Boomers Buy…But Not Like THAT (GM101)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Brain Driven Brands – "Boomers Buy…But Not Like THAT (GM101)"

Introduction

In the episode titled "Boomers Buy…But Not Like THAT (GM101)" of the Brain Driven Brands podcast, host Sarah Levinger delves into the intricacies of marketing to the Baby Boomer generation. Joined by co-host Nate, Sarah explores the unique characteristics and preferences of boomers, offering actionable neuromarketing strategies to effectively engage this powerful consumer group. Released on February 11, 2025, this episode provides valuable insights for e-commerce brands aiming to enhance their appeal to boomers.

Generational Dynamics

The conversation kicks off with a light-hearted exchange between Sarah and Nate, highlighting their camaraderie and setting the stage for a deeper discussion on generational marketing. Sarah emphasizes the significance of targeting boomers, noting their substantial purchasing power and the often-overlooked potential in this demographic.

Boomer Consumer Insights

1. Trust Over Trendiness

   Sarah points out that boomers prioritize trustworthiness over trendy appeal in their purchasing decisions. "Boomers do not buy trendy stuff. They buy trusted stuff," she asserts (14:34). This preference stems from their desire for reliability and established relationships with brands. Instead of jumping on fleeting social media trends, brands should focus on building long-term trust through consistent quality and authenticity.

   Nate reinforces this by highlighting the effectiveness of traditional marketing avenues: "That's why infomercials and TV and celebrity endorsements worked so well for them" (15:44). Boomers tend to respond positively to authority signaling, such as guarantees, testimonials, and certifications that reinforce the brand's credibility.

2. Reading Preferences

   Sarah reveals that boomers are voracious readers, consuming a variety of content formats including newspapers, magazines, online articles, and books. "They read all sorts of different things. So if you're already chewing too many truncated things to a boomer, you need to start doing long form copy in ways that they already want to ingest" (16:09). Unlike younger generations who favor bite-sized content, boomers appreciate in-depth information and detailed narratives.

   Nate shares his admiration for long-form content tailored to boomers: "I know someone running like 35 minute video VSLs on metal. Thank you to a boomer audience. That's crushing" (17:19). This approach aligns with their preference for comprehensive and informative content.

3. Customer Service Expectations

   Exceptional customer service is paramount for boomers. Sarah advises brands to conduct a "customer service test" by evaluating whether their website, ads, and emails would encourage a boomer to call and speak with a real person. "Boomers freaking love talking to real people. It's the reason why they invented the zero button for operators" (19:46). Providing accessible and responsive human support can significantly enhance the boomer customer experience.

4. Value Deals Without Gimmicks

   Boomers are highly value-conscious and appreciate straightforward deals without gimmicks. "Boomers love a good deal. Discounts actually do work for this group and bundling does, but they don't like gimmicks" (18:35). Simple, transparent offers that emphasize savings and value resonate well with this demographic, who are adept at recognizing and avoiding superficial marketing tactics.

5. Empowering Purchase Decisions

   It's essential to make boomers feel in control of their purchasing process. Sarah emphasizes, "Make it look like it's their idea, okay? Which means please don't try to tell them what they want. Don't hard sell on these limited time offers or pressure tactics" (21:08). By using familiar language and offering clear choices, brands can empower boomers to make informed and confident purchasing decisions without feeling pressured.

Historical Context of Boomers

Understanding the historical backdrop of the boomer generation is crucial for effective marketing. Sarah provides a comprehensive overview of the societal and economic environments that shaped boomers:

• Upbringing and Family Dynamics: Many boomers were raised with strict parenting styles, emphasizing discipline and resilience. "Children are meant to be seen and not heard," she notes, highlighting the authoritative upbringing that influences their current consumer behavior.

• Social and Political Turmoil: Boomers witnessed significant events like the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the Space Race. These experiences fostered a generation that values stability, progress, and societal contributions.

• Technological Advancements: The rapid technological changes during their formative years instilled an appreciation for innovation balanced with practicality. Sarah remarks, "They saw so much Cold War, Cuban Missile crisis... a lot of technological advances that came out of this period of their life."

