Can Social Media Really Get You Noticed?

          Many have said in the past that social media is a fad that will begin to fad when something better appears.  At this point, it seems safe to say that social media will be with us for a while.  Its various forms will evolve over time, but it seems to have struck a chord with users across the world.  As people and businesses throng to a litany of social media platforms, they sometimes question whether their efforts are for naught. 

Some of my friends and business acquaintances have voiced this concern to me on multiple occasions, and this is a concern I can certainly understand.  No person or business wants to spend valuable time and resources investing in a project that has no returns, but there are examples of numerous social media success stories.  Any of you out there that enjoy checking out memes on the web have likely encountered the infamous grumpy cat.  This cat lives up to its namesake and frequently flashes grumpy looks of all sorts.  Big players in Hollywood circles have taken notice of the cat’s ballooning popularity, and this culminated in the grumpy cat getting a role in an upcoming movie.

The stern yet lovable “grumpy cat”

Many of you might be thinking that a cat getting a big break is interesting and all, but it really doesn’t increase your confidence that your business or personal brand will gain value through social media.  I’ll switch gears and give you an example of a group of humans that benefited from social media.  The musical duo known as Karmin was signed to a record label in 2011, and will soon be dropping their second album.  Karmin has enjoyed significant success over the past two years, but it wasn’t long ago that the band was unknown.  The band got its big break in 2011 when it began releasing cover songs with a twist on YouTube.  YouTube users began flocking to many of the videos, with its rendition of Chris Brown’s song “Look at Me Now” garnering 83 million views.  Karmin’s popularity with fan’s caught the attention of major record labels, and Epic Records ended up signing them in 2011.

One of Karmin’s most popular YouTube videos

You’ve now seen a few examples of social media success, and while not every company or personal brand will become achieve national acclaim and attention through social media, it can certainly provide benefits if utilized correctly.  If you look closely at the previous examples, you will be able to draw an important insight that will aid you when marketing your brand or company via social media.  People gravitated to the aforementioned social media entities because the content resonated with them on a personal level.  By remembering your audience and appealing to them on a more personal level, your brand and company is likely to find much more success in the social media marketing realm. 

I couldn’t resist, one more “grumpy cat” meme!