Earlier this year I promised to tell you the very latest changes on Facebook as they rolled out through the year.

And, I vowed to only update you on the MOST important changes that will affect your Facebook marketing and business promotions.

And boy… have Facebook come up with the golden goods this week! (the answer to that rhetorical question is: YES, they freakin’ have!!)

Sit back, let me explain…

Up until this week, running a competition on your Facebook Page to increase buzz for your business, product promo or launch has been a bit of a faff.

Facebook’s terms required Page owners to run competitions through third party apps to safeguard entrants from dodgy dealings (and to protect Facebook from any liability).

Collecting entries by encouraging Page likes, or likes, shares and comments in posts was a big no-no.

Asking for a private message to secure entry to your competition, or using any other Facebook function on your page as a voting mechanism was forbidden.

This meant for most small, time strapped business owners that creating a quick boost of fame for their business using competitions via the BIGGEST social network on the planet was a big, phat headache.

What’s more, frustrated biz owners who played by the strict Facebook rules, could only watch while competitors rocketed their Page likes with impromptu competitions – either oblivious to their rule breaking or they just didn’t care.

Dreaming up a last minute, rapid fire competition to run on Facebook meant a lot more planning, which meant they didn’t get done.

The good news is that this is ALL in the past.

This week, Facebook relaxed their terms making it a whole lot easier for small businesses to create and manage their competitions.

YAY! Woo-hoo! YEA Baby! Happy dancing and drinks all round!

The deets your need to know:

• Promotions can now be managed on Timelines and in apps
• Entries can be collected by asking users to post on a page, like or comment a page post
• Likes can be used as a voting mechanism

What you can’t do:

Ask people to tag themselves in an image where they are not pictured in exchange to win a prize.

Which means, if you’re promoting a new product using an image you can’t ask people to tag themselves in the image (because the picture is of your product, not the person. Comprende?)

As everyone gets used to the new rules I’m certain we’ll see lots of interesting and creative ideas in our timelines (maybe we’ll even win a few cool prizes!)

There will also be some really bad ideas that won’t work for the long term success of your business or Facebook page.

So, here’s one last tip from me…

Remember, the idea of your Facebook Page is to nurture a community of loyal fans who recommend you to friends, and hopefully become prospects then clients and customers. This means ALL of your promotions should be strategically aligned with your ideal audience’s needs.

Example: if you’re a photographer thinking of spending $500 for a prize giveaway of an iPad, think again. You may attract a burst of amazing activity and hundreds of Page likes from eager entrants but your chances of making that money back in sales is about…0.

So think smart and BEYOND the Page ‘like’. Got it? Brill!