If you’ve ever tried to run a promotion or giveaway on your Facebook page to engage your fans, you probably quickly realized how time consuming and expensive they can be. Before recent updates to its promotions policy, Facebook only allowed for contests and giveaways to be administered through an app (landing page). Now though, the new policy allows businesses to gather entries by having users like or comment on a post, message the page or post directly on the page. However, requiring participants to share a photo or status on their personal page is still not allowed by the site.

While the new policy makes it easier and more cost effective to run a promotion, I still prefer building a landing page for a couple of reasons. First, using a landing page means that your business’ promotion can be interactive instead of just the standard text status with a picture; this will help you stand out from the clutter of contests that often consume users’ news feed. Second, using a landing page allows your business to gather names and email addresses, which can be used to communicate with customers or potential customers outside of Facebook.

Regardless of the benefits of a Facebook app promotion, running contests or giveaways directly on your Facebook page does have a time and place. This method is especially beneficial for hosting more frequent, smaller giveaways such as a weekly gift card drawing for one lucky fan. Using your page instead of an app may also entice more participants to enter since some users don’t like sharing their information through apps or they may not be able to access the app from their mobile phone. However, major drawbacks to this method include the inability to reach out to customers outside of Facebook and having to track your entries manually.

Marketing RELEVANCE has plenty of experience when it comes to running Facebook promotions both large and small. If you’re interested in running this type of campaign to increase engagement, give me a call at 847-259-7312.

Mitch Levinson, MIRM, CAPS, CGP, CSP is managing partner with Marketing RELEVANCE, Managing Broker for MLC FlatFee Realty and the author of “Internet Marketing: The Key to New Home Sales” published by BuilderBooks. He is an Internet marketing expert with expertise in search engine optimization, website development, email marketing, social media and CRM consulting services. If you’re looking to improve your online presence through website development or mobile website design, contact Marketing RELEVANCE or connect with Mitch Levinson on Google+.