So not too long ago I was on a hike, and a full-fledged discussion about Sally Struthers ensued. Complete with half sobbing imitations. Come on, you remember those old ads!

[It wasn’t even me who initiated all this, I swear!]

My immediate reaction to all this was to laugh. Mostly because my brother and I used to mock those commercials when we were kids. I know, I know, we’re heartless, eh?

But I guess we weren’t the only ones.

But really Sally was not alone. We see these plays all the time in marketing. And we’ll keep seeing them.

Ya wanna know why?

Because they flat-out work.

Using emotional triggers in your marketing is super important.

Now I’m not telling you to sob or have dying puppies in all your advertisements, but there are all sorts of emotions. (Not just the sad ones.) And anytime that you can key in on those, you should.

When you can create something that gives your audience ALL the “feels,” you’ve already won.

Emotional triggers have a way of driving action.

This applies to the way you make a person feel face-to-face, in an ad campaign, or in a simple social media post.

So go ahead and get all En Vogue on your audience, and you’ll get that engagement or action you’re looking for.

[Ok, En Vogue might’ve been a little different context. “Engagement” and “action” that’s what they’re callin it these days, LOL.)

BUT THE CONCEPT STILL APPLIES.