As a business owner I have tried many different kinds of advertising, from papers, to radio, to magazines (including Vogue) etc and you know what works best? Celebrity advertising.
I have an advert currently running on Facebook that has 4 different celebs holding our products, I've been using Facebook adverts for about a year and this has by far been the most successful advert we've ever had, it's also the ad that's has the most criticism.
Comments like "why would I buy a product just because she's holding it?" "oh yeah she looks great with inches of make-up and a filter" "I was interested but I'm really dubious of companies that use celebrities to advertise" to comments about them being photoshopped. Firstly we're not the first beauty product to use celebs, all of the huge companies do and why? Because it gets peoples attention.
Yes there are some people that will buy something just because a celeb has endorsed it but it's not what celeb advertising is about, we're not trying to fool you, we don't want you to think that those particular celebs only use our brand or that they haven't had any work done, all we want is for you to find our products. When a familiar face pops up on your screen, you're instantly drawn to the advert, that is where we then have the chance to tell you about the product and what it can do for you.
I've seen people attacking celebs on twitter and Instagram for advertising but hollywood celebs have been doing this for decades, just a little less in your face (and without an #ad hashtag). This is a new age where people can be famous from making videos on youtube or appearing on reality shows, at the end of the day this is their job, I know if I get got paid for just posting a picture, I'd do it (within reason of course).
When you're a small business competing with massive companies with huge advertising budgets it's bloody hard work, as the saying goes "when you buy from a small company you're not helping a CEO buy a second holiday home, you're helping a parent provide for their family" Obviously we all know the benefit of supporting small businesses but it's not just about buying, if you love a product or a service remember to tell your friends, share their social media pages on your own, post reviews on their pages, customer feedback is gold to all companies, especially the small ones.
So the next time you see a celeb face smiling at you telling you how awesome a product is, remember we're not trying to deceive you, we're happy that you've finally found us, have a little look on the website advertised, check out social media, have a look on google and decide for yourself, that annoying advert may have just introduced you to a product that you can't live without.