• Economic Changes: Boomers experienced both the prosperity of the post-war era and the challenges of economic downturns, shaping their frugality and value-oriented spending habits.

Marketing Strategies for Boomers

Drawing from the insights discussed, Sarah outlines five key strategies for effectively marketing to boomers:

1. Build Trust Through Authority Signaling: Utilize guarantees, testimonials, and partnerships with trusted news sources to establish credibility.

2. Embrace Long-Form Content: Develop detailed and informative content that caters to their preference for in-depth reading and learning.

3. Enhance Customer Service: Ensure accessibility to real human support, making it easy for boomers to engage and receive assistance.

4. Offer Transparent Deals: Provide straightforward discounts and value bundles without gimmicky tactics, emphasizing clarity and simplicity.

5. Empower Purchase Choices: Use familiar language and provide clear options to allow boomers to feel in control of their buying decisions.

Sarah concludes by stressing the importance of ethical marketing: "Please don't exploit people's trauma... understand, based on all this history and all this emotional trauma, this is how to sell to a boomer." She encourages marketers to approach boomers with respect and empathy, fostering genuine relationships rather than merely seeking profit.

Conclusion and Future Episodes

The episode wraps up with Sarah and Nate reflecting on the valuable insights shared. Sarah announces plans to explore other generations in future episodes, emphasizing the importance of understanding each group's unique experiences and preferences for effective marketing. She encourages listeners to follow her on various social media platforms and visit Tether Insights for more in-depth information.

Nate adds a humorous note, highlighting the potential for future discussions: "We should actually have them on the podcast because it'd be super interesting."

Overall, this episode serves as a comprehensive guide for brands looking to tap into the boomer market, blending historical context with practical marketing strategies to engage this influential consumer group effectively.

Notable Quotes

• Sarah Levinger [00:55]: "How old are you now? I just feel like there's 28."

• Nate [03:09]: "I end up golfing with boomers a lot because I golf, because I Golf at 9am on weekdays."

• Sarah Levinger [12:51]: "Please don't exploit people's trauma. This is why I hesitate to dive into these, honestly..."

• Nate [17:19]: "I know someone running like 35 minute video VSLs on metal. Thank you to a boomer audience. That's crushing."

• Sarah Levinger [18:35]: "Boomers love a good deal. Discounts actually do work for this group and bundling does, but they don't like gimmicks."

Time Stamps Reference

For ease of navigation and further reference, notable points and quotes have been tagged with their corresponding timestamps (e.g., [00:55], [03:09], etc.).

Transcript

[Sarah Levener]

You're not a manifester. That's shocking.

[Nate]

Manifester. I barely know her.

[Sarah Levener]

Okay, all right. Why is it every time. Not every word that ends with H e R needs that joke? Let's. Let's talk about that.

[Nate]

I don't know.

[Sarah Levener]

Okay. All right, all right, Here we go. 3.

[Nate]

Welcome back to Brain Driven Brands.

[Sarah Levener]

Ridiculous. Let me just tell you, every Friday is so much fun with you, Nate, but there are some Fridays where I just feel, like, incredibly loopy. And this is the Friday because I've been working too much and I'm exhausted and your poor face is sick. It's just gonna be a weird episode. So.

[Nate]

Yeah. Yeah. I'm all hopped up on, like, six different types of cold medicine that I'm not supposed to mix with whiskey and whoops, you know? So I got.

[Sarah Levener]

How old are you now? I just feel like there's 28.

[Nate]

I'm still only 28. Really young.

[Sarah Levener]

There's things that you should probably know at 28, like, not to mix, like, drugs with whiskey. I feel like that's important for your health.

[Nate]

Mom, I don't need this.

[Sarah Levener]

I am a mom. I don't take offense to that at all. Also today we're going to talk about being old, being young. I think it's important that we talk about a very specific topic. Topic. I don't know, what else do you call it, other than a topic concept that producer Scotty has been trying to get me to talk about for a long time. So shout out to producer Scotty. We're finally going to talk about it.

[Nate]

What are we talking about?

