5 ways not to break the Facebook rules, and drive away your customers.

I’ve been a bit frustrated lately, because I see some really cool and great brands making huge mistakes on Facebook. Here are my Top 5 Tips for not to break the Facebook rules, and anger your followers (and me).

Updated 14.02.17

1. It’s not allowed to use sharing a post or tagging people as a part of a competition. -You can ask nicely, but it can’t be a part of the competition mechanism. And honestly, if you make something that’s worth it, people will share it.

2. The 20% rule – yes it’s a hassle sometimes, but it’s actually a really nice way to to not make Facebook a place of spam and billboards. For those of you who don’t know what the rule is: “If you are going to advertise on Facebook or Instagram, the ad may not be approved if the picture contains more than 20% text in it. You can check your picture here (<-only works on desktop)“. PS: The ad can be approved with too much text, but it will affect your reach, so stay with the 20% rule, please. 

3. STOP CAPS LOCKING!!! Except using Comic Sans there is nothing more annoying than people screaming at you through your screen. If you use great pictures and content, you don’t need to scream. It looks messy too. Also, Facebook doesn’t like it either: “Ads may not use “spammy” text that uses words in all-caps or unnecessary symbols or punctuation.”

4. Begging for likes and shares is not a good way to promote yourself. Seriously, if people like it, they will like it. If you for some reason really need the likes, ask nicely.

5.  Don’t be an adhole, make sure your ads don’t bug the people you’re targeting. Nothing is more annoying than seeing an ad again and again and again. Keep an eye on your frequency number (if you don’t want to do it yourself – have a look at our Cruise Control!).

Further reading:

Facebook guidelines