Facebook’s New Promotions Guidelines Unfriendly to Small Business?

Contests and giveaways have long been ‘the secret sauce’ for many a brand. Way back in 1995 when I was an AOL Greenhouse Partner, we knew that two things were surefire awareness-boosters: a mention in Steve Case’s weekly email or a contest. Today we’re way more sophisticated, thanks to Facebook and its juicy toolkit of relationship-builders. Brands have been eagerly jumping on board, using contests and giveaways to boost fan counts, increase stickiness and in general, uber-engage with consumers.

The new Facebook Promotions Guidelines may radically change all that. The recently released new rules restrict the ability to use a personal profile or fan page to conduct contests, giveaways or other promotions. And catch this speed bump: Instead of being able to cobble together a quick contest and promote it asap, now you must obtain written approval from an authorized Facebook representative. (Good luck with that. You might try either Stanford’s Cool Cafe or the Empire Tap Room if you don’t get an answer quickly or at all.) For those who aren’t already working with a rep, there’s a handy form to submit your request. You can also work with an authorized 3rd party application who can obtain approval on your behalf.

My favorite part? The form lets you choose your budget range, which starts at $10,000.

And there’s more. As expert Allen Mireles explains in a very useful article — once you have obtained written approval you may only conduct your promotion using a 3rd party application approved by Facebook, like Involver or Wildfire Interactive. Read Wildfire’s update “>here.

If you’re using Facebook for your business, you owe it to yourself to check out these sea-changes as soon as possible. And then let me know: Will this stop you from using Facebook for your contests and giveaways?