At Lava Row Inc., much of our work takes place behind the scenes: helping companies build an internal social media team, providing employees with best practices training for social platforms, brainstorming online integration with existing marketing and communication projects. But every so often, we have the opportunity to work with our clients on end-to-end digital media strategy, bringing an idea to life and helping that idea become viral through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and more.

We have worked with Veridian Credit Union for about a year now. When we first met their team, they were in a place many other companies are in today: comfortable with their presence on social platforms but eager to find innovative ways to expand their use of social media. One of their goals was to integrate social media more cohesively into marketing campaigns, a goal we tackled last fall with the grand opening of Veridian’s new branch in Coralville.

The Veridian team wanted to get to know the Coralville community in a creative way and give back during the holiday season. They formed the Surprise Squad, made up of Coralville branch employees (but didn’t reveal this to the community). They wanted to put the focus on the power of good deeds and random acts of kindness; their identity, they announced, would be revealed later.

In the months leading up to the opening (and even now), the Surprise Squad did anonymous good deeds each day. They delivered rolls of quarters to people at the local laundromat, treated people to free lunch at local restaurants, even paid the deductible to repair one family’s damaged vehicle. Along the way, the Surprise Squad distributed cards encouraging the people they surprised to visit their blog, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Community members, inspired to see good deeds happening around them, began to pay it forward. The Surprise Squad page on Facebook now has almost 3,000 fans, and was frequently visited by local community members sharing their Surprise Squad experiences with the rest of the Facebook community.

Coralville residents could visit the Surprise Squad’s blog, which was updated each day; look through photos uploaded to Facebook and Flickr; and watch live reactions to the surprises on YouTube. The Surprise Squad used Twitter to tweet out clues about their next surprises.

The final piece of the puzzle was a donation contest run through Facebook. Community members could nominate local nonprofit organizations for a chance to win a $2,500 donation. In the end, the $2,500 was delivered to the Preemie Project, an organization that makes blankets and onesies for premature babies born at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.

We’re proud of Veridian’s success with this campaign, and of the support it received from the community and from local media. The most effective campaigns aren’t just shared through social media; social media is integrated into their very core, from concept to execution.

Norah Carroll is a digital strategist at Lava Row Inc. This piece originally appeared as a blog at www.lavarow.com