When it comes to hosting a successful Facebook promotion or contest, planning ahead is critical to success. Here’s what you need to know about building and launching a Facebook contest app. Like this resource? Find more free resources here: https://shortstack.iljmp.com/1/moreresources

1. SHORTSTACKpresented by
WHATYOU SHOULD DO
A FACEBOOK CONTEST...
BEFORE RUNNING
and maybe afterward, too
BEFORE RUNNING

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Have you ever heard the saying, “Proper preparation prevents poor performance?” Well, when it comes to hosting a
successful Facebook promotion or contest, planning ahead is critical to success. At ShortStack, we get lots of support
questions that amount to either, “I want to build a Facebook contest app but I don’t know where to begin,” or “I’ve built
my Facebook contest app ... now what do I do?”
But no matter which app platform you use, there are a few things you must do before you launch your next Facebook
promotion.
First, take a few minutes and read through Facebook’s Promotion
Guidelines. Knowing what is and isn’t allowed on Facebook is important
for any promotion. Facebook now allows Pages to host promotions/
contests without using apps but there are some remaining restrictions.
For example, you cannot ask entrants to Share the contest on personal
Timelines. You also must publish terms and conditions and eligibility – e.g.,
on your Timeline, blog, website or on an app – with each promotion.
Here’s what you need to know about building
and launching a Facebook contest app.

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Before You Launch Your App
Step 1: Familiarize yourself with your app platform
Get comfortable with the platform you’re using. It probably has a few “off the shelf”
features that will help you get apps set up quickly. But if you spend a little time
experimenting with additional features, you’ll probably find customization options
that will make your apps even better. For example, you might want to enable sharing
on your apps, or display certain content in different regions. The platform might offer
these options but you won’t know about them unless you spend some time learning
about its features.
Step 2: Test everything, on multiple devices
Once you build your app, create a special Facebook test Page that’s separate from
your brand Page(s) and test all your features, acting as both a fan and as a non-fan.
A “hidden” Facebook Page is the ideal testing environment where you can submit
entries and have your friends submit entries, too. Make sure the flow, visibility and
anti-cheating mechanisms (limiting entries, votes, etc.) are working.
ShortStack
User Tip
Encourage sharing
by giving your fans
more chances to
win if their friends
enter too.
Learn more >

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This is also the time to see how the app functions on multiple browsers and devices. You don’t know what kinds of
devices your fans will be using, so you’ll want to cover all bases. And don’t forget about mobile. Does the platform have
mobile capabilities? How do the functions work? Since an increasing number of people access Facebook apps from
mobile devices, mobile capability is essential.
Step 3: Create a promotion plan
Creating an app is only step one. If you want your fans and followers to know about the app, you’ll have to promote
it across all of your other social networks. If you have an email list, contact everyone on the list, sending links and an
overview of the contest. If you have a large presence on other networks (Google+, LinkedIn, etc.) sharing content there
increases the likelihood that your fans will see it. Investing in Facebook advertising is also an easy and affordable way
to get the word out about your app to your Facebook community.
Want to learn more about promoting apps?
Download “12 Ways to Promote Your Facebook
App on a Shoestring Budget”
DOWNLOAD

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After the Contest/Promotion Ends
Step 1: Collect your Data
Now it’s time to reap the rewards of your efforts! Data that you’ve collected from your
app may be in the form of emails or a database, such as Excel. (ShortStack users on any
paid plan can export data in a CSV or Excel format).
Step 2: Allow Time to Choose your Winner
Sometimes the person who wins your contest/promotion does not respond to your
email notifications. In order to ensure you can award your prize, we recommend
choosing a few runners up just in case the winner doesn’t respond.
Step 3: Understand your data and analyze it
Before you dive right in to the data, ask yourself what you just collected from your fans
and what that data might mean to you. If you collected a hundred email addresses,
then you just grew your email list and have a long list of people to reach out to the next
time you host a promotion. If you collected user feedback, then look for trends. If many
people said the same thing, be responsive: Make the requested changes, updates, etc.
Promotion Tip
If you’re running
a promotion, use
a tool such as a
Comment/Like
Importer to collect
and manage the
data you get from
your contest
Learn more >

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Step 4: Make notes and repeat
Was this contest a success? Did you have a promotion plan that worked better than ones you tried in the past? Keep
notes of everything you tried so you can implement the successful tactics with your next app. After building and
launching a few apps, you’ll have a system in place that will make each app better than the last one.
Hope this advice helps you as you start to plan your next contest! As always, let us know how we can help.
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