Preliminary results of SMaASH 2.0, the second annual study of how the top 25 North American automotive suppliers use social media, will be unveiled by Jim Bianchi, APR, president of Bianchi Public Relations Inc., at today’s meeting of the Communications Executives Council (CEC) of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) at the OESA/MERA Conference Center.

The SMaASH – Social Media and Automotive Supplier Habits – study was launched by Bianchi PR last autumn. The inaugural 2014 study analyzed social media usage by the top 25 North American automotive OEM suppliers, as ranked by Automotive News, during the first six months of 2014. The study identified five critical mistakes and opportunities auto suppliers were making with their social media posts.

Completed earlier this month, the SMaASH 2.0 study analyzed social media posts from the top 25 companies over the same period in 2015 and indicates where and how social media usage by auto suppliers has changed in the past year.

“Although auto suppliers – like many other business-to-business companies – have adopted social media, many of them feel they are lagging behind consumer companies in terms of strategy, content and engagement. But it seemed no one offered hard, industry-specific data to help them,” said Bianchi. “So, last year, to fill this need and provide them with some benchmarks and actionable insights, we developed the SMaASH study. This year’s study builds upon the 2014 results, showing what progress has been made, what trends are emerging and what opportunities for improvement in engagement and effectiveness still exist.”

Bianchi said that in some respects – such as a dramatic increase in the use of visual images in posts – auto suppliers have made remarkable progress, yet in other areas, such as the social sharing of credible, third-party media coverage, some opportunities for improvement remain.

Bianchi PR plans to formally release final SMaASH 2.0 results next month. For more info, click here.