Holiday shoppers' search extends to social media

By Nicole Maestri

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - This will be one very social Christmas. From Facebook to Twitter to YouTube, retailers and food chains plan to use social media this holiday season to get their brands in front of consumers and possibly win a bigger piece of their limited shopping budgets.

Companies ranging from Starbucks Corp to J.C. Penney Co Inc to Target Corp said social media is helping them interact directly with consumers and get feedback on everything from ad campaigns to product launches.

They are now putting more resources toward social media, and incorporating it into holiday marketing plans.

"This is going to be a really interesting holiday season with social media," said Chris Bruzzo, Starbucks' vice president of brand, content and online. "It just wasn't this far along last holiday season."

While companies wanted to keep specific plans under wraps, they said they will use sites like Twitter and Facebook to post their best holiday deals to reach loyal consumers.

But the question remains how many of those fans, friends and Twitter followers will translate that loyalty into sales.

Social media is a "shiny new toy," said Zain Raj, chief executive of loyalty marketing firm Euro RSCG Discovery, but it has not yet been able to "clearly prove that it can have a meaningful impact on sales for most companies or brands."