TMCnet News
Digital Air Strike Study Finds Car Buyers Increasingly Rely on Social Networks and Review Sites during Dealership Selection ProcessSUNNYVALE, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Digital Air Strike™, the nation's leading full-service automotive social media, online reputation, and lead-generation management company, today announced the results of its Fall 2012 Automotive Social Media and Reputation Trend Study. The study found that car buyers are increasingly using social media in the vehicle purchasing process. Furthermore, they are relying on review sites to determine which dealer to visit when shopping for a vehicle. Car buyers are willing to drive longer distances to get to dealers with positive online reviews. Review sites, dealership websites, and Facebook (News - Alert) were named as the top three most influential digital mediums used to help buyers make their dealership selection. "The study found evidence that car dealers actively engaging in social media and reputation management have the potential to increase both their market share and their market reach," said Alexi Venneri, co-founder, CMO and COO-Social Media of Digital Air Strike. The bi-annual study included an in-depth analysis of how 600 U.S. dealers use social media, and an online survey of 1,600 consumers who bought a car in the last 6 months. Results showed that 67% of consumers had used a review site when selecting a dealer. Of that group, 70% said that if dealers had equal star ratings, they would be more likely to buy from the dealership with the most recent reviews. The majority of car buyers (71%) used Google (News - Alert) search to locate a dealer and 49% of that group said they clicked on a review site found in the search results. Additional key findings include:
To learn more about the study findings and the latest social media best practices, ROI tips and dealer success stories, auto dealers are welcome to attend one of our free webinar series at 12pm PST on Nov. 6, Nov. 8 and Nov. 13. To sign up for the webinars visit: http://digitalairstrike.com/getsocialorgohome/. About Digital Air Strike Digital Air Strike provides the industry's most complete automotive social media and digital marketing solution. The company developed a turnkey program that includes fully managing social media sites, online reputation, and digital lead responses for dealerships nationwide. The company offers multiple tiers of service, ranging from targeted social media and review site management to comprehensive multi-vehicle quoting with behavioral targeting capabilities. Digital Air Strike's expertise spans all manufacturer brands and has a proven track record of helping automotive dealers, dealership groups, and manufacturers engage with more consumers while delivering increased website traffic. Additional information is available at www.digitalairstrike.com and www.facebook.com/digitalairstrike. Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi eid=50463795&lang=en
|