Running competitions on your business’s social media account(s) can have all sorts of benefits, from growing your social media following and raising the profile of your brand, to helping you make more sales. It can also be an interesting way to give back to your customers or followers, and create opportunities to partner with other businesses.
But as always, it’s crucial to make sure you’re doing everything by the book. We explain how to run your competition within legal guidelines (the boring but essential bits) to ensure it’s a flying success and won’t get you into any kind of trouble.
Do I need a license to run a prize competition in the UK?
You’re free to run as many contests as you like but you do need to make sure your competition meets all the requirements of the Gambling Act 2005.
What is the Gambling Act 2005?
The Gambling Act 2005 is essentially the key set of rules for anything gambling-related in the UK, which covers:
- Lotteries
- Betting
- Gaming, if playing the game means you could win a prize
If your social competition falls within any of these categories, you’ll need the right operating licences to stay on the right side of the law or you could find yourself facing financial penalties or, in more serious cases, prison.
The good news is if your competition is a skill-based challenge or a free prize draw, you probably won’t need to worry about the Gambling Act at all. You’ll just need to ensure that your competition is free to enter (no payment required for people to participate) or if it’s paid, that it passes the ‘Skills Test’.
What is the Skills Test?
For your competition to pass the Skills Test with flying colours and therefore be outside the Gambling Act 2005, it needs to require enough skill, experience or knowledge to:
- Be able to put a high percentage of people off entering
- Be tough enough that the prize isn’t easy to win, even for those who are skilled, experienced or knowledgeable enough to enter
How challenging the competition needs to be depends on who you’re aiming it at (i.e. your target audience).
If the questions are too easy and most people can breeze through them, it probably won’t pass the Skills Test, in which case, you’ll need to make it harder. Or alternatively, you can just make the competition free to enter.
Ways for people to enter a social media competition
Okay, so if people aren’t paying to participate in your prize contest, how should they enter? Below are some great ways to get people engaged and boost your business at the same time.
Tag someone in a comment or caption
For example, if they can win dinner for two at a restaurant, get them to tag the friend they would like to go with. You could even offer a bonus entry if the friend they tag tags them back on your post.
‘Like and share’ your post
Get the person to like your post and then share it to their own story or feed. That way, they’re in with a chance of snagging the prize and you get great engagement and reach on your original post. Win, win!
Follow your business
Request that the person follows you on some or all of your chosen social media platforms in order to enter the competition. If you’re asking them to tag someone in the comments, you could also stipulate that the person they tag needs to be following your business too.
The CAP Code
The other formality you need to be aware of and compliant with when hosting a competition on your social media pages is the CAP Code.
This was put in place by the Committee of Advertising Practice (hence the name) and exists to make sure UK advertising is fair, transparent and responsible. This includes competitions run by businesses on their social media platforms.
The CAP Code means you need to do things like:
- Have a clear start and end date for your competition
- Give clear instructions on how to enter
- Explain any restrictions around who can participate (e.g. age, geographical location)
- Provide information on when (and where, if relevant) the winner(s) will be announced
- Describe exactly what method you’ll be using to select your winner(s)
- Detail your Terms & Conditions
All of this just ensures that the people who want to get involved with your competition can’t be misled in any way.
You’ll need to make all of this info easy to access, either within the competition’s social media content itself or by linking to a dedicated web page or blog post.
Top tips for running a social media competition
Now we’ve set you on the straight and narrow with all things legal, here are some pearls of wisdom to make sure your competition is a solid business decision.
Set clear rules
Not only will clear rules and regulations mean you’re keeping to the CAP Code, but it will also make your life a whole lot easier. When entrants are clear about the dos and don’ts, it means less hassle for you.
Have a goal in mind
Competitions are all fun and games but don’t forget about setting a business objective. After all, your competition should be part of a smart marketing strategy. That’s why it’s important to measure its success, whether you want to grow your social media followers, boost your brand reputation or something else.
Pick a good time
For your competition to be beneficial for your business, you need to consider timing carefully. When you launch and run your competition can make or break its engagement.
Using the example of dinner for two as a prize, this would be great in the run-up to February 14th, when people will have Valentine’s Day on their minds. However, it might drive less engagement in January when people are focusing on eating out less, starting a healthy diet, and cutting back after Christmas.
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