Sixth Annual Automotive Social Media Trends Study Released by Digital Air Strike

Digital Air Strike, the leading social media and digital engagement company, released the findings of its sixth annual Automotive Social Media Trends Study. Closely followed by social networks, automotive dealerships and manufacturers, the Study highlights consumer behaviors on social networks, review sites, and mobile devices related to the car shopping, buying, and service experience.

Produced by Digital Air Strike, the Study includes findings from 2,000 car buyers and 2,000 service customers who either purchased or serviced a vehicle within the previous six months. With data collected in the past 60 days, the Study covers all major U.S. geographic regions and represents domestic and foreign automotive brands, with even distribution across age and gender groups.

Erica Sietsma, Senior Vice President of Consumer Engagement and Strategy at Digital Air Strike will be discussing the findings in detail in a webinar on January 25 at 11:00 a.m. PST. Registration can be completed online at https://digitalairstrike.com/webinars/.

Digital Air Strike executives will also be on hand to answer questions at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Expo in New Orleans, January 27-29 at booth #3553. NADA is one of the largest automotive conventions in the world.

“We work hard to stay ahead of the curve for our clients,” said Alexi Venneri, co-founder and CEO of Digital Air Strike. “The annual Trends Study gives us very useful insights that help us build the industry’s most ROI-driven social media and digital engagement solutions. It also helps us evaluate which social media networks, including review sites, will continue to play an increasingly large role in the vehicle sales and service process.”

Top trends revealed by the Study include:

• Sales and Service customers continue to increase their reliance on online research. 79 percent of car buyers (up from 75 percent in prior year) and 68 percent of service customers say using the internet, including social media sites, was the most helpful when researching car dealerships.
• Reviews matter more than ever. 87 percent of car buyers (up from 81 percent in prior year) and 90 percent of service customers surveyed (up from 83 percent in prior year) said online review sites influenced and helped their dealership selection process.
• Star ratings matter. 68 percent of sales customers and 64 percent of service customers are looking at review site star ratings in search results even if they don’t click through to read reviews.
• Cars.com and Kelly Blue Book were ranked by car buyers as the top/most helpful review sites, followed by Edmunds, Autotrader, Google+, Yelp, Facebook and CarGurus.
• Mobile use continues to grow year after year. 68 percent of sales customers (jumps to 86 percent for 18-34 year olds) and 51 percent of service customers (jumps to 78 percent for 18-34 year olds) used a mobile device to research dealerships and evaluate them through review sites.
• Facebook ads continue to gain use and awareness. 77 percent of car buyers/shoppers or owners who have seen a Facebook ad say they have clicked on it (up from 66 percent in prior year).
• Consumer interest in offers and discounts on social media networks has grown. 44 percent of sales customers and 47 percent of service customers (up from 40 percent in prior year) who use Twitter, follow a dealership for access to offers and discounts.
• Consumers are spending more time on YouTube. 27 percent of sales customers and 23 percent of service customers watch two videos on YouTube per week. YouTube continues to be among the top sites for car buyers and service customers, ahead of LinkedIn, Google + and Instagram.
• Increased use of mobile apps to leverage ride-share services. Ride share services are a social network in action. 32 percent of sales customers and 30 percent of service customers age 18-54 have used Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing services. This can influence their vehicle selection if they liked or disliked the vehicle they rode in.

For more information about Digital Air Strike or the Sixth Annual Automotive Social Media Trends Study, please visit DigitalAirStrike.com.