Facebook Setup Guide

Everything you need to start running Facebook contests and drawing winners.

Only using Instagram? See the Instagram Guide instead, or go back to all guides.

1 Create a Facebook App: Detailed instructions

Facebook requires a developer app to access page data and post comments. You create the app once, and it works for all your contests.

  1. a
    Go to developers.facebook.com/apps and click Create App.
  2. b
    Choose "Business" as the app type.
  3. c
    In your app dashboard, add the Facebook Login product.
  4. d
    In Facebook Login settings, set the Valid OAuth Redirect URI to: https://pickawinner.pro/auth/facebook/callback
  5. e
    Go to Settings > Basic and copy your App ID and App Secret.
  6. f
    Paste them into your Profile page and click Save Credentials.
Go to Profile to enter credentials

2 Connect Your Facebook Account

After saving your app credentials, authorize the app to access your Facebook pages. This grants the following permissions:

  • pages_show_list — see which pages you manage
  • pages_read_engagement — read likes, shares, and reactions on posts
  • pages_read_user_content — read comments on your posts

The access token lasts approximately 60 days. The app automatically refreshes it before it expires. If automatic refresh fails, you will receive an email reminder to reconnect from your Profile page.

3 Sync Your Facebook Pages

When you connect your Facebook account, your pages are synced automatically. You can also sync them manually at any time from the Pages page.

Each page gets its own access token, which is used to fetch comments from posts on that page. You can also add a page manually if you have the page ID and access token.

Don't see your page?

  • Make sure you are an admin or editor of the page
  • Check that the page is published (not unpublished or in draft)
  • Try clicking Sync Pages on the Pages page
  • If the page was recently added, you may need to reconnect your Facebook account to grant access to the new page

4 Create a Contest

Two ways to run a contest — pick the mode that fits your setup:

Without email

Standard

Participants just leave a comment. Every eligible comment counts, and winners are notified by replying to their winning comment on the post.

Create no-email contest

With email collection

Participants include an email address in their comment. Comments without a valid email are excluded, and winners are notified by email.

Heads up: some people are reluctant to share their email in a public comment, which can lower participation.

Create email contest

Required for both types

  • Title — a name for your contest
  • Facebook Page — select which page the post belongs to
  • Facebook Post URL — the full URL of the post (e.g. https://www.facebook.com/yourpage/posts/123456)
  • Contest Period — start and end dates; only comments within this period are eligible
  • Number of Winners — 1 to 12 winners per contest
  • Prize descriptions — one description per winner position

Optional entry requirements

  • Must like or share the post
  • Must follow the page
  • Tag a minimum number of friends
  • Comment must contain a specific keyword or hashtag
  • Exclude business accounts, page admins, or specific users
  • Exclude winners from previous contests on the same page

If you picked the no-email mode

Standard

Participants only need to comment — no email required. Winners are notified by replying to their winning comment on the post, so tell your followers to watch for that reply or enable comment notifications.

If you picked the email mode

Participants must include their email address in their comment. Your post caption should clearly instruct followers to do this. Comments without a valid email are not eligible.

Heads up: some people are reluctant to share their email in a public comment, which can lower participation.

5 Draw Winners

You have two ways to draw winners:

Manual draw

Open the contest and click "Draw Winners". The system fetches all comments, applies your rules, and randomly selects winners in the background.

Automatic draw

Enable "Automatically draw winners when contest ends" in the contest form. Winners will be drawn automatically after the end date passes.

After the draw completes, you'll see all participants, the selected winners, and their comments. You can export the full results as CSV, re-draw any winner if needed, or share the results via the contest's public URL.

How winners are notified

No-email mode

Standard

Winners are notified by a reply to their winning comment on the Facebook post. No email addresses are collected.

Email mode

Winners get an email at the address they included in their comment. Make sure your post caption asked for one.

Good to know

  • Each participant is entered only once, regardless of how many times they comment
  • Email-mode contests only: comments without a valid email address are excluded from the draw
  • You can draw winners before the contest ends, but only comments posted up to that moment will be included
  • If something goes wrong during the draw, the error will appear on the contest page and you can retry
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