A collection of stats showing the importance or relevance of social media usage for local car dealers.

1. Social Media
and the
Automotive
Purchase Cycle
Jan 2012
Key takeouts

2. Social Media in the Car Buying Process
•27% use Facebook as 65% said that a favourable
a resource post from a friend would
•38% use social media positively impact opinion
to research purchase BRAND:
•41% saw a post that
caused them to add a brand
or model to their
consideration list
•6% saw a post that
removed a brand/model
BRAND: from their list
•58% posted a DEALER:
comment about their •28% saw a post and added
new vehicle a dealership to
•24% „liked‟ the brand consideration
DEALER: •3% saw a post that
•34% posted a removed a dealership from
comment about the consideration
dealership
•24% „liked‟ the The Rise of Loyalty, Advocacy and Influence
dealership (c) Dealer Dot Com, Inc

3. Influence is increasingly coming
from other consumers
“45% of consumers
ask friends or family
for
recommendations”
IBM Global Business Services, “From Social Media to Social CRM:
Reinventing the Customer Relationships” Feb 2011

4. Trust, transparency and accuracy
are critical
“90% don‟t
“97% buy
buy products
products from
from those
those they
they don‟t
trust”
trust”
Edelman Trust Barometer, 2011

5. Positive posts outweigh negative
significantly
“Of those that
commented about a
vehicle or “34%
dealership, only 5% of mentioned the
posts were mostly dealership”
negative”
The Rise of Loyalty, Advocacy and Influence
(c) Dealer Dot Com, Inc

6. Consumer Reasons for Visiting a
Retailer Facebook Page
Connect with others liking retailer 14%
Communicate retailer preference 14%
Appears in news feed/friend likes 26%
Learn more about a retailer 29%
Keep up to date on sales and… 56%
Complete Online Shopper Intelligence, Q1 2011 (survey of 3,269 online
purchasers)

7. Facebook Resources used
Advice from friends/family on… 38%
Consumer Reviews or blog postings 53%
Dealership's Facebook Page 53%
Manufacturers Facebook Page 56%
Advice from friends/family on… 59%
The Rise of Loyalty, Advocacy and Influence
(c) Dealer Dot Com, Inc

8. Asking prospects or customers to
follow/like you
Were you asked to “like”?
Did you follow through and
“like” as requested?
75% 25% 82% YES