How to Do a Facebook Contest

Running a Facebook contest is one of the fastest ways to generate excitement, engagement, and new followers for your brand. More than just a simple giveaway, a well-executed contest can boost your reach, grow your email list, and build a stronger community around your products or services. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know, from setting the right goals and following the rules to announcing your winner and turning new followers into loyal fans.

Why Run a Facebook Contest? The Real-World Benefits

Sure, giving away free stuff sounds fun, but a strategic Facebook contest delivers tangible business results. It’s a powerful tool for interrupting the endless scroll and getting people to pay attention to your brand.

• Skyrocket Your Engagement: Likes, comments, and shares are the currency of Facebook. Contests require users to engage, signaling to the algorithm that your content is valuable and pushing it into more news feeds.
• Grow Your Audience Organically: When you run a compelling contest, people naturally tag friends who might also be interested. This creates authentic, word-of-mouth marketing that brings genuinely interested followers to your Page.
• Generate Valuable User-Generated Content (UGC): Photo and video contests turn your audience into content creators. The content they produce is authentic, trustworthy, and perfect for repurposing across your marketing channels later on.
• Build Your Email List: By using a simple contest app or landing page, you can make providing an email address an entry requirement. This lets you move the relationship off Facebook and into a channel you fully own.
• Promote a New Product or Service: Have a new product launching? Make it the prize! This not only creates buzz but also educates your audience about what you offer in a way that feels exciting, not salesy.

First, A Quick Look at Facebook's Contest Rules

Before you jump in, it's important to understand Facebook's official promotion guidelines. Breaking these rules can get your Page restricted or your contest post removed. Don’t worry, they’re pretty straightforward.

Here’s the plain-English version of what you need to know:

• You run the contest, not Facebook. You must include a statement that officially releases Facebook from any liability, like: "This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Facebook."
• You cannot force personal sharing. Asking friends to "Share on your Timeline to enter" is a violation. Similarly, you can’t make "Tag your friends in this post to enter" a requirement. However, you can encourage it with phrasing like, "Tag a friend who would also love to win!" which prompts action without making it mandatory for entry.
• "Likes" and "Comments" are okay. You are allowed to ask people to Like your Page, like the contest post, or comment on the contest post as entry methods. This is the most popular and easiest way to run a contest directly on your Page.
• Tagging in photos is a no-go. You cannot ask people to tag themselves or their friends in a photo they aren't actually in. For example, don't post a picture of your product and say, "Tag yourself to enter!"

Following these simple guidelines keeps your Page safe and builds trust with your audience by running a fair and transparent promotion.

Step 1: Set a Clear and Achievable Goal

What do you want to achieve with this contest? "More engagement" is a start, but let's get more specific. Your goal will shape every other decision you make, from the type of contest you run to the prize you offer.

Common goals for Facebook contests include:

• Increase raw engagement: You want a flood of likes and comments to boost your visibility and algorithm performance.
• Gain new Page followers: Your primary aim is to increase the number of people who see your regular content.
• Build an email subscriber list: You're focused on capturing leads for an off-platform marketing strategy.
• Generate user-generated content (UGC): You want authentic photos or videos of customers using your product.
• Raise awareness for a new product: You want to get your latest offering in front of as many people as possible.

Choose one primary goal. A contest designed to get thousands of comments will look very different from one designed to collect hundreds of email addresses.

Step 2: Choose the Right Contest Type for Your Goal

Now that you have a goal, pick a contest mechanic that aligns with it. Simple contests get more entries, while more involved ones get higher-quality participation.

Simple & Fast: Comment or Like to Win

This is the easiest contest to run and enter. Simply ask users to "Like this post and comment below with your favorite [product, flavor, emoji, etc.] to enter!"

• Best for: Maximum engagement and Reach.
• How it works: You post an image or video, explain the rules and the prize, and let the comments roll in.
• Example: A local coffee shop posts a picture of a new latte and says, "To celebrate our new Toasted Marshmallow Latte, we're giving away a $50 gift card! Like this post and comment with a 🔥 emoji to enter. Winner chosen Friday!"

Community Focused: Photo or Video Contest (User-Generated Content)

Ask your audience to submit their own photos or videos featuring your product, your brand, or a specific theme. This creates a strong sense of community and provides you with powerful social proof.

• Best for: Generating high-quality UGC and building brand loyalty.
• How it works: Entrants post their photo or video in the comments of your contest post or on their own timeline with a specific hashtag (e.g., #MyBrandAdventure).
• Example: A pet supply store asks its audience to post pictures of their pet enjoying the outdoors with the hashtag #PawsOutside for a chance to win a year's supply of treats.

