If you live in the Greater Toronto Area, odds are that you might have heard the name Greg Carrasco who is the dealer principal of Newmarket Nissan and Newmarket Infiniti. You might have heard his voice on the radio as he has a radio show on Saturday mornings. But more likely you’ve heard of him because of his Twitter account:
The first thing you’ll note about his Twitter account is that it has the blue checkmark which means that it is verified by Twitter. What does that mean? I’ll let Twitter explain what that means from their document on the subject:
Twitter verifies accounts on an ongoing basis to make it easier for users to find who they’re looking for. We concentrate on highly sought users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas.
So that puts Mr. Carrasco in the same league as actors, athletes, and President Barack Obama among others. That’s good company to be in. The next thing you’ll notice is his follower count which is at 28K people. That’s huge for someone who runs a car dealership 40 KM’s north of Toronto. In fact, he has more followers than the Twitter accounts of Nissan Canada and Infiniti Canada combined. Not to mention that his follower count is more than any other car brand’s Twitter account. Now, those who have followed Mr. Carrasco could say that it’s due to the fact that he gives away tickets to the Toronto Raptors or the Toronto Maple Leafs. Or they could also say that it’s due to the fact he gives away tablets and the occasional car. I would say that those play a part, but it would be overly simplistic to say that those are the reasons why he’s so popular. To really understand why he’s popular, you need to understand the man behind the account.
Mr. Carrasco came to Canada from Chile when he was 18 not speaking the English language. He started out in sales but rose to management because he felt that in management you can affect change. From there he moved to upper management because he wanted affect change on a bigger scale. Most of us, your truly included, would call that a great career. But Carrasco thought there has to be something more than that. He started to look for a way to communicate a message that could change “everything.”
One thing that you realize when you talk to him that he is full of ambition. And his ambition combined with a drive to communicate led to him using Facebook six or seven years ago “when Facebook was not cool yet.” But he soon realized that he needed a platform that allowed him to communicate without a “filter” as that got in the way of the message that he was trying to convey. I’ll come back to what that message is in a moment. That’s when he started using Twitter. He had been afraid to use it because he was afraid of having “an unrestricted message” according to him. But the second that he stopped caring about that is the moment that Twitter account exploded.
So, what is that message? It’s an extremely honest one that encompasses himself, his personal life to a degree, and everything to do with cars and buying them. For example, he’ll tell you that if you go for a test drive at a car dealership, never hand over your credit card to the dealer to do so. Also if the dealer principal won’t talk to you while you spend tens of thousands of dollars with his or her dealership, then you need to go to another car dealer. Not only that, if you ask him on Twitter for advice on which car to buy, he’ll give it to you and it won’t necessarily include Nissan product. And if that isn’t enough, take a look at his personal website:
The phone number that’s there is one where you can reach him at any time. The logic is that since he’s the dealer principal, he should be accessible and accountable for what goes on in his dealership. Not only that, this accountability extends back to social media as he’ll personally answer customer complaints on social media which is unheard of.
So, let’s recap. Greg Carrasco is person who is the dealer principal of a car dealership is willing to give advice on Twitter to anyone who asks that is honest and sometimes exposes the dirty little secrets of the car industry. That’s clearly something that you do not see every day, and I would say that resonates with people.
Why is that? Greg Carrasco isn’t trying to use social media to sell you anything. He’s trying to have a conversation that is fun and allows him to share what he knows so that it benefits as many people as possible. That conversation is one that is honest, and I would argue that honesty trumps marketing. If he sells a car as a result of that, that’s a bonus. That’s important because most corporate Twitter accounts want you to buy the products associated with the account. They really aren’t trying to build a relationship with their customers. That’s where I think they’ve lost the plot and it’s where Carrasco has the advantage.
I therefore submit that all of this makes it far more likely for people to take a visit to Carrasco’s dealership. That appears to be the case as I have heard stories of people coming from outside the province of Ontario to buy cars from him. That is something that you must take notice if you’re trying to market yourself on social media. Now I could go into how his dealership would treat you once you arrive at his dealership. Such as the fact that he doesn’t employ sales people with prior car industry experience which in itself is a radical move. Or how you can test drive whatever car you want and get the best price in a pressure free environment. But I won’t because that’s not what this article is about. However it does underscore the experience that you see on Twitter carries, which adds to the buzz that surrounds him on social media.
The net result? Newmarket Nissan/Infiniti is ranked #4 in Ontario out of all Nissan dealers in the province which is Canada’s largest car market. Let me point out again that Newmarket Nissan/Infiniti is 40 KM’s north of Toronto and Newmarket could be classified as a bedroom community. Thus it’s not a high traffic area if you’re expecting people to just walk in and buy cars. Not only that, Carrasco doesn’t do any traditional advertising. Thus logic says his social media presence plays a role in this ranking. Clearly Greg Carrasco has something here. And I believe that others can learn from his experience to give their business a better profile which in turn should drive more business. The best way to do that is to keep an eye on him as this is something that you will not find in a marketing or an MBA course.
But I suspect it soon will be found in a marketing or MBA course given how successful he is.
UPDATE: Greg Carrasco has moved to Oakville Hyundai. I have posted a follow up article on him.
