followers excited about your business. Now is the perfect time to hold a competition in the lead up to Christmas! Need help? Get in contact today.