When it comes to social media, always think strategy and content first.

That has been the case at both Navy Federal Credit Union and America First Credit Union where social media must be anintegrated part of the overall business strategy, the cooperativeshave learned.

It also helps to know your audience, create post and contentcalendars for the year, have a social media policy in place, and adedicated person or team, whose sole function is to gather data,monitor, manage and deliver on strategic goals, experts advise.

“You have to ask 'what's the business purpose behind being onvarious social media platforms' and determine how they can be usedto further the organization's goals. If we keep our focus on themember, our efforts are going to be successful,” said NicoleCypers, public relations and social media manager at the $5.9billion Riverdale, Utah-based America First Credit Union.

From a solid strategic foundation, anything becomes possible,even sales across social channels.

In 2012, the $55 billion, Vienna, Va.-based Navy Federal CreditUnion said it launched its “4 Million Members, 4 Million Stories”campaign as a way to thank its members for helping to reach themember milestone. The concept revolved around members submittingvideos to share what they loved about Navy Federal on Facebook andto vote for their favorites to win prizes ranging from $4,000 and$1,000 certificates of deposit to $100 gift cards. During thegiveaway, the credit union took the opportunity to promote autoloan refinancing and CDs via a mix of strategically crafted postsand paid Facebook ads.

“That member appreciation event on Facebook, I think was sosuccessful because it tied all our other promotions together andthat is what helped generate the $200 million,” said Katie Seeger,social media community manager at Navy Federal.

In addition to $90 million in CDs and $96 million in autorefinancing loans, some 60,000 new members joined credit union andthe 300 videos submitted during the six-week campaign generated45,000 votes.

In 2013, through the use of Facebook's custom audiences, NavyFederal tripled daily downloads of its mobile banking app whileincreasing its Facebook fans from 450,000 in 2013 to 1,016,858 asof Jan. 13.

A similar explosion of growth has been experienced on Twitter aswell, where 2013 started with 4,200 followers, and as of Jan. 13,Navy Federal said it has 38,360 followers.

“The reason we got into social media back in 2011 is wediscovered our members were having conversations about us and wewanted to be part of that conversation, listen, speak where theyare and build deeper relations,” said Seeger. “I think what's truefor any brand, but particularly with financial institutions, isthis question of 'do consumers really want to talk to their bank onsocial media?' And we've found the answer is yes, absolutely. We'velearned there is a place for financial institutions to connect andengage with members through social media channels.”

While Facebook and Twitter are the more frequently usedchannels, Navy Federal has continued its exploration into otherssuch as Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vine and Four Square.

“It boils down to having a real understanding of your members,”said Sue Voss, assistant vice president of marketing andadvertising at Navy Federal. “I think a big part of why we canpromote services on Facebook is we are open about what we do welland how we help our members. We believe in the member experienceand chat with them.”

Through the use of Facebook's custom audiences, Navy Federaltripled daily downloads of its mobile banking app while increasingits Facebook fans in 2013.

Navy Federal is constantly reviewing and evaluating the channelsit is on to discover what works well and what needs improvementbased on the conversations members are having with the creditunion, Voss said.

America First said it has also found by focusing on its memberswith an eye on the three goals of education, engagement and growth,the efforts have helped with sales.

“For us, social media has evolved into another communicationchannel and member touch point that's experienced in real time,”said Rich Syme, senior vice president automated services andproduct management at America First. “It's another way to tell thestory of who we are and what we do. We focus on educating ourmembers on how we can help them in a fun, nonthreatening way. Thereare ways to engage members to generate interest in our products andservices without pushing the hard sell.”

For example, a simple strategic post asking members to shareimages of their first car and what the experience was like gotmembers talking about where they got their financing and opened thedoor to share information about America First car loans.

In addition, the credit union has recently introduced acustomizable credit card concept called Picture Perfect Visa, which allows members to personalize thephoto on their debit and credit cards and share the image on socialmedia channels like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

“We are the first credit union and second financial institutionto have the ability for members to put their own pictures on theVisa card and share it on Facebook,” said Cypers. “Our members loveit and we plan to keep finding new and different ways to engagewith them.”

Members can also rate and review the credit union's products andservices. Syme said all reviews, whether good or bad, are posted intheir entirety.

“Members took the time to write a review, so we owe it them topost it,” said Syme. “We're completely transparent and often, we'vemade changes and process improvements based on the member feedbackposted. Using a five-star rating and review tool is just how we dobusiness and a way to let members know we're here and we'relistening.”

The strategy seems to be working as America First, with over103,000 likes and many fans sharing posts with friends and family,has high engagement compared to other financial institutions.

“We're proud of our engagement. We've got a team of three peoplecommitted to working on our social media efforts and with over628,000 members, there's a lot of moving parts to keep track of,”said Syme. “It's ever changing but very fun for us to work withmembers and stand alongside them as part of the community.”