It used to be that the UK automotive sector was in the vanguard of marketing, setting the trends and leading the field. I'm not sure this is true any more. In recent years the world of marketing has changed almost beyond recognition. Unfortunately, automobile industry marketing – particularly to its retail customers – hasn't kept pace.

I'm an automotive industry man through and through – I was for several years managing director of the commercial vehicle manufacturer Iveco – but even I can see how much the sector is lagging. Having now left the industry to take on a marketing role, I can look at the sector with a new clarity. And, I have to say, the view from this side of the desk is not good.

A few motor manufacturers are using new social media marketing techniques but far too many are falling back on traditional methods. Shows, advertising and even simple price-cutting may have worked five or even three years ago. Today they are just not enough.

In the last couple of years, classic marketing techniques have been overtaken by highly developed new social media activities. Consumers, sceptical of traditional marketing methods like advertising, are taking matters into their own hands and turning to these newer channels for their purchasing information.

The great majority of UK households now have Internet access. So when we are thinking of making a major purchase, like a car, where do we look? We go to the Internet for information and price comparisons.

Motor manufacturers need to turn this to their advantage, connecting with audiences, engaging with consumers in these new spaces, and using the latest social media monitoring and analysis to find out what customers and prospects have to say about their brands.

And it's not only for the younger generation. Figures from Ofcom, the communications regulator, showed that about 16% of over-65s use the Internet and the over-50s account for nearly one third of the total time spent on the Internet in Britain.

So, forums and blogs and other kinds of social networking are here to stay and day by day they are changing the way we publish, consume and share information. We, in turn, have to change the way we approach marketing.

Word of mouth is a very powerful and precise tool, and one that the automotive industry – with a few notable exceptions – is not making full use of. How does it work as part of a conventional marketing programme?

In a traditional marketing programme, manufacturers would use customer satisfaction surveys, collecting data in a formal, structured way and evaluating customers' prompted responses against a variety of measures. Think of social media as adding a whole new layer of informal, spontaneous data, coming straight from the consumer – hence the term ‘word of mouth'.

Dealers are a key link in the marketing chain. The dealer in the field has the ability to position the brand in the eyes of the customer – for good or otherwise. Pre-sale, the quality of information provided to the potential customer, in terms of sales literature, information on regulatory changes – such as those announced recently in the Chancellor's Budget – and finance options can be deal makers or breakers.

Potential customers who are well informed and happy with the way those pre-sale services are provided are likely to react better to the brand – and talk positively about their customer experience online. It is these kinds of online conversations that are studied and analysed in word of mouth marketing programmes.

Word of mouth programmes capture, interpret and measure a huge range of unprompted online conversations about a brand. For motor manufacturers, as well as looking for instances of online conversations about dealership services, researchers can study what users are saying about all sorts of topics from vehicle servicing to sales support and vehicle performance.

Each conversation is rated on a sliding scale according to the sentiment consumers express, whether that is positive, neutral or negative. Customer intent is one particular area of interest that can be looked at further. So, for example, if researchers pick up conversations mentioning specific intentions to buy, or not buy, a brand, these can be singled out for more in-depth examination.

Using this data, vehicle manufacturers – or rather their marketing agencies – are able to identify specific areas where refinements to the marketing process can be made, enabling an even more targeted approach to be taken on future marketing programmes.

This kind of brand intelligence is almost literally priceless. In effect, it allows automotive manufacturers to gain direct access to their customers' views and, if implemented correctly, perfectly complements offline marketing activity. Once they've tried it, most companies buy into ongoing online monitoring programmes, so they can track trends longer-term, measure the efficacy of their traditional media programmes, and get early warning of any potential brand damage.

Ask yourself, what business can afford to miss out on opportunities to engage with consumers in new and exciting ways, or to tune into what consumers are saying about its brands? Certainly not businesses in the automobile sector.

It's time to move with the times and make social media activity a central part of your marketing mix.