Hello everyone! How was your weekend, any nice wins to report? Three wins for me so far for May – a selection of banana themed nibbles from a photo comp with Holland & Barrett on Facebook, a pair of men’s walking boots from Millets on Facebook and a pencil case from Daioni, also on Facebook! Now the weather is picking up I am even more desperate for a break away, and looking forward to the next half term already, when we might be off to visit my sister in law and her family on the mainland. Are you having a good Bank Holiday weekend, up to anything nice? Quiet one here catching up on housework and chores, and getting all the summer clothes out to check what everyone in the family needs for the new season. Looks like I need to win some shopping vouchers haha.
Do you like to do social media comps, specifically Facebook ones? If so were you caught up in the recent round of Facebook bans? Within the space of about 24 hours I saw hundreds of people issued with a one month ban by the social media giant – not all of them prolific Facebook compers, and not even all of them compers at all! I think I must have been one of the few that weren’t affected – saying that now I will probably open up Facebook to a ban later on today haha! With the recent happenings in mind, I thought it was time to do a reminder of how to do Facebook competitions, and also a run-down of tips on preventing getting a ban:
Types of facebook Comps:
- Like, Comment or Share. As with other kinds of social media competitions, there are many ways you can interact with facebook as a comper. Sometimes promoters will simply ask you to add a nice comment or a like to a competition post, or sometimes they may want you to submit a photo or use a hashtag to complete your entry. Promoters aren’t allowed to ask you to like their page or to share their competition post, but lots still do. It is entirely up to you whether you choose to enter these comps, and a lot of compers don’t. We at The PrizeFinder still list them, as there are so many of them, but understand it is at your discretion whether you choose to enter.
- Via an app. The best way for promoters to run a comp is via an app. The company can attach a small programme to one of their Facebook tabs which allows people to enter either with their Facebook details or using their email address etc. Entries are logged centrally and a winner can be chosen more fairly. You can sometimes earn extra entries from these by completing other tasks or by referring friends.
Hints & Tips:
- Follow The PrizeFinder on Facebook! Here you will find all manner of hints, tips and links to current competitions, as well as being able to chat with like-minded compers.
- Find some comping friends. Comping is a social thing, so do interact with others. If you would like to join a friendly comping group or two just add me on Facebook and I will refer you to some groups. A lot of these groups are either closed or secret, to stop promoters getting in nosing around, but the people in them are very friendly. Having comping friends means you always have someone to tag you if you have missed a winning announcement, or to share a comp for that one vital thing you are trying to win from your Wish List.
- Only have one account. Compers often ask if it is better to have one facebook account for personal use (sharing photos with family etc), and one strictly for comping, so that the comps on their newsfeed don’t bother their friends. This may seem like a good idea, but you really should only run one account. If promotors, or other compers for that matter, see that you have more than one account it could be seen as cheating or trying to gain extra entries. Even if you never use your personal account for comping, the risk is there that one day you could enter a comp from that account, as well as your comping account, and people don’t take kindly to multiple entries into competitions – safer not to risk it. If your comps bother your friends simply ask them to “unfollow” you – hover over your name in your profile and untick where it says “follow”. You will remain friends but they won’t see all your competitions, unless they want to!
- Like the Page. Although not a requirement of most competitinos now, and liking too many pages at one time can be seen as spamming, we do advise you to like the pages of the promoters that offer lots of competitions, or who are running comps you really want to win. If you don't like their age then their posts won't apear on your feed and you may miss a good comp or a winning announcement.
- Go through your notifications. We can’t spot every single notification that comes in as it comes in, so make sure to go through your notifications section every day, to make sure you haven’t missed a tag from a promoter or a fellow comper on a win.
- Check your “others” folder. Promoters aren’t allowed to send you a message direct so any winning announcements sent direct to you will go into your “others” folder in your messages section. Make sure to check it every day.
- Share Public. Make sure any “Shares” you do, as a requirement of the comp are set to “Public” otherwise the promoter won’t see them and it won’t count.
- Share the original. If you spot a good comp shared by a friend, make sure not to just Like & Share THEIR post, go into the original post from the promoter itself and Like & Share THAT. Sharing a share won’t be seen by the promoter and it won’t count.
- Get notifications. If you enter a comp that you really want to win, make a note of the closing date and click the “get notifications” option when you hover over their name and “Liked”. This means that every subsequent post they make to their page will go into your notifications, and you can check who has won when the time comes.
How to avoid a Facebook ban:
- Have a real photo. Facebook don’t like to see profiles without human photos as their profile image – it makes them think the profiles are spammers and not real people. If you can make sure that you are the person in your photo – your children and grandchildren may be cute as buttons, but it is sometimes easier and safer to take the limelight yourself!
- Have a real profile. Make sure there is plenty of non-comping activity on your account. A Facebook profile with nothing but comps on it is more likely to be deemed as spam or not owned by a real person by “the powers that be” behind Facebook. Take the time to add non-comping status updates and photos whenever you can.
- Don’t overdo it. Don’t go on a mammoth Facebook comping session - Don’t spend three hours constantly entering Facebook comps – it will look like you are spamming and you risk a ban.
- Mix up your competitions. Do a good mix of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, online entry, text and postal, creative entry, blog and email comps. Not only does this give your Facebook feed a break from comps, but also means that all your eggs aren’t in one comping basket – spread your comping time around and you will probably get a better return on your efforts.
- Cut down on the Like & Share comps. Promoters aren’t strictly allowed to ask you to Share a competition as an entry requirement, but it doesn’t mean that they have all stopped asking. If it is a competition you really want to enter make the decision whether or not to enter by liking and sharing – it is your choice. However if you do a lot of Like & Share comps it can be seen as spamming and ups the risk of you getting a ban.
- Watch out for captchas. If you find you are getting asked to enter a captcha word a lot slow down on your Like & Share Facebook comping – it is sometimes the first warning sign that a ban is close at hand.
- Add your mobile number. In the event that you do get a ban, you will need to validate who you are by either recognising people in photos shown to you from your friends list, or by being texted a code to input onscreen. If you have a mobile number listed this second option is often easier and more straightforward, especially if you have 300+ comping friends like me, who I couldn’t necessarily pick out of a line-up!
So hopefully that gives you enough information and confidence to go into the world of Facebook comping. Don’t be put off by the recent bans, just be careful how you go about your comping business and you should be okay – let us know how you get on!
Happy Facebook comping everyone, and lots of Lucky dust to you all!
Kirsty
