Social Media Marketing

Toys"R"Us and J.C. Penney are taking advantage of the customizable features of Facebook fan pages, including the ability to create interactive holiday-themed gaming apps on their Facebook fan pages that reward customers with exclusive discounts. On the Toys"R"Us Facebook page, a tab labeled "Holiday Scavenger Hunt" takes users to a page encouraging them to "Play Now."

Twitter's new profile pages for brands give marketers more tools, such as the ability to feature a promoted tweet at the top of a brand's Twitter page. Twitter says the new pages will help highlight the most engaging and important content and better connect with target audiences.

As the holiday orders pour in, some 3,600 L.L.Bean employees in Maine work the phones, answer questions and take orders. In addition to traditional phone orders, L.L.Bean is wading boot-deep into social media. A 10-member team was recently created to interact with customers on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook has acquired location-sharing service Gowalla for an undisclosed sum, according to a source close to Gowalla. Facebook declined to comment on the deal.

Online retailers should consider how to personalize their sites using Facebook data, as a new study shows 50 percent of visitors to e-commerce sites are logged onto the social network as well.

Google+ will allow multiple admins to manage a brand page “before 2012,” according to a Google marketing strategist. Currently, brand pages are tied to one admin account that has total control over the page and profile. This has been a point of frustration for social media managers who have multiple team members updating their company social profiles.

Searching online wish lists, guessing or just directly asking people what they want as gifts is so 20th century, therefore Wal-Mart is launching a new approach for the holidays — its Shopycat app that scours Facebook profiles, updates, comments and likes to come up with gifts for your friends.

Buddy Media analyzed user engagement of Facebook wall posts from more than 400 of the world's largest brands to figure out what posting strategies received the most engagement in the days leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Nordstrom has launched its new Facebook app, dubbed the Nordstrom Santa, aimed to help users hint at which gifts they’d like through social networking sites. Shoppers simply pick out a gift item from Nordstrom’s website and enter the URL on Nordstrom’s Facebook page.

Once Halloween wraps up the holiday season officially begins. Retailers’ brick-and-mortar stores and merchandising efforts reflect all that's merry and bright. There are many ways to ensure your online social presence sings a similar tune. But when it comes to social media, what's naughty and what's nice? Follow this list of 12 holiday dos and don'ts for social marketing success (and of course, check it twice).