Dealership reviews on social media networks may be “playing the most important role in the dealership selection process,” according to the results of the Spring 2013 Automotive Social Media and Reputation Trend Study.

The report from Digital Air Strike showed that there is a 43 percent probability that a consumer will search for a local dealer on Facebook using Facebook’s new Graph Search, which can help the site’s users find information about people, places and things from within a their network of friends.

The study — an analysis of how 650 U.S. dealers use social media and an online survey of 2,000 consumers who purchased a vehicle in the last 6 months — also found that there is a 59 percent probability that a consumer will trust a review from a Facebook friend more than reviews on other sites.

Ever wonder if your dealership mobile Facebook ads reach consumers? The study found the 27 percent of car buyers click on mobile ads on Facebook.

Also, these ads could be leading consumers to your Facebook page, as well, as clicks on automotive dealership Facebook ads more than doubled from October 2012 to April 2013 – from 16 percent up to 39 percent, according to the study.

Mobile use for Facebook seems to be ramping up, as well, as the study revealed 67 percent of car buyers search for local business using mobile devices, with 41 percent having “checked-in” to a local business using their mobile device, company officials shared.

Dealerships should also pay close attention to review sites, as well, as the study found that 24 percent of consumers consider online review sites to be the “most helpful” factor, “exceeding all other factors including the 15 percent of car buyers who consider dealership websites ‘most helpful’ ,” officials shared.

Also, during organic searches, the 81 percent of car buyers who use review sites said they look at review scores in search results.

Which review sites show up the most in search results?

The study showed that, on average, five review sites show up in search results: The most popular review sites are Cars.com (61 percent, previously 55 percent), Edmunds.com (54 percent, previously 50 percent), Google+ Local (37 percent, previously 44 percent), Yelp (14 percent, no change) and Yahoo (11 percent, no change).

For more information regarding the study, see the Digital Air Strike video below:

Digital Air Strike will also be hosting free webinars to review the study findings. See here for more information.