Last week, we talked about social media contests, giveaways, and sweepstakes in a general way and how they run. This week, Nicole and Jessica dive into the rules as they differ by platform and some examples and resources to run your own. (Note: We use the word ‘contest’ to stand in for sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways but we did go over the differences between each of those terms in the first broadcast – we just didn’t want to keep repeating that string of words over and over!)
Before you put a contest out on social media, do your homework and get the policies for each platform here:
Facebook
Instagram
Youtube
LinkedIn
Twitter
TikTok
Some different federal regulations and laws will affect what you can/cannot do with contests, sweepstakes, and giveaways
Here are different agencies that regulate them in the United States:
Federal Trade Commission: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/advertising-faqs-guide-small-business
Federal Communications Commission: https://www.fcc.gov/general/broadcast-contests
IRS: In the case that you may need to request a W-9 from the winner(s) and file a 1099-MISC form for each winner): https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw9
Have 3-4 people on your team help run and oversee the contests to maintain best practices while running your contests or think about investing some money into getting an online tool to help assist you to avoid running into issues.
Here are some tools to help you run contests:
Shortstack: http://mbsy.co/ShortStack/24104508 (affiliate link)
Sumoking: appsumo.8odi.net/BXYxo1 (affiliate link)
Rafflepress.com/features (has templates to keep you compliant)
Contact Breaking Even to run your contest!
Like us? Subscribe to our email newsletter.
Really like us? Book a consult and maybe we can work together!