27 Sep Third Party Facebook Apps
Last month Facebook announced that it was changing its page terms. Facebook now allows pages to run promotions through their Facebook page without the use of a third party app.
What IS allowed:
Collect entries by having users leave a comment
Collect entries by asking users to like a post
Utilize likes as a voting system, asking users to vote for their favorite photo
Collect entries by having users message a page
What is NOT allowed:
Asking people to share a post in order to enter a contest
Asking people to tag themselves in a photo that they are not actually in to enter a contest
So, is it still worthwhile to employ a third party app to run a contest on Facebook? That depends on the type of contest you are hosting. We recently helped one of our clients, Colorful Stitches, to put together a Woobox promotion for their “Vote the Art That’ll Inspire the Yarn” contest. Through September 28th you can see, and vote, here. A collaboration with Lorna’s Laces to select three illustrations that will inspire custom colorways dyed by Lorna’s Laces for Colorful Stitches. For this promotion we decided to use Ravelry as one voting platform, for people who object to Facebook, and use Woobox to create a voting platform for Facebook. Even though the Ravelry voting started two days before the Woobox voting promotion, the Woobox app has already received more votes.
The Pros
- It’s easier to share a contest on other social media sites, since you have a link that will take them directly to the contest, and they won’t have to search for it on your company page
- You can collects stats on who enters, their email addresses, and fangate your contest
- Third party apps are customizable, and the layout can be edited
The Cons:
- Time. Unless you have knowledge of the ins and outs of setting up a promotion like this it can take a significant amount of time to set up, and there is a learning curve. Once you’ve set up your first few it will get easier and faster, but when you’re a small operation time is everything.
- Cost. Prices vary for various apps, so far Woobox is affordable AND easy to customize, and only $15 per month for unlimited promotions for pages with up to 1,000 fans, or $29 for up to 20,000 fans.
Would you like to try using a third party app for your next contest, but don’t have the time or inclination to learn all the aspects of setting up an app; call our team at 719-539-3110 and we can help you get started with a campaign.
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