Facebook has cut out the middlemen, but do we still need them?

If you’ve ever set out to run a promotion on Facebook, you’ve probably noticed there were many hoops to jump through and laws to heed. Until recently, Facebook required promotions to be administered through apps. That’s where these third-party app providers, like Offerpop and Wildfire, stepped in to save the day. But everything changed two weeks ago, when the social network announced that it had eliminated that very rule.

Facebook promotions and contests can now be administered directly on page timelines and in apps. That means brands can collect entries by having users post to the page, comment or like a post, and message them directly. In addition, likes can now be counted as a voting mechanism. Sounds easy enough!

But before you kiss your apps goodbye, let’s weigh the pros and cons of running a Facebook promotion in a post versus sticking with the middleman

Pros:

More Cash in Your Pocket: Third-party app providers could get pretty pricey when it comes to brands with higher fan counts.
Sweet & Simple: Brands can quickly set up promotions with minimal effort, whereas building a promotion in an app requires more assets and content to launch.
Lower Barrier to Entry: Users are more likely to dole out a like, comment, or message as apposed to filling out lengthy forms requiring personal information.
Increased Page Engagement: Since promotions can be administered through a post, marketers can expect to see increased activity from these posts, essentially boosting their overall page engagement.

Cons:

Time-Consuming Data Collection: Depending on the size of a brand’s social audience, it could become very time-consuming to sort through large amounts of likes, comments, and messaged to retrieve entries. Not to mention, collecting data (email signups, names, etc.) is a primary goal for running promotions.
Goodbye Fan-gate: Setting up a fan-gate is a simple way to grow your fan base while running a Facebook promotion, which is only supported in an app.
Tracking Metrics: One of the biggest drawbacks would be loosing tracking capabilities for promotions (e.g. amount of visits, fans, entries acquired). Without the ability to gauge performance, there’s no way to make adjustments and recommendations for future promotions without turning it into a guessing game.
Complex Rules: For bigger promotions, the fine print can be very cumbersome and complex. With the absence of rules, brands could find themselves in some seriously hot water.

So will third-party app providers fade into oblivion? Time will tell, but I’d venture to say that brands will continue to use them when running heftier campaigns. Managing promotions directly on Facebook timelines is great for small businesses, which may not have the budget to build out apps. In addition, brands can now run a smaller scale contest to boost engagement without violating Facebook’s guidelines. But giving up data collection and tracking metrics is something that serious social media marketers can simply not compromise. Third-party app providers will continue to transform their services to adjust to Facebook’s ever-changing rules, so really, the decision lies in your hands.

Facebook Promotions Switch-up

Weekly Digital Roundup (9.9.13)