Everyone loves a competition! Especially being able to win something for nothing. It’s a great way to increase your Fire & Security company’s visibility in the local community. And to generate more new enquiries from homeowners who want to feel safe.

Which is why some home security installers are offering prizes like free alarm systems on their Business Pages.

But sometimes it can cause bad feeling rather than elation!

Here’s a personal example from a different industry:

I won a prize in a Facebook competition a couple of years ago! But it all went horribly wrong.

It was a Facebook competition where you had to like a status update or comment in order to win two tickets to an event.

So I commented.

And I won! But I didn’t find out in time to collect my prize.

Because.

When they announced the winner of the competition, they did it on their Business Page.

I want to double my Fire & Security LEADS AND SALES

Why announcing Facebook competition winners on your Page can upset your readers

The problem was that they created a new status update to make the announcement.

Why does that matter?

Because Business Pages cannot tag personal profiles – unless they are doing it in a thread where that personal profile has commented.

They tried to tag me in the new update but could not. So I did not get a notification about my win. And I did not see the update in my news feed organically.

The only way I could have seen the update was if I had remembered to come back to their Page and seen the update about my win.

Why private messaging Facebook competition winners can fail

The chap running the competition realised the problem and tried to send me a private message. But did you know that if you are not friends and do not have any mutual friends, such a message will go into the Other inbox for the person you are trying to reach?

Well it does! It’s to stop spam. But it meant that I did not see his message.

A few weeks later, I remembered the competition and went back to check the Page. Sadly, the prize was a ticket to an event that had happened two weeks previously 🙁

I was not happy.

But it was not really anyone’s fault.

There was nothing to be done.

I want to double my Fire & Security LEADS AND SALES

How to announce Facebook sweepstake winners on your Fire & Security Business Page

If you are going to announce the winner of a Facebook sweepstake on your Facebook page, you need to do it in the same status update that you ran the rest of the competition.

AND you need to make leaving a comment the way they enter the competition. Comment to win!

That way, you will be able to tag the winner. And ask them to send you a private message with further details on how you can contact them. Thanks to this post for giving me the best answer.

An easier way to generate Home Security Leads?

The problem with Facebook competitions is that they can be very hit and miss.

It’s hard to get people to

see the competition;
enter the competition;
discover they have won the competition.

And is there a way to measure whether it actually results in more enquiries?

Can Lollipop help your Fire & Security business to get more leads and sales?

There is an easier way to get
The Right Message in front of
The Right Person at
The Right Time

Click the link to answer a few questions so we can see how best Lollipop can help. And then book your call.

I want to double my Fire & Security LEADS AND SALES