In today’s economic slump, many retailers such as Macy’s and JCPenny are experiencing sales declines. But one retailer is grabbing a greater market share by tapping into the emerging trend of social media, and hopes remain high heading into the upcoming holiday shopping season.

In its recent edition, Advertising Age announced that Kohl’s has already begun its radio, digital media and direct-mail marketing campaigns for the 2010 holiday shopping season (effective November 2), which pundits predict will be another shaky one for retailers. In its report, Ad Age said that Kohl’s will promote various seasonal sales by invading nine home pages throughout November and December, including AOL, MSN and Yahoo! Even more, Kohl’s will devote more money to digital and social media this holiday season, an increase of 25 percent, based on forecasts that online sales will grow by 30 percent this year. The large retailer is coupling its social media campaign with e-mail marketing: “It plans to send out 17 e-mails in November and 30 in December, adding the ability for consumers to post sales offers to their Facebook pages.”

Kohl’s officials are building on last year’s success in digital media, hoping that less expensive avenues will continue to yield a large return on investment. In a similar report this week by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Kohl’s has built a Facebook base of more than 720,000 fans since it joined the popular social networking site six months ago. Not only is hosting Kohl’s Facebook fan page free, but it offers a direct way to connect with consumers where they are migrating. After reports indicated that 47 percent of online retailers will ramp up their social media usage this holiday season, Kohl’s got a jumpstart and currently ranks third among retailers in terms of Facebook fans (trailing only Starbucks and Best Buy). According to Vicki Shamion, Kohl’s vice president of public relations, “Facebook…gives our customers a place to interact, share stories and celebrate Kohl’s great values and savings tools.”

Kohl’s is also taking a unique approach to the Facebook concept. The retailer is altering the visuals of its fan page to correspond with its upcoming holiday ad campaign, creating a unified look and brand awareness. After the holidays, the fan page will go back to its original design. In addition to Facebook, Kohl’s will “place merchandise giveaways on popular consumer blogs.”

And Kohl’s is listening to its fans. A popular request is free shipping offers. Other ideas stemming from Facebook users have also become realities. Kohl’s is able to respond to its consumer concerns because it has a team within its marketing department dedicated to monitoring social media.

Certainly, you can garner lessons from Kohl’s and apply them to your social media marketing. Perhaps the upcoming holiday season will provide an opportunity to tap into a free platform to tout your sales and promotions, saving you money and improving your ROI. Read my recent blog post about similar social marketing success stories.