Retailers use social media to offer holiday deals

— -- Want a $25 gift card to Toys R Us for your holiday shopping? Enter the store's holiday scavenger hunt sweepstakes on Facebook and you could win one.

Want to know where all your favorite Walmart products will be in stores on Black Friday? Facebook fans have access to localized store maps to help them navigate deals.

Shoppers looking for the best deals and most up-to-date savings during the holidays are turning to social-media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and even Foursquare to guide their purchasing decisions.

Retailers are responding with exclusive deals, interactive quizzes and savings coupons just for followers and fans:

•CVS pharmacy has a holiday shopping quiz on its Facebook page that gives fans a 20% off coupon for completing the quiz. It's also conducting gift giveaway contests through Twitter that enter active followers into drawings for gift cards.

•Sears is letting customers vote online for products they want to see on sale throughout the holidays at Sears.com/pick, promoting each voting cycle through Facebook and Twitter.

•RadioShack's "So wrong, so right" promotion asks Facebook users to upload photos of gifts gone wrong for the chance to win a "so right" gift, including an iPad 2 or iPhone 4S. Foursquare users can check in to "so right" places and activities, focused on philanthropy and personal wellness, to unlock a badge that donates $1 to Livestrong.

For retailers, social media is a cost-effective and easy way to reach not only their consumers, but their consumers' entire network of friends and followers.

Stores count on the fact that if you buy a deal or complete a quiz through Facebook, you'll share that with your friends, says Scott Silverman, co-founder of digital goods incentives website Ifeelgoods.

"Nothing is more powerful than an endorsement from someone you know and trust," he says.

It's the power of recommendations that has retailers pushing promotions online.

Almost 60% of shoppers this holiday season will find Black Friday deals on Facebook, says research firm iProspect and the National Retail Federation.

"Brands are starting to see that this word-of-mouth scale really works and creates a bigger sense of urgency to purchase," says Elisabeth Diana, spokeswoman for Facebook.

Cynthia Clagg, 33, lives in Germany and does most of her holiday shopping online. "I love seeing deals posted on Facebook via my friends or on group pages," she says. "Usually, someone has tested it out or can attest to the validity of the deal."