Facebook Guidelines that a Social Media Executive Must Know

Let's start by stating the obvious. Facebook is powerful. Given the kind of presence it has in the world of social media, it can either become the one and only stop for brands to turn big or pack enough punch to make them bite dust. To put it simply, a lot is at stake when you're trying to use this social media platform to prove the worth of your business to the world. If you've already read Facebook inside out, you'd know how important guidelines are. And if you're a social media executive, it would make sense to have a list of important Facebook guidelines handy. So here goes.

Contests

When it comes to contests, there are things that Facebook absolutely wants you to do, lets you do and won't let you do at all. Now for the guidelines you can't escape. One, you will have to use to a third-party application to run a contest on Facebook. Which means you can't use your page, an event page or even a group page to promote your contest. Multiple third-party apps like North Social, Votigo and Involver are out there. You even have the option of coming up with an app yourself. Two, you can't drag Facebook's name into the contest you're running. No, there's no way that you can say Facebook has promoted or supported your contest. Facebook doesn't want any part of the ownership. Three, you must display your contest rules clearly on your app page.

You can upload photos and videos to your contest using the third-party app. You can have people like your page or connect to your app as long as you undertake all your contest activities through a third-party app. You can collect contact information of contestants. This, however, does not give you the right to add that to your mailing list. To access this privilege, you must mention this intention in your terms and conditions. Now for the 'can't dos'. You can't take help of Likes to get more votes for your contest. Neither can you contact winners using chat, status updates and any other Facebook mode.

Cover photos

When it comes to cover photos, Facebook definitely harps on uniqueness. So it's best to choose an image that talks what your business is all about. Cover photos are public, which means you can't stop anyone from viewing them. This also means you must be very careful about what you end up making a cover photo. Under no circumstance can you infringe upon someone else's copyright. You don't even have the right to convince other people to adopt the same cover photo. Nor would you be pardoned were you to go against the page guidelines. Your cover photo needs to be at least 399 pixels wide and can't have more than 20% text.

Advertisements

Positioning is key when you're trying to advertise using Facebook as a medium. The social media platform isn't thrilled about ads that don't use proper positioning to reach out to their target audience. Make sure your ad creative is perfectly aligned with the product or service you're promoting. Choose images carefully because they must not end up being sexually explicit, indicating a functionality that doesn't exist or carrying QR codes. If your target audience is under 18, choose images accordingly. Images must not carry more than 20% text. However, if your actual product carries text, then this guideline doesn't hold true.

One quick look at the basics and it'll all come back to you. But just so that you can always go back to the original, here are some Facebook links to bookmark – data use policy, advertising guidelines and platform policies.