Research from Yahoo and ComScore underscores how valuable using search and social media can be. Brand advocates of auto marketers, for example, influence 52% more people than none advocates. ComScore worked with Yahoo to reveal a piece of research on the subject. Of about 144 million internet adults, about 13.5 million purchased a vehicle in the last six months. About 5.1 million of those were advocates who, on average, talked to about 20 people each about the purchase, for a total of 105 million people. About 8.3 million of those car buyers were nonadvocates, who talked to eight people about the purchase, for a total of 69 million people who heard about it.

The research pinned some digital traits on these brand advocates: They conduct about 25% more online searches, they have wider online social circles, are 119% more likely to use instant messenger and 40% more likely to use podcasts. And about half have written about their purchases online.