We’ve already seen major increases in email marketing utilized by online retailers this holiday season, and, to some extent, targeted advertising on social networking sites. But some companies have aggressively seized upon the social networking trend and fully embraced the online marketing capabilities of Twitter.

In a blog post entitled “The 12 Tweets of Christmas – When Holiday Marketing Goes Viral”, Amy Husser, a writer for Canwest News Service, describes how consumers are being targeted more directly and more frequently than ever before, thanks to social networking.

The article focuses mainly on Canadian retailers and their marketing efforts, but I think it’s safe to say that the online marketing trend is taking place just as intensely here in the US and internationally.