Justin Taylor

What is Topical Advertising?

Advertising serves two purposes in commerce, both of which benefit consumers. For producers of goods and services, advertising is a way to get the word out about something you want someone to buy. For hosts, advertising generates revenue in order to reduce costs for access to a product or service to consumers.

Advertising comes in many forms, but the traditional method is to simply introduce a product, discuss its features and benefits and then explain how a consumer can make a purchase. While this method is effective for capturing the attention of someone who is already interested in the type of product or service being advertised, a more effective method of capturing attention may be found through topical advertising.

How Does Topical Advertising Work?

Topical advertising is a method in which an advertisement is focused around a current (topical) event. This event may or may not be directly related to the product or service being advertised.

The point of advertising using topical subjects is that it helps a brand relate to the consumer in the moment. This type of advertising is sometimes used as part of brand management, and it is often employed as part of a podcast advertising strategy since it allows brands to remain nimble in response to current events.

The Limitations of Topical Advertising

Even though topical advertising allows for a quicker response to and identification with current events, the downside is that it can cause a brand to become associated with something negative. If you're too quick to draw up and push out a funny or quirky ad about an ongoing social event, this can become a disaster if that social event turns dark in the future.

Because you don't know how things will play out, your brand runs the risk of being defined as tone deaf or even directly linked with the negative turn of events. If you've used this approach as part of a podcast advertising strategy, your ad will likely be preserved for posterity in an archive of shows, making it harder to escape the negative association.

Author Resource:-

I'm Justin Taylor, podcast marketing consultant, providing info about monetizing a podcast, analytics, promotion ideas and advertising for SME's. You can find my thoughts at podcast guides blog.