13 Oct How to Run a Facebook Live Sweepstakes
Running a sweepstakes for your brand can be a great way to reward your loyal fans and find new ones. Doing a live video sweepstakes on Facebook is a new playing field and we think one that shouldn’t be ignored. We’ve already touched on Facebook Live and tips on how to make sure yours goes off without a hitch, but what about running a sweepstakes during a live video? Sound like a great idea? We think so and here are a few things to make sure that your giveaway will not only be engaging for your audience, but also how to make sure you are being legally compliant with how you run one.
Plan Out Your Promotion
Before hosting a Facebook Live Sweepstakes, you need to decide what the topic of your live video will be? Do you have a new product launch? Is it for a National Coffee Day promotion? Holiday themed? Whatever the topic, make sure that it resonates with your audience and your brand. Once you have your topic in mind the next step is to come up with a rough outline of what you want to talk about during the live video and how you want your audience to interact. With that framework in mind you are ready to move on to the details for the sweepstakes within your live video.
Make Sure Your Prizing Is Worthwhile
Let’s stick with my love of coffee as an example for this next section. When picking what type of prizing (and how much) to offer your fans, think about your brand and what would take the experience of your product to the next level. Look at your budget to decide how many prizes you can give away. Our recommendation is to have a Grand Prize and some secondary prizing so your fans have more than one chance to win. Product is ALWAYS a good idea, your fans are there for a reason, give them something they already enjoy and add to it. Prize packs sound a lot more enticing than one prize so why not include a high-end coffee maker to make the experience with your brand all the more rewarding. If you find that you are struggling for other products that directly connect with your brand, you can always make it a theme such as a relaxing night in and include some movies and treats.
Note: If your prizing is going to be over $600 in value remember this will require paperwork as the winner will need to be 1099’d for the year they received the prize. Be sure to consult with your legal team, a phrase that cannot be repeated enough when running promotions on any channel.
Ensure You Are Being Legally Compliant
I cannot stress this enough (see my note above). If you are going to run a promotion on any social channel, legally you are required to have a set of Official Rules. The Official Rules protect not only the entrant but your brand by detailing out all the specifics such as how to enter, when to enter, what the prizing is, when it will be awarded and how. There’s also a bunch of legal jargon that might put the average person to sleep but again, it’s there to protect everyone involved. Before you start planning a Facebook Live Sweepstakes be sure to check with your legal team to make sure your promotion is #ButtonedUp and avoid the FTC taking notice.
Reward Your Audience Real Time
While you can hold the drawings at the end of your Facebook Live, people love instant gratification. If your teams bandwidth allows for some additional hands, host some of the drawings in real time during the sweepstakes period. This can be done by creating drawing periods throughout the stream, as is common during a Twitter Party. We would recommend doing the secondary prizes in this fashion with the Grand Prize at the conclusion, that way your audience will stay tuned in until the very end. A good rule of thumb for the entry periods would be to break the total time for the sweepstakes into equal sections and award a secondary prize by announcing it during the video. Instruct your potential winners (because they aren’t confirmed winners unless they meet eligibility requirements) as you draw them to send a message to the brand to take the conversation off line and obtain their exact details to award the prize. When the end of your live video approaches, do up a drum roll and announce your grand prize winner, it’s a great way to sign off from a live video. However, if there are not enough hands on deck, winners can always be selected after the video and contacted then.
So now that you have an idea of how to run a Facebook Live Video sweepstakes, go out there and plan one for your brand and enjoy your audiences excitement. Perhaps you have already done one. In that case, tell us how it went in the comments below as we would love to hear. If you have any questions or would like help running your own sweepstakes, please reach out to us as we’d be happy to help!
