Social Media Giveaways - Protecting Your Business & Following the Rules

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Over the past year in particular, Instagram has become awash with competitions and giveaways, and when done well, they can be an incredibly effective method of engaging your audience and attracting more like-minded followers. Some of the best practices will be covered in a future resource, but first it is important to make sure you are protecting your business and ensuring that you are sticking to the rules when hosting giveaways on social media. Below are Instagram's promotion rules (from February 2021) - also available via this link to check for the most up to date version: 

• If you use Instagram to communicate or administer a promotion (example: a contest or sweepstakes), you are responsible for the lawful operation of that promotion, including:
  • The official rules;
  • Offer terms and eligibility requirements (example: age and residency restrictions); and
  • Compliance with applicable rules and regulations governing the promotion and all prizes offered (example: registration and obtaining necessary regulatory approvals)
• You must not inaccurately tag content or encourage users to inaccurately tag content (example: don’t encourage people to tag themselves in photos if they aren’t in the photo).
• Promotions on Instagram must include the following:
  • A complete release of Instagram by each entrant or participant.
  • Acknowledgement that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.
• We will not assist you in the administration of your promotion and cannot advise you on whether consent is required for use of user content or on how to obtain any necessary consent.
• You agree that if you use our service to administer your promotion, you do so at your own risk.

Terms & Conditions Template

Believe it or not, there are people on social media that dedicate their time to finding loopholes in competitions and backing the hosts into a corner so that they receive a prize. For example, if you use the phrase 'Enter our competition to win a bottle of our gin', rather than 'Enter our competition for your chance to win a bottle gin', without further clarification or T&Cs, you could be at risk of the interpretation that every single entrant will receive a bottle of your gin!

As stated by Instagram above, you are responsible for the rules and T&Cs, and you host your promotion at your own risk. Below is an example set of T&Cs that you could host on your website and link to via your future giveaways, stating that T&Cs apply and that by entering the giveaway each entrant agrees to your T&Cs. 

NB: The below content is for example purposes only. We recommend that you get legal advice before completing, published and using your own set of Terms and Conditions. The Gin Guide accepts no responsibility for the content below and it is copied and used at your own risk.

Social Media Giveaway Terms & Conditions
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• For the purposes of these Terms and Conditions, "The Promoter" refers to **Your Company Name** whose Instagram handle is @YourInstragramHandle. The "Prize" refers to **Prize Details** (e.g. one (1) 50cl bottle of Gin X).
  
  
• By entering the competition you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. All entries must be received by **TIME** on **DATE**. One (1) winner in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) will be selected at random by The Promoter on **DATE** and the winner will be notified on or after this date.
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• The Promotors competitions with entry via Instagram and/or Facebook are open only to residents of Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland). One (1) winner will be chosen at random from all entrants and across all platforms.
  
  
• No purchase necessary. Winners will not be required to pay to enter the competition.
  
  
• Entrants must be over 18 years old on the date of their entry.
  
  
• Employees of The Promoter are not eligible to enter.
  
  
• Instagram or Facebook are not in any way affiliated or involved in the competition.
  
  
• Only one entry per person per competition will be accepted.
  
  
• Each entrant shall enter the competition via Instagram by tagging another Instagram user in the comments of the specified post by @YourInstagramHandle and following this Instagram profile.
  
  
• The Prize will be awarded to a randomly selected winner who has entered on Instagram, using a random number generator. The Promoter will not be held liable if the named prize becomes unavailable or cannot be fulfilled.
  
  
• The Promoter will not be help liable for any failure of receipt of entries. The Promoter takes no responsibility for any entries which are lost, delayed, illegible, corrupted, damaged, incomplete or otherwise invalid.
  
  
• To the extent permitted by applicable law, The Promoter’s liability under or in connection with the competition or these terms and conditions shall be limited to the cost price of the Prize in question.
  
  
• To the extent permitted by applicable law, The Promoter shall not be liable under or in connection with these terms and conditions, the competition or any Prize for any indirect, special or consequential cost, expense, loss or damage suffered by a participant even if such cost, expense, loss or damage was reasonably foreseeable or might reasonably have been contemplated by the participant and the promoter and whether arising from breach of contract, tort, negligence, breach of statutory duty or otherwise.
  
  
• Prizes are non-negotiable, non-transferable and non-refundable. No cash alternative is available. Where a Prize becomes unavailable for any reason, the promoter reserves the right to substitute that prize for a prize of equal or higher value.
  
  
• The name, address, email address and phone number of the winner must be provided to The Promoter if requested and will be shared to enable fulfilment of the Prize.​
  
  
• In the event of unforeseen circumstances beyond The Promoter’s reasonable control, the promoter reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the competition or these terms and conditions, either in whole or in part, with or without notice.
  
  
• The Promoter's decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
  
  
• The winner’s name and social media username may be posted on the social media profiles of The Promotor after the winner has been selected.