Step-by-step Guide to Writing Terms and Conditions for Social Media Giveaways

Giveaway terms and conditions should be made visible and easily accessible so that all participants can see them at any time. So, if you have an active Easypromos plan, the terms and conditions generator will come in handy. And if you don’t, you can always download our free Terms & Conditions templates.

If you’re planning to organize a giveaway on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, we highly recommend that you carefully go through the steps that we outline in this article. It’ll give you a better idea of which aspects you should include in your social media giveaway terms and conditions.

Please note that this guide was written to share recommendations and guidelines for companies launching social media giveaways in Spain. It covers points that are valid in other countries too – but we recommend that you consult local laws, authorities, or lawyers to find out if there are other aspects that you must take into account when launching your social media promotions.

State who the giveaway organizer is

First things first; make sure you inform all participants of who the promotion organizer is. Specifically, share the following information:

• Name of the company
• Company address
• Company tax number
• Contact email address

Participation dates

Clearly state the dates from and until when entries will be accepted in your giveaway term and conditions. These dates clearly indicate . For example, if the last day to participate is October 15, 2021, at 23:59, all entries sent after this date won’t be accepted. 

Promotion dynamics and participation requirements

Clearly explain how your social media giveaway or contest will work. Inform users about all the participation requirements and steps that they must comply with and complete in order to participate in your campaign. For example, some social media promotions target university students only, or residents of a specific city, county, or region. Other promotions might require users to download mobile applications that must be used in order to participate in the promotion.

Winner selection date and the total number of winners

Make sure you don’t forget to mention when you will pick the winners in your giveaway terms and conditions. Additionally, you should also state how many winners you will choose from among all participants. Don’t forget to mention if you’re planning on drawing alternate winners, too. 

If you’re running a random giveaway, make sure you inform the participants that you will use the Easypromos platform to choose random winners. You can also mention that the platform will generate a public Certificate of Validity.

Participation validity

This is the section where you can cover the possible reasons for exclusion. You can point out in which situations you might exclude a user’s participation, as well as when a winner might be disqualified. The most usual reasons for exclusion would be users participating in the promotion with false personal details (for example name and last name), tempering with the contest mechanisms, or using computer systems that allow the user to enter the competition more than once, or more times than the limit set  by the organizer.

Limitations

You can establish participation limitations for certain individuals. For example, it is common for spouses and family members of the organizing company’s workers, as well as the employees themselves, to not allowed to participate in promotions organized by the company.

Offered prize and its value

It’s vital that you describe the prizes in detail, whether it’s cash, products or discounts in your giveaway terms and conditions. 

If you’re organizing a random raffle, bear in mind that depending on your location, as the organizer, you might be asked to cover a certain percentage of the prize’s value in tax. Another thing to consider – which is also variable depending on your location – is the taxation for the winner. For example, in Spain, winners must report winnings of prizes with a value greater than 300 euros and they might have to pay additional taxes in the personal income tax return.

Getting in touch with the winners

The promotion organizer must state in the giveaway terms and conditions when and how they will get in touch with the winner. 

The most usual way of contacting the winners is to create a post on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, in which the organizer brand publishes a list of winners and alternate winners. We recommend that you tag the users so that they’re more likely to see your post. You can ask the winners to contact you within 24 hours of publishing the post. If the winners don’t get in touch with you within the stated time period, the prize will then pass onto the first alternate winner who will equally have 24 hours to get in touch with you. 

As an organizer, you might give winners a longer period of time to get in touch with you, and we also recommend selecting more than one alternate winner per prize. However, this must be outlined in the giveaway terms and conditions.

Easypromos’ tool for managing winners and alternates will make this task easier for you, especially if you have several winners and prizes.

Copyrights of images and intellectual property of the winner

This is an essential part of your giveaway terms and conditions so that you can publicly announce the winner and alternate winners of your promotion. Specifically, participants must agree to have their username and public profile picture from Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter published on the promotion organizer’s social media channels or website. 

Posts or comments

In promotions where users leave comments in order to enter a promotion, for example on the organizer’s Instagram or Facebook publication, the participants must be informed that offensive, discriminatory and inappropriate comments that violate the rights of third parties will not be tolerated and allowed to enter the prize draws. You can state that these comments will be deleted and the users who shared them might be disqualified from participating in the contest and possibly in future giveaways as well.

Extensions or suspensions

Your giveaway terms and conditions should state that you reserve the right to extend or cancel your prize promotions or contests in case of force majeure that prevent you from finalizing the giveaway.

Disqualifications and penalties

In this clause, you can inform the users of the possibility of withdrawing participation or disqualifying users that violate the terms and conditions of the promotion. For example, you can exclude participants who use multiple accounts to participate in your giveaway.

Disclaimer of the organizer’s liability in the event of non-compliance by the participant

We recommend incorporating a liability disclaimer in the event of a participant’s non-compliance or the inappropriate use of the prize received. State that as the organizer you are not responsible for winners’ misuse of the prizes or failure to comply with the terms and conditions. 

Personal data protection

The promotion organizer will collect personal data of the promotion winners and alternate winners. They might also pull their public profile pictures. This is why it’s important to inform the users about their rights regarding their data. Some Data Protection Agencies might sanction companies that fail to inform the participants of their rights at the moment of collecting their personal data. Your giveaway terms and conditions should include the following information:

• Purpose: Inform the participants about how you will use the collected data. You will not be able to use the data for any other purpose. For example: “The purpose of collecting your personal data is to process the delivery of the prize as the winner of the contest, to the address indicated in the registration form of the promotion.”
• Data retention: The data must be stored for a limited time. Once the contest ends, all data must be erased or, at least, deprived of any elements that allow the interested parties to be identified. For example: “Your personal data will be stored for the duration of the contest.” Also inform the users that you will keep hold of the data, duly blocked, until the statute of limitations for the possible legal actions have elapsed.
• Consent: Share a brief explanation of the terms and conditions for data processing. We recommend that you establish it as a standard practice to ask for the consent of the interested party. 
• Data transfer to other countries or holders: Point out who the final recipients of the data are.
• Participants’ rights: Participants must be informed of their rights, which include the rights to:
  • access the data
  • rectification
  • erasure
  • restrict processing
  • data portability
  • object
  • not be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing

Users must also be informed that they might contact their local data protection agency in cases when they believe the processing of their personal data is not adequate to the regulations.

Contact and complaints

Point out that the participants can contact the promotion organizer by email in case of any questions or complaints. Make sure to share the contact email address.

Acceptance of the giveaway terms and conditions

Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter users must accept these terms and conditions before participating in social media promotions.

Jurisdiction and applicable law

The applicable law will be one of the country or countries that the promotion is open for.