The options have increased! The decisions are now a bit more difficult to make.

Your company wants to increase fans, Likes, Comments, and Leads on your Facebook Page and you know that a contest can help…..

But now, there are more options since Facebook loosened up the promotion policy and allows contests on both the Timeline via a post, and via apps on tabs.

So how can you decide which to use? Let us help!

Here’s a guide to deciding between using a Timeline Contest, a App Contest on a tab, or both!

Guide to Deciding: Timeline Contest or Tab App Contest:

Here’s the quick overview:

Timeline Contest is best if:

If you want to launch right away (like today!)
If you want fast engagement (like’s and comments on a post)
If you have no budget at all

A Facebook timeline contest will give you fast engagement and can be deployed quickly.

App Contest hosted on your Facebook page Tab is best if:

You want to grow Page likes. (Offers Like Gate to ensure fans like the Page to access the contest)
You want to capture lead information such as email addresses for future marketing
You want more design control
You want advanced features

A Facebook contest on a tab will give you greater control and better lead capture.

That’s the quick overview. Yes, TabSite offers both types;

– TabSite’s Timeline Contest app

– TabSite’s Tab app Contest tools

Want more information? Continue on..

Advantages of a Timeline Contest

Quick and easy to setup, simply create a post!
Fun way to engage fans & visitors
Free to run
Runs totally in News Feed where users spend the most time
Offers way to increase your Reach and Engagement
The more Reach and Engagement, the more potential to grow your community

Disadvantages of a Timeline Contest

Cannot collect email addresses
Cannot have a Like Gate to ensure entrant Likes your Page
The Page cannot re-share the post easily to tell people about the contest multiple times
Need to post or link to full rules and the required release of Facebook’s responsibility for the contest, which can be cumbersome to do in a post
Without email address, it can be harder to notify the winner

Advantages of a Facebook Tab App Contest

As noted, gathering email addresses is significant for future marketing
More design and branding control for the contest
Can ensure Like Gate is in place so entrants/voters become fans of the page
Contest has a “home” on Facebook so it is easy to share and link to for promoting
Rules and Terms have simple way to be displayed, viewed, and accessed
Great user experience of seeing all entries, voting, and sharing a entry you like
Can be accessed on Facebook or also off of Facebook on a web page
Can integrate other tools such as a Instagram Image contest

Disadvantages of a Tab App Contest

Requires entrants to click from a post to go to the tab
Takes more time to setup, add graphics, and customize to deploy
Typically is going to cost at least $19-$30+ dollars to run
Requires use of the Smart URL to overcome Facebook mobile limitations

That ‘s the low down!

The TabSite Timeline Contest is a free tool to use. The Contest Engagement App offers a 14 Day Free Trial.

Want a step-by-step guide? Get our FREE eBook!

facebook contests, facebook promotions, facebook timeline contest, timeline contest, timeline contest appSeptember 18, 2013

Contests on Facebook can be run in multiple ways! Companies can run contests on tabs with tools like the TabSite Photo Contest App.

As well, Facebook recently loosened these rules to allow for more contest options and TabSite has responded to help Pages manage and run these additional options as well.

So with TabSite, Page Admins can run Promotions on tabs (for greater design control, features, and lead capture) or deploy quick and simple contests in the News Feed. Let’s look at the News Feed Timeline Contest tool below.

TabSite makes it easy with tools for management and deployment!

With the new Timeline Contest app, businesses can launch a quick & simple Facebook contest that is in the news feed using a normal post by the Page.

That means you can run a Timeline Contest that asks fans to enter the contest by:

liking the post
leaving a comment
posting a photo
etc.

TabSite’s Timeline Contest app does the work of sorting entries and picking winners for you. The tool allows pages to export the post data (likes/comments, etc) and randomly select winners according to the criteria you select. As well, at the Platinum plan level, TabSite users can run Photo Contests in the News Feed and easily get a export of all comments and photos on the photo contest post!

Quickly Create New Contest Posts

Additionally, TabSite users can create, customize, and launch their contest post from ready-made samples in the TabSite manager, making it easy to deploy, manage, and select winners via a timeline contest!

Post types ready to deploy in the manager include:

Sweepstakes
Trivia (visitors must comment with correct answer)
Photo Contests

Available at the Free Plan and up! Any plan can use the Timeline Contest App. At the Platinum and Enterprise Agency levels there are more features including:

Option to have multiple winners selected
Ability to Export Photo Comments on a Post (for photo contests)
Ability to Filter comments by a keyword (for trivia contests)
Ability to store up to 5 contest exports for future access

Overview:

Once in the manager, select the Page (if more than one Page is managed in TabSite) from the drop down at the top of the page, then in the left menu click on the “Timeline Contest” button.

To select a winner from posts already on your Facebook page, simply (1) click “Select a Post” which connects to your Page posts and pulls them in for viewing.

Each post shows the post excerpt, created date, and number of Likes and Comments it received. Simply Click on the Post that you are using for the contest, Identify what criteria you were running your contest by, such as by Likes, Comments, Likes and Comments, and photos posted as a comment.
The “Allow Duplicates” can be checked or unchecked. If duplicates are allowed, then in a “Like or Comment” contest where the user Likes (1 entry) and comments (a different entry), that user has 2 entries.
Same for Commenting. If “Allow Duplicates” is on for a Comment contest, then one user can comment 26 times and have 26 entries. If the box is unchecked, that user with 26 comments gets 1 entry.

Enabling selection of Multiple Winners, Downloading photos, and rejecting comments without photos are features available at the Platinum level.

Then Download the csv file.

For non-Platinum Plans, we store the most recent download only. For Platinum plans we store up to the most recent 5. At any time, simply delete the existing download to make room for a new download.

Options for Creating New Timeline Contest Posts

Need help creating a post? We’ve got you covered.

Click the “Create Post” tab to be given options to easily modify for:

• Sweepstakes (giveaways where a random winner is selected)

• Trivia (give users options and they must comment with correct answer to be eligible to win)

• Photo Contests (fans enter by adding a Photo Comment)

Simply select the type of post contest you want to run. Click the “Show More” button to see options. Then customize text and use our supplied image or click/drag to upload your own image and publish!.