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

Research Online Before Buying

Digital Air Strike, the social media, and Top trends revealed by the Study include: search dealerships and evaluate them
digital engagement company, released the • Sales and Service customers continue through review sites.
findings of its sixth annual Automotive So- to increase their reliance on online • Facebook ads continue to gain use and
cial Media Trends Study. Closely followed research. 79 percent of car buyers (up awareness. 77 percent of car buyers/
by social networks, automotive dealerships from 75 percent in the prior year) and shoppers or owners who have seen a
and manufacturers, the Study highlights 68 percent of service customers say us- Facebook ad say they have clicked on it
consumer behaviors on social networks, ing the internet, including social me- (up from 66 percent the prior year).
review sites, and mobile devices related to dia sites, was the most helpful when • Consumer interest in offers and dis-
the car shopping, buying, and service expe- researching car dealerships. counts on social media networks has
rience. • Reviews matter more than ever. 87 grown. 44 percent of sales customers
percent of car buyers (up from 81 per- and 47 percent of service customers (up
Produced by Digital Air Strike, the Study cent in prior year) and 90 percent of from 40 percent the prior year) who use
includes findings from 2,000 car buyers service customers surveyed (up from Twitter, follow a dealership for access to
and 2,000 service customers who either 83 percent the prior year) said online offers and discounts.
purchased or serviced a vehicle within the review sites influenced and helped • Consumers are spending more time
previous six months. With data collected in their dealership selection process. on YouTube. 27 percent of sales cus-
the past 60 days, the Study covers all ma- • Star ratings matter. 68 percent of tomers and 23 percent of service cus-
jor U.S. geographic regions and represents sales customers and 64 percent of ser- tomers watch two videos on YouTube
domestic and foreign automotive brands, vice customers are looking at review per week. YouTube continues to be
with even distribution across age and gen- site star ratings in search results even among the top sites for car buyers and
der groups. if they don’t click through to read re- service customers, ahead of LinkedIn,
views. Google + and Instagram.
“We work hard to stay ahead of the • Cars.com and Kelly Blue Book were • Increased use of mobile apps to lever-
curve for our clients,” said Alexi Venneri, ranked by car buyers as the top/most age ride-share services. Rideshare ser-
co-founder and CEO of Digital Air Strike. helpful review sites, followed by Ed- vices are a social network in action. 32
“The annual Trends Study gives us very munds, Autotrader, Google+, Yelp, percent of sales customers and 30 per-
useful insights that help us build the in- Facebook and CarGurus. cent of service customers age 18-54 have
dustry’s most ROI-driven social media and • Mobile use continues to grow year used Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing
digital engagement solutions. It also helps after year. 68 percent of sales custom- services. This can influence their vehi-
us evaluate which social media networks, ers (jumps to 86 percent for 18-34 year cle selection if they liked or disliked the
including review sites, will continue to play olds) and 51 percent of service cus- vehicle they rode in. n
an increasingly large role in the vehicle tomers (jumps to 78 percent for 18-34
sales and service process.” year olds) used a mobile device to re-

GIADA Independent Auto Dealer FEBRUARY 2017 | 17