Happy Leap Day! Today is special not only because this date only occurs once every four years, but also because Facebook unveiled Timeline for brand pages. A select few were converted early this morning, and after March 30, all brands and pages must be using Timeline.

I’ve explored several brand timelines today and there are several important things to consider. Timeline is much more visual and puts less of an emphasis on tab creation and more of an emphasis on creating engaging stories.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Select a cover photo that is bold, creative and speaks to the Brand. The dimensions are 850×315 pixels. Consider integrating the profile photo with the cover photo. NOTE: The cover image shouldn’t be advertising or blatant marketing material . Facebook has strongly advised against any advertising calls to action in the cover photo area. I have a feeling this will soon become a regulation.
• Build your brand’s identity through creative curation, especially milestones and media content
• Review your tab strategy, including existing tabs and plans for future tabs. Prioritize and consolidate. With Facebook’s shift to Timeline, their focus is on creating engaging story content, not building another website. 
• Be prepared to use Facebook as a customer service tool now more than ever. With direct messaging with consumers now available, this will be an excellent tool moving forward. Consider developing a response protocol to handle customer inquiries if you have not already done so.

When will your association make the switch to Timeline?

We’ve all heard how awesome video is and how associations can use it to promote their meetings, events and the organization itself. But there’s nothing like an awesome case study to really get the mind churning with new ideas.

ASAE has a great case study from the National Community Pharmacists Association. They sent Flip cams to event speakers to create promotional videos. Speakers were asked to create short videos before the event, and then the clips were edited together to create one awesome promotional video that was sent to attendees before the event.

Here are a few ways your small staff association could integrate video into its event:

- Do you have members who are bloggers? Give them cameras during the event.

- Designate an official staff reporter to interview attendees and speakers

- Mount a camera in the tradeshow area to get a bird’s eye view of the tradeshow floor. Speeding the footage up will make a fun time lapse video you can use as B-roll.

- Interview new members or first-time attendees to get a new perspective

How has your association used videos at events?

Do you want to learn how some of the world’s top brands are using Facebook to market to their fans? The Facebook Marketer’s Conference will be streamed live here from 12-6PM ET on Wednesday, February 29.

Social marketers will be sharing new Facebook solutions, insights from past campaigns and Facebook strategies proven to drive business growth.

It’s true that bigger brands have deeper pockets and more resources, but we think there are always lessons to be learned from the brands who do Facebook right.

For instance:

- Would your users be more engaged with a sweepstakes a user-generated-content contest?
- What types of status updates generate the most engagement?
- How does multimedia content perform on your page?
- If you buy ads, what is the best optimization strategy?
- How often should you be posting on Facebook?
- What days generate the most positive feedback from your fans?

What is your most pressing Facebook question?

Happy Friday! It’s been an awesome weekend here at MemberClicks and we’re psyched for Friday fun and relaxing weekends.

Don’t forget to check out five of our fave association-related blog posts across a variety of topics from the past week!

1. The Lenten season started this week, and Elizabeth Engel advocated examining one’s habits whether you’re religious or not. The 40 days before Easter is typically a season of abstinence and self-reflection, and no matter what your religious beliefs, we think everyone would benefit from examining their habits and determining whether they’re good or bad.

2. Aaron Wolowiec paints a common picture for association execs: your annual conference is almost behind you, you’re exhausted, your staff is exhausted and all you want to do is eat a real meal. But – Aaron shares why it’s so important to work smarter so you don’t get stuck in the vicious cycle so familiar to meeting professionals. There are also some great comments here too…

3. What is the real point of measurement – social or otherwise? Jamie Notter responds to a post by Mark Shaefer and asserts that you shouldn’t measure just for the sake of measurement. Tons and tons of metrics will do you no good unless you know what they mean and can make sense of them.

4. At the Midcourse Corrections blog, Dave Lutz shares six conference committee improvements your association could make. The big one in our minds? Walk in the attendees’ shoes. Embrace a blind review process. As an attendee, which sessions would you attend and why?

5. Eric Lanke praises Jeffrey Cufaude’s “Facilitation Friday” series, and asks – whose job is it to be the facilitator?. Should the CEO or the CGO be responsible for helping the group achieve consensus and choosing the right paths? Eric put a lot of thought into this and there are many questions here worth asking yourself.

You’ve heard of the B2B and B2C acronyms (business-to-business / business-to-consumer), but have you heard of P2P – People-to-People? In this interview with marketer Mari Smith, she shares what businesses and organizations can do to market to people using the Internet and social media. We love her first step – clarity. Your organization should be clear about strategy, objectives and messaging.

This interview is about 15 minutes, so grab a cup of coffee and settle in to pick up some tips about how your organization can optimize your content on social channels and learning what your members and fans really want to see.

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