Educational & Interactive: Trivia or Fill-in-the-Blank

Test your audience's knowledge about your industry or brand with a trivia question or prompt creative responses with a fill-in-the-blank post.

• Best for: Driving comments and educating your audience in a fun way.
• How it works: Post a multiple-choice question or a sentence with a missing word and ask followers to comment with their guess.
• Example: A bookstore posts, "Fill in the blank: The best part about a new book is _______. One random comment will win a copy of our latest bestseller!"

Lead Generation: Use a Third-Party App

If your goal is to grow your email list, running the contest through a simple third-party contest tool is the most effective approach. These tools allow you to collect emails as part of the entry process.

• Best for: Capturing leads and growing your email list.
• How it works: You create an entry form on a contest app and share the link on Facebook. Users click the link to a simple form where they provide their email to enter.
• Example: A fitness coach promotes a giveaway for a home workout program. The Facebook post directs people to a landing page to enter by signing up for her newsletter.

Step 3: Pick a Prize Your Audience Actually Wants

The prize is the single biggest motivator for entry. If the prize isn't desirable, your contest will flop. The best prizes are highly relevant to your brand and something your target audience would genuinely value.

Here are some solid prize ideas:

• Your Own Product or Service: This is the best option. It puts your offering in the spotlight and ensures that the people who enter are actually interested in what you sell. Giving away a year's supply of your product or a premium package of your service works great.
• A High-Value Gift Card: A gift card to your own business is nearly as good as giving away the product itself. It brings a winner back to spend money with you.
• A Curated Prize Pack: Partner with a few complementary, non-competing brands to create an exciting prize package. This exposes your contest to their audiences as well.

What about an iPad or an Amazon gift card? While these prizes get a lot of entries, they often attract "freebie seekers" who have no interest in your brand and will unfollow you as soon as the contest is over. Stick to prizes related to what you do.

Step 4: Craft Your Killer Contest Post

Your contest post needs to be simple, skimmable, and visually appealing. Use a high-quality photo or video of the prize and include all the key information directly in the caption.

Your post must include:

1. A Bold Opening: Announce the contest right away with a headline like “✨GIVEAWAY!✨” or “WIN THIS!”
2. How to Enter: Use a simple, numbered or bulleted list to explain the entry steps. Eg.: 1. Like our Page. 2. Like this post. 3. Comment with...
3. The Prize Details: Clearly state what the winner will receive. Be specific and get people excited about it.
4. Contest Dates: Specify the exact closing date and time (including the timezone). Creating urgency ("Contest closes Friday at 5 PM EST!") encourages immediate action.
5. Winner Announcement Date: Let people know when and how you’ll announce the winner.
6. That Facebook Disclaimer: Don't forget to include the mandatory text releasing Facebook from responsibility.

Step 5: Pick a Winner Fairly & Announce It

When the contest period ends, it's time to pick a winner. Transparency is everything here. People need to trust that your contest is legitimate, so the process should be as fair as possible.

• For comment-to-win contests: Use a free tool like a Random Comment Picker. These tools will go through all the comments on a post and randomly select one for you.
• For photo/video contests: You can either use a panel of internal judges to choose based on creativity or let your audience vote by making the photos with the most likes the finalists.
• For email signups: Simply export your list of entries into a spreadsheet and use a random number generator to pick a winning row.

Once you have a winner, announce it publicly! You can do this by:

• Creating a new post that congratulates and tags the winner.
• Replying to the winner’s original comment on the contest post.
• Going Live on Facebook to announce the winner in real-time.
• Editing your original contest post caption to include the winner's name.

After announcing, reach out to the winner via DM to coordinate prize delivery. This is also a great opportunity to thank everyone else for participating and perhaps offer them a small discount code as a consolation prize.

Final Thoughts

A successful Facebook contest is a powerful way to accelerate your organic social media growth, build brand excitement, and create a genuine connection with your followers. By setting a clear goal, choosing the right mechanics, and offering a valuable prize, you can create a fun experience that delivers real business results.

As your contest picks up steam, managing the influx of comments and questions can become a lot to handle. We've found that having all of your social media messages in one unified inbox is a game-changer. It helps us keep track of every entry and reply to participants quickly without toggling between multiple apps. When you're ready to plan your next campaign, organizing all your visuals and captions in a content calendar with Postbase makes it easy to see your whole strategy at a glance.