[Sarah Levener]

I want to dive into a group of people because that's what this podcast is all about. That has all the money because they're really the ones that are most important in this country right now. They have none of the patience for all of, like, our TikTok style marketing, but they have all the cash, so we should probably talk about them. I want to talk about boomers. Today we're going to do some. Some generational marketing. Does that sound okay?

[Nate]

Yeah. That's your age group. Yeah.

[Sarah Levener]

Okay. All right. Why do you always think I'm older than I am? I look exactly the same age as you. First of all, I'm only. What? Like.

[Nate]

All right, let's get a poll on that. Listeners. Exactly the same age.

[Sarah Levener]

Exactly the same age. I have pigtails today, for crying out loud, because I'm so exhausted that I didn't shower this entire week. Because that's just how you do sometimes with when you're in the hustle. Culture. So we're gonna. We're gonna talk specifically about the boomer generation, because these guys are. I have such a soft spot for the boomers, and I want to teach people how to sell to a boomer, because these are the people. They invented the infomercial. You know what I'm talking about? Like, these are the people that did so much for marketing, and I think we just kind of, like, shove them in the corner. Like, oh, they're the nice, cute little consumer group that we just don't talk about. Let's talk about millennials. We need to talk about the Gen Z ers. What's happening with all the young guys.

[Nate]

No, none of us have any money, and we're too depressed to make any real moves in our lives.

[Sarah Levener]

Also, did you know that the boomer consumer as a group. The boomer consumer group, group. You see what I'm saying? I can't talk. Today, the boomer consumer group spends $4.4 trillion a year on goods and services.

[Nate]

It's. You know what is so funny to me? I end up golfing with boomers a lot because I golf, because I Golf at 9am on weekdays. And that's all truth.

[Sarah Levener]

That's because they're the only ones who can afford to golf these days.

[Nate]

Right.

[Sarah Levener]

So expensive.

[Nate]

And it's so funny listening to them talk about, like, the state of the world and the state of our generation.

[Sarah Levener]

Is it like being in a secret room?

[Nate]

Yeah, because they're always like, how are you here right now?

[Sarah Levener]

How rude.

[Nate]

But also, okay, like, the round of golf costs $60. It's not that much. And I was like, I have a flexible job and, like, it's going great.

[Sarah Levener]

So I love that they ask you that question, though. They're like, aren't you a millennial? Like, why are you here?

[Nate]

And then when they find out that.

[Sarah Levener]

I own a house, that's amazing.

[Nate]

And, like, they were blown away. And then the stories that they tell of, like, yeah, my. Like, my kids are really struggling. I bought each of them a house. And then.

[Sarah Levener]

And I'm like, bought them a house?

[Nate]

Yeah. The money that some of these guys have is insane.

[Sarah Levener]

This is insane. Okay, first of all, though, what do you think of their, like, general idea of you? Because this, again, we're going to talk about how to sell to a boomer. But, like, it's fascinating, the differences of the generations and how we see each other. Does it offend you as. As, like a millennial? Aren't you a millennial? You're a millennial, right?

[Nate]

Yep. Yeah, I'm the last year. 1996.

[Sarah Levener]

Oh, you were the last of the millennials. You're almost a Gen Z. Oh, yeah, I know.

[Nate]

I. Trust me. I also hate that for the record.

[Sarah Levener]

It's okay. Sorry. I don't know that I'm a millennial. I feel more like a Gen Xer but continue.

[Nate]

No, I have, like, really mixed reactions about it because, like, okay, one half of them are, like, really condescending.

[Sarah Levener]

Yeah. This is interesting. And on the golf course especially, I've experienced this.

[Nate]

Yeah. And like, half of them, one guy told me, he was like, he was just trying to flex about money the whole round. And at the end he said something like, bet I paid more in taxes this year than you made. Oh, my God, she's like, so aggressive for a morning round of golf.

[Sarah Levener]

What did you say?

[Nate]

And I said, oh, yeah, you made X amount of money this year or you. Or you paid X amount in tax this year? And I told him exactly how much money I made.

[Sarah Levener]

Destroyed it.

[Nate]

And he was like, what? I was like, that's what I mean.

