LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 850 million members worldwide. With such a massive userbase, many businesses are interested in leveraging LinkedIn for marketing campaigns like sweepstakes and contests to generate leads and build brand awareness.
But can you actually run a sweepstakes on LinkedIn without violating their terms of service? Let’s take a closer look at what LinkedIn’s policies say about promotions and find out.
LinkedIn’s Promotion Guidelines
LinkedIn does have guidelines around running promotions on their platform. Their user agreement states:
You agree that you will not engage in any promotional activities using the Services, including any contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, or pyramid schemes, that are not expressly authorized by LinkedIn in writing.
So sweepstakes, contests, and other promotional activities are restricted unless explicitly authorized by LinkedIn. Their promotion guidelines go on to state:
We restrict promotions on our Services that require users to take an action on LinkedIn in order to participate, increase their chances of winning, or receive additional entries. Common examples of promotions that violate this rule include (but are not limited to) incorporating any of the following into your promotion:
- Requiring participants to follow your LinkedIn Company Page, join your LinkedIn Group, reshare a post, tag their networks, etc. in order to participate
- Using the LinkedIn “Share” button as the main method of entry
- Requiring participants to post about the promotion on LinkedIn as an entry method
So LinkedIn explicitly prohibits sweepstakes or contests that require users to take social actions on the LinkedIn platform like following, sharing, tagging, etc. This is to prevent spammy behavior and protect the user experience.
What Types of Promotions Are Allowed?
LinkedIn does allow some types of promotions on their platform. Their guidelines state:
Some promotional activities that we do allow include:
- Promotions contained only within Sponsored Content
- Promotions contained only within Limited Listings
- Promotions contained only within ads
So sweepstakes and contests can be run within LinkedIn’s paid advertising products like Sponsored Content, Sponsored InMail, and Text Ads. This allows brands to run compliant promotions while still leveraging LinkedIn’s targeting capabilities.
LinkedIn also allows promotions that don’t require any actions directly on their platform. For example, a promotion that requires participants to visit a website or social post outside of LinkedIn to enter would be allowed.
Best Practices for Running Sweepstakes on LinkedIn
Based on LinkedIn’s policies, here are some best practices for running compliant sweepstakes and contests targeting LinkedIn users:
- Run the promotion exclusively through LinkedIn’s paid advertising products like Sponsored Content or Text Ads. This gives you compliant placement and targeting options.
- Drive users to a landing page on your website to enter and participate. Don’t require any social actions directly on LinkedIn.
- Promote the sweepstakes through other channels like email, social media, etc. to maximize reach.
- Make sure your promotion complies with all laws and regulations for the countries involved.
- Don’t require participants to share or tag their networks as part of entry.
- Avoid using LinkedIn Group discussions to promote your sweepstakes.
- Analyze results and optimize based on performance over time.
Creative Ways to Promote Sweepstakes on LinkedIn
Here are some creative ideas for promoting your sweepstakes on LinkedIn in a compliant way:
Spotlight Company Updates
Announce your sweepstakes through Spotlight Company Updates since these can appear directly in the LinkedIn feed. Keep the update focused on driving to your website.
Employee Amplification
Leverage your own employees on LinkedIn to organically amplify the promotion through their own networks. This can help expand your reach.
Paid Display Ads
Run LinkedIn Text Ads that promote the sweepstakes and drive click-throughs to your landing page.
Retargeting Ads
Use LinkedIn’s retargeting capabilities to show ads to people who have already engaged with your sweepstakes promotion. This reminds them to take action.
Sponsored InMail
Send targeted Sponsored InMail messages to your ideal audience segments with a call-to-action to enter the sweepstakes.
Website Retargeting
Retarget website visitors through channels like Facebook ads to remind them about the sweepstakes entry after they’ve left your site.
Influencer Marketing
Partner with relevant LinkedIn influencers and Thought Leaders to help spread awareness of your sweepstakes through their own audiences and posts.
LinkedIn’s Policy Enforcement
It’s important to keep in mind that LinkedIn does enforce their promotion policies through both automated and manual reviews. Some of the enforcement actions they may take include:
- Rejecting non-compliant ads or sponsored content
- Removing non-compliant Company or Group posts
- Restricting accounts from placing future ads
- Suspending or permanently banning accounts
The best approach is to ensure your sweepstakes and promotions follow LinkedIn’s guidelines from the start. Relying too heavily on viral or social mechanics directly on their platform can get your account suspended.
Key Takeaways
Here are some of the key takeaways when it comes to running sweepstakes on LinkedIn:
- Direct viral promotions that require social actions on LinkedIn are prohibited
- Paid advertising products offer compliant placement options
- Drive users to your website to participate, not LinkedIn
- Amplify through other channels beyond just LinkedIn
- Follow all laws and properly disclose rules, eligibility, etc.
- Be creative within the constraints of their policies
- Analyze results and optimize over time
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I require users to follow my Company Page to enter the sweepstakes?
No, requiring users to follow your LinkedIn Company Page or take any other social actions directly on LinkedIn to participate in a promotion is prohibited by their guidelines.
Can I run a photo contest on LinkedIn where users post pictures?
This type of user-generated content contest hosted directly on LinkedIn would violate their guidelines around promotions requiring social actions to participate.
What about promoting through LinkedIn groups?
While discussion groups may seem like a good way to get the word out, LinkedIn restricts promotions within groups as well. It’s safer to keep the sweepstakes promotion off LinkedIn entirely.
Can I advertise my sweepstakes without actually running it on LinkedIn?
Yes, you can use Sponsored Content or Text Ads to promote your sweepstakes while directing participants to your website or other channels to enter. This allows you to advertise on LinkedIn without running afoul of their policies.
What happens if I violate LinkedIn’s promotion rules?
LinkedIn may reject or remove your content, restrict your ability to advertise in the future, or suspend your account entirely if you repeatedly violate their promotion policies.
Conclusion
While LinkedIn has strict policies around running viral sweepstakes and contests directly on their platform, there are still compliant ways to leverage LinkedIn advertising to promote your promotions. With the right strategy focused on driving users to your own channels to participate, you can safely tap into LinkedIn’s powerful audience while respecting their guidelines.
