TheCR Network (our private peer community) is home to some of the most innovative community builders in the world. I get to enjoy a front row seat for the amazing work our members do, and I want to share it with you.
Each month, I’ll highlight a series of questions - and answers from inside the Network. If you aren’t a member, you’ll get a peek that what’s going on inside. If you are a member, and have Roundtable FOMO this will help you catch up.
And if you have more insights to any of these questions, I would love to hear them, too. Please feel free to continue these conversations in the Network on their original posts, or by leaving a comment below. First up: what does a recognition and reward program look like in a global community program?
Community competition(s) on the global scale
Online communities connect members from around the world, which is amazing. And…also can present unique challenges when dealing with people who are in different time zones, speaking different language, and used to a common set of cultural mores.
A global audience can lead to some management conundrums at the same time, especially when it comes to things like contests and giveaways.
A Digital Community Manager at a global software company posed a question around their community’s upcoming anniversary:
“We will be celebrating our community's birthday in October and I hoped to offer opportunities for members to win a prize / receive a gift. (E.g. register for an event / submit a question to AMA and be entered into a draw to receive xyz gift - swag etc.)
Since our community is global, our legal team has concerns that this would be tricky to do in a way that is compliant in the various countries.
I just wanted to see if anyone else had similar concerns when launching these competitions? Were they able to achieve it in the end? What was the work around?”
This person wasn’t alone in wondering about standard procedures to host a global giveaway, and members chimed in with expertise and advice.
A Product Marketing Manager at a different global software company shared that when they’ve hosted contests in the past, their legal team has provided two words to avoid using: raffle and lottery. Turns out while the words might seem interchangeable, lotteries and raffles require payment or other consideration in order to possibly win. With a quick tweak to the promo wording they’ve been able to go full-speed ahead.
This member offered these parting thoughts on the subject: “There is a risk for everything. You have to do it if it's worth doing.”
An Enterprise Community Manager at a global engineering organization weighed in with some key information based on their experience:
“We have done numerous contests over the years. We work with our legal team for "the fine print," and the verbiage used around the efforts to ensure everything is neutral, fair, inclusive, and clear for everyone worldwide. Among other things, the fine print includes "Prize winners outside of the U.S. may receive prize substitutions and/or locally coordinated equivalents." So if a randomly selected winner from outside the U.S. is selected we can review the local laws to determine how to handle their win.”
We can’t help but appreciate the “fine print” this legal team came up with. It doesn’t leave anyone in the community out, but it provides a thorough way to ensure all legal bases are covered while still communicating that anyone in the community — regardless of location — has a chance to win; winning just might look slightly different as a result.
Beyond specific legal language being used in your promotion, you may also want to consider checking any rules around contests that may apply to your community platform. The last thing you want to do is to run into any issues with your platform vendor based around an engagement tactic.
Some other phrases or requirements your legal team may ask you to include are similar to what you see in social media contests:
- "No purchase necessary to win. Void where prohibited"
- Entry procedures and beginning/ending dates, including time and the relevant time zone, and eligibility requirements
- An explanation of all methods of entry with a clear description of the prize(s)
- Date, time zone/time in which the winner(s) will be chosen and notified
- Details around how the winner is selected
- How the winner’s or participants’ information may be used publicly following the end date (Authorization forms may be necessary, but some legal teams are okay with written consent via email. Check with your own for specifics.)
- Odds of winning
- Physical address, not a PO Box, where questions surrounding the contest can be sent
This question opened up a lively discussion of the legal ins and outs of community-based recognition and reward programs, and did double duty as members shared success stories around specific engagement types.