[Sarah Levener]

I'm a DTC man. Are you kidding me? Like, this is E Commerce.

[Nate]

Whoa.

[Sarah Levener]

Yeah.

[Nate]

And then we got in the parking lot and I got into my brand new Range Rover. You got into an old beat up BMW. And I was like, what are you doing, dude?

[Sarah Levener]

So you flexed. Everybody's over here just flexing on the golf course.

[Nate]

No.

[Sarah Levener]

Interesting, though. Yeah.

[Nate]

The other half are, like, impressed because they acknowledge, like, it's hard for millennials to get ahead right now. And, like, they want it for their kids so bad. Like, they want their kids to be successful.

[Sarah Levener]

This is something that's universal. I've noticed with the boomers. The boomers have a very interesting way that they look at the world based upon, like, how they were parented. And we'll talk about that in just a minute. But when you start to interact between the different generations, I find that there's this, like, underlying belief that we have about Gen Xers, that Gen Xers have about boomers, boomers have about Gen zers. All of us kind of have these, like, general assumptions. And I want to know, just somebody, some economists come tell me this, or somebody who studies the generations why this happens. Because it happens in every single generation. If you're young, you automatically assume that the old people just don't know what they're doing anymore. And that, like, we are the ones that are kind of building what's happening. And, like, everything that's happening that's important is happening because of us.

[Scotty]

Has there been a dumber generation of idiots more susceptible to fake news than these fucking baby boomers literally believing everything they see on the Internet. You literally have people in Honolulu right now auto driving their Tesla cybertrucks as they vape out the window, and their phone AI is trading cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, you have baby boomers. They can't even right click.

[Sarah Levener]

And in turn, the boomers believe the same thing about us. They're like, everything that was important we put in place. You guys didn't do any of it. Like, everybody has this, like, a view of each other that's just there. And I need to know why that happens, because it directly affects how we purchase things, where we purchase it, why we purchase it, all these type of things. So for your particular experience, you had a, an older gentleman, a boomer who believes something very specific about you just because of your age.

[Nate]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levener]

And that is interesting. So if we back up, why do boomers believe that about the younger generations? Right. I think it's indicative of how they actually grew up, what world they experienced. So I, I have a training that I usually do with a bunch of agencies right now to go into generational marketing, kind of talk about what the boomers actually experience. I should pull this up. Actually. I'm gonna have to, like, show you this slide deck because it's fascinating when you go through it. There is a very particular period of the world that they were experiencing, and there was a lot of turmoil that happened. They grew up, so. Yeah. Oh, and. And the world events that they went through were like, really, really emotionally damaged.

[Nate]

They also all got beat by. By their dads. Yeah, pretty much.

[Sarah Levener]

I mean, I hope not everybody.

[Nate]

No, but like, pretty much everyone I've talked to.

[Sarah Levener]

Oh, well, okay. That's just it. So parenting wise, a boomer was parented by the silent gen. The silent gen lived through the Great Depression. They were in incredibly volatile periods. Lots of, like, industrial growth. They went through this very strange period where they were basically flip flopping over between lots and lots of war and political unrest and severe economic, like, casualties happening. They raised kids with the idea that the world is harsh, you need to be tough enough to take it. So there was a lot of corporal punishment. As a parent, when you were like, parenting your boomer child, there was also a lot of, like, children are meant to be seen and not heard. So the poor boomers grew up believing that they weren't meant to do much other than just stay out of the way. If you hear that message enough as a Young child, you end up believing something very specific about the world as a parent, as like an adult. Right. And when you become a parent, the boomers also very critical period of their life. Early teens up into about 20s, lived through the civil rights movement in like 1950s, 1960s. So they would have been kids at that point, Right. But they started to see the entire familial structure flip upside down. So dads used to stay at home, right? And mom or dads used to go out, moms used to stay at home and raise the kids, and then it flipped upside down in the 60s and 70s, dads and moms then had to go out and find jobs. And moms started to become a much more active participant in the workforce. And so this changed a lot about what they started to believe about women and women's rights. And then obviously civil rights movements was they were going through a really volatile period with just ethnicities and races. There was a lot of politicalness that wrapped into their poor little childhood around who was valuable and who was not. Lots of weird messages changing then, too. They went through the Vietnam War in 1955-1975, the Space Race, and the moon landing, which I know is, dear. Allegedly happened in 1969. Which, regardless of what some people believe about the moon landing, it's very important to recognize there was a lot of technological, technological advances that came out of this period of their life, right? So they started to see, all of a sudden now things that weren't a thing, weren't real, all of a sudden just were real. Right?

