Inspired by the results of experimental social media campaigns, some major retailers are gearing up to roll out more elaborate social networking campaigns than they did last year.

Though overall online ad spending among retailers is expected to increase this holiday season, details have emerged over the last several weeks that indicate merchants plan to use more of this money on sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Best Buy, already a top retailer using Twitter, is planning to launch several on social media sites, according to CMO Barry Judge (via BrandWeek). These include a variation of a Secret Santa game called "the hint dropper", and an interactive cartoon that enables users to simulate what Christmas morning might look like if they get a certain gift from Best Buy.

Kohl's, which plans to change the look of its Facebook page to match its ad campaign, will place merchandise giveaways on popular consumer blogs.

Survey Says

These examples are part of a trend captured in the latest eHoliday survey conducted by BIGresearch for Shop.org, the digital division of the National Retail Federation, found that 47.1% of retailers surveyed will be increasing their use of social media this holiday season, writes MarketingCharts.

The study also also found that more than half of retailers have added or improved their Facebook page (60.3%) and Twitter pages (58.7%) this year, while two-thirds (65.6%) have added or enhanced blogs and RSS feeds.

The tipping point for many retailers has been the success of earlier campaigns. For example:

• On September 25, Panda Express celebrated its new SweetFire chicken breast by allowing its Facebook fans to print a coupon to try it for free. The company wasn't expecting to see that much of a difference in traffic that day - but found that 25,000 coupons were redeemed, according to Chief Marketing Officer Glenn Lunde.
• JC Penney used Facebook to promote back-to-school merchandise this fall and experienced larger-than-expected sales as its online fans swapped deals, according to Reuters.
• Starbucks had nearly one-million Facebook fans promise to visit its stores on Dec 1 in support of its Global Fund for World AIDS Day, when it will donate 5 cents from beverages sold, according to comments made on its Q3 earnings call.

$44.7 Billion and Counting

Online retail sales are expected to experience respectable - in the range of 8% - growth this holiday season, a factor that is also fueling the push for social media campaigns. Forrester Research estimates that $44.7 billion of online sales will close this holiday season. The firm also predicts that spending on social media marketing in the US will reach $ 716 million this year and grow to $3.11 billion in 2014.