In Depth: @Gregcarrasco And His Use Of Social Media [UPDATED]
Posted in Commentary with tags Social Media on February 10, 2014 by itnerdIf you live in the Greater Toronto Area, odds are that you might have heard the name Greg Carrasco who is the dealer principal of Newmarket Nissan and Newmarket Infiniti. You might have heard his voice on the radio as he has a radio show on Saturday mornings. But more likely you’ve heard of him because of his Twitter account:
The first thing you’ll note about his Twitter account is that it has the blue checkmark which means that it is verified by Twitter. What does that mean? I’ll let Twitter explain what that means from their document on the subject:
Twitter verifies accounts on an ongoing basis to make it easier for users to find who they’re looking for. We concentrate on highly sought users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas.
So that puts Mr. Carrasco in the same league as actors, athletes, and President Barack Obama among others. That’s good company to be in. The next thing you’ll notice is his follower count which is at 28K people. That’s huge for someone who runs a car dealership 40 KM’s north of Toronto. In fact, he has more followers than the Twitter accounts of Nissan Canada and Infiniti Canada combined. Not to mention that his follower count is more than any other car brand’s Twitter account. Now, those who have followed Mr. Carrasco could say that it’s due to the fact that he gives away tickets to the Toronto Raptors or the Toronto Maple Leafs. Or they could also say that it’s due to the fact he gives away tablets and the occasional car. I would say that those play a part, but it would be overly simplistic to say that those are the reasons why he’s so popular. To really understand why he’s popular, you need to understand the man behind the account.
Mr. Carrasco came to Canada from Chile when he was 18 not speaking the English language. He started out in sales but rose to management because he felt that in management you can affect change. From there he moved to upper management because he wanted affect change on a bigger scale. Most of us, your truly included, would call that a great career. But Carrasco thought there has to be something more than that. He started to look for a way to communicate a message that could change “everything.”
One thing that you realize when you talk to him that he is full of ambition. And his ambition combined with a drive to communicate led to him using Facebook six or seven years ago “when Facebook was not cool yet.” But he soon realized that he needed a platform that allowed him to communicate without a “filter” as that got in the way of the message that he was trying to convey. I’ll come back to what that message is in a moment. That’s when he started using Twitter. He had been afraid to use it because he was afraid of having “an unrestricted message” according to him. But the second that he stopped caring about that is the moment that Twitter account exploded.
So, what is that message? It’s an extremely honest one that encompasses himself, his personal life to a degree, and everything to do with cars and buying them. For example, he’ll tell you that if you go for a test drive at a car dealership, never hand over your credit card to the dealer to do so. Also if the dealer principal won’t talk to you while you spend tens of thousands of dollars with his or her dealership, then you need to go to another car dealer. Not only that, if you ask him on Twitter for advice on which car to buy, he’ll give it to you and it won’t necessarily include Nissan product. And if that isn’t enough, take a look at his personal website:
The phone number that’s there is one where you can reach him at any time. The logic is that since he’s the dealer principal, he should be accessible and accountable for what goes on in his dealership. Not only that, this accountability extends back to social media as he’ll personally answer customer complaints on social media which is unheard of.
So, let’s recap. Greg Carrasco is person who is the dealer principal of a car dealership is willing to give advice on Twitter to anyone who asks that is honest and sometimes exposes the dirty little secrets of the car industry. That’s clearly something that you do not see every day, and I would say that resonates with people.
Why is that? Greg Carrasco isn’t trying to use social media to sell you anything. He’s trying to have a conversation that is fun and allows him to share what he knows so that it benefits as many people as possible. That conversation is one that is honest, and I would argue that honesty trumps marketing. If he sells a car as a result of that, that’s a bonus. That’s important because most corporate Twitter accounts want you to buy the products associated with the account. They really aren’t trying to build a relationship with their customers. That’s where I think they’ve lost the plot and it’s where Carrasco has the advantage.
I therefore submit that all of this makes it far more likely for people to take a visit to Carrasco’s dealership. That appears to be the case as I have heard stories of people coming from outside the province of Ontario to buy cars from him. That is something that you must take notice if you’re trying to market yourself on social media. Now I could go into how his dealership would treat you once you arrive at his dealership. Such as the fact that he doesn’t employ sales people with prior car industry experience which in itself is a radical move. Or how you can test drive whatever car you want and get the best price in a pressure free environment. But I won’t because that’s not what this article is about. However it does underscore the experience that you see on Twitter carries, which adds to the buzz that surrounds him on social media.
The net result? Newmarket Nissan/Infiniti is ranked #4 in Ontario out of all Nissan dealers in the province which is Canada’s largest car market. Let me point out again that Newmarket Nissan/Infiniti is 40 KM’s north of Toronto and Newmarket could be classified as a bedroom community. Thus it’s not a high traffic area if you’re expecting people to just walk in and buy cars. Not only that, Carrasco doesn’t do any traditional advertising. Thus logic says his social media presence plays a role in this ranking. Clearly Greg Carrasco has something here. And I believe that others can learn from his experience to give their business a better profile which in turn should drive more business. The best way to do that is to keep an eye on him as this is something that you will not find in a marketing or an MBA course.
But I suspect it soon will be found in a marketing or MBA course given how successful he is.
UPDATE: Greg Carrasco has moved to Oakville Hyundai. I have posted a follow up article on him.
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