A study was released in early October by MH Group Communications and Forum Strategies that focuses on the success of social media for the nine leading luxury auto brands.

They ranked them in the following in terms of their ability to engage the social media audience:

1. BMW
2. Porsche
3. Audi
4. Mercedes
5. Cadillac
6. Lexus
7. Acura
8. Infiniti
9. Lincoln

According to the study, BMW and Porsche are the clear leaders with some significant challenges coming from Audi and Mercedes while the last five are simply falling behind.

The study found that most engagement took place on Facebook, and YouTube with an impressive 90% of discussion and commentary being successful. This is a truly impressive number given social media’s high tendency to go negative in terms of product discussion.

Major Findings:
• German automakers Porsche and BMW outperform Japanese, Cadillac, Lincoln in social media
• No brand has successfully created a well-rounded social media plan
• Facebook and YouTube are the sites most used by the luxury brands
• Brand identity is being diluted by the overabundance of unofficial brand pages on social media networks

“Social media programs can no longer be considered a nice add-on to traditional marketing efforts, but rather should be viewed as a foundational element that drives interaction with luxury auto brand consumers,” from a blog post by Mark Hass of MH Group Communications

Study Advice:
• Lead the conversation about your brand with Twitter
• Link from Facebook to existing e-commerce infrastructure
• Turn YouTube into a brand TV network
• Don’t forget about Flickr
• Integrate all platforms to create a global brand