Not winning on Facebook?

Submitted by SuperluckyDi on Mon, 2011-12-12 10:19

If you're new to Facebook you might be wondering why, despite entering lots of comps, you've not yet been lucky enough to win a prize.

There are several common reasons why you might not be winning on Facebook.

Have you set your privacy settings so that only friends can message you?
If you win a competition that's hosted on a Wall rather than an App, the promoter is likely to contact you via private message. You need to ensure that your settings allow them to get in touch, to do this go to Privacy Settings and Edit 'How you Connect'. Ensure EVERYONE can send you Facebook messages.

Are you checking your 'Other' message inbox?
Facebook doesn't tell us about our mysterious 'other' inbox - when we click on Messages we simply see messages from Friends in our Inbox. If you receive a message from a promoter, they're not (usually!) your friend so this is filtered into the 'Other' inbox. To access this, when you're in your Message inbox look for 'Other' on the left hand menu of your page.

Are you only sharing to your friends for Share comps?
Lots of promoters run 'Share' comps on their walls, where they choose a winner from everyone who shares the post. Unfortunately, the promoter can ONLY see Shares in their list from people who have set their Share to 'Public'. So if you share with just your Friends, or Friends of Friends, the promoter will be unable to see your name. Also, people can share multiple times and have their name appear repeatedly in the Share list, giving them a much higher chance of winning! Whenever possible, make sure you leave a comment to confirm you've shared - many promoters won't even look at the Shares list and will pick a winner from the comments instead simply because it's easier!

Are you entering too many Like and Share competitions?
Like and Share competitions on Facebook are easy to enter, and spread virally very quickly in people's newsfeeds - a bit like RT comps on Twitter. As a result even a competition to win a £5 box of chocolates can get 1000 entries! Try concentrating on the competitions that need a bit more effort - commenting, entering your details on an 'App' tab, or posting a photo takes longer but will reduce entry numbers significantly.

You have a comping reference in your name
Promoters are starting to wise up to compers who only use Facebook to try and win prizes - and a lot of them don't like it! Some promoters will even pop over to check out your Facebook wall before awarding you a prize, and if it's all comps you might not win! If you choose to reference your hobby in your Facebook name it may well work against you.

You don't have a profile picture, or you use a nickname
Facebook has a real name policy, although not widely enforced, and people expect you to use your real name rather than a nickname. Unfortunately, some dishonest people do set up multiple accounts in order to enter and vote in competitions - and these often have abstract profile photos or nicknames. Promoters are getting wise to this and are more likely to award a prize to a fan with a real name, real photo and real Facebook posts on their wall!

You're missing winner announcements in status updates
In your News Feed you don't see every status update from your friends or pages that you Like - so its easy to miss a promoter announcing the winners of a competition. It can be a huge benefit to have lots of compers on your Facebook friends list, as if you're announced as a winner they can 'tag' you to let you know. For this reason, it's also worth having a more memorable Facebook name - perhaps add a middle initial to make your name unusual! If you're announced as a winner in a status update and you miss it, hopefully the promoter will also try and contact you via Facebook message. For competitions that you really want to win, make a note or bookmark the Facebook pages and pop back regularly to check if the winners have been announced - sometimes you might need to chase them up!

There are lots of ways you can increase your success rate on Facebook, and I'll be giving you plenty of ideas in future blog posts!

Comments

Submitted by student2 on Wed, 2011-12-14 08:17

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Thanks for the tips di I never win facebook comps.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2011-12-14 11:21

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thanks for the info. im going to put some of it into practice, ive actually won 1 prize up to now, which just turned up at my door with no warning. it is an A3 size oil painting of a tin of heinz beans, it will go great in my kitchen. but i have entered several comps, heres to winning a few more, thanks again. xx

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2011-12-16 17:15

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I LOOKED ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF MY PAGE AND THERE IS NO OTHER ON THE LEFT HAND MENU.
CAN YOU HELP PLEASE IS THERE SOMETHING I SHOULD DO TO MAKE IT APPEAR.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2012-01-11 23:51

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Do you think having a certain type of profile photo helps to win? I notice those that win lots have blonde hair or are in photos with children or friends.

Submitted by SuperluckyDi on Thu, 2012-01-12 11:09

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

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In 'Like and Share' competitions, where a promoter will chose from a list of entrants, an unusual or appealing profile photo might well work in your favour! I've noticed on Twitter that many winners are smiling young ladies with long hair too ;-)