[Nate]

They did see so much.

[Sarah Levener]

They saw so much Cold War, Cuban Missile crisis. I mean, we could keep going and going and going throughout all the history. But boomers, I would love everybody to just keep this in mind. They have seen some history and some pain and a whole lot of gender crisis, of political crisis, of race based crisis. Like these people are, whoa, that's a lot of trauma to hold at one time. So.

[Nate]

And also for me, like, even just hearing that, it puts in perspective the shit that we think is going on right now in the world with race and gender and culture. And it's like they've already been through a more volatile, more violent version of this.

[Sarah Levener]

Yes, a much more violent version, because their, their period of time that they went through, they had to experience the beginnings, right? The origin of us deciding both genders are, are absolutely valuable. All races are absolutely valuable. Like, they had to basically start the process and get the machine running. Nowadays, millennials are very, very concerned. And again, this is not to Discount anybody's world experience. I want everybody to know Sarah's not saying that exactly. We're going to do an episode on every generation, but this is just for the boomers. The boomers, unfortunately, were told that they were not incredibly valuable as children, and so they carried that upwards. And so when they started to actually lean into the ideas that, hey, yeah, everybody's valuable, and we would like to protest and we would like to get our voices heard. It's very difficult. I mean, that's a very brave thing for someone to do if you're already struggling with that kind of emotional trauma. So how does this play into marketing?

[Nate]

I was going to say, let's get to how do I sell more watches? How do I exploit this for profit?

[Sarah Levener]

Please don't exploit people for profit. It's like, this is the reason why Sarah's teaching these things is because emotionally, you got to know what people went through to be able to be careful about what you say. And this is like, this is the basis and the bones of who Sarah is. Please be careful what you say to people, because you can very easily trigger something you didn't mean to trigger.

[Nate]

Speaking of a minute ago, you said both genders. I don't know if you want to commit to that on air or not.

[Sarah Levener]

All right, all right. All genders. Thank you.

[Nate]

Cut that. But all genders.

[Sarah Levener]

In the 50s, it was two. So that's the reason why I referenced two on.

[Nate]

On future episodes. Can we talk about how to market to these group and how to work with them?

[Sarah Levener]

Oh, okay. Like in a workplace setting? Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[Nate]

I think that'd be super cool.

[Sarah Levener]

All right.

[Nate]

Sorry to interrupt the episode. Go ahead. We're about to exploit their trauma for profit.

[Sarah Levener]

Please don't exploit people's trauma. This is why I hesitate to dive into these, honestly, because, like, I don't want. I don't want you guys to know so much about people's traumas that you could take them and exploit them. What we do need to know and just keep in your mind as a marketer, is everybody has trauma. Everybody went through shit on a global level and on a personal level, that really makes it difficult for them to understand how to heal from these things. So what we need to do is understand, based on all this history and all this emotional trauma, this is how to sell to a boomer. This is what's important to a boomer that I need you to focus on the most. Number one, boomers do not buy trendy stuff. Right. They buy trusted stuff. They're not Going to buy trendy, they buy trusty. Mostly because boomers need to feel a deep level of trust with the brands that they're buying with or buying from because it's important to them. They want to be able to trust people as anybody does in any generation. Very, very important, I think, to focus on the fact that they're not used to using all this like trendy slang or TikTok made me buy it or like any of this type of stuff. It doesn't mean they won't respond to it, it just means they don't trust it as much.

[Nate]

Well, and like this to me is like such a stark like puts in perspective. Most people's creative strategies right now are to hop on current social media trends.

[Sarah Levener]

Yes. Just whatever's popping up.

[Nate]

Well, yeah, if you're selling to 21 year olds, that might play well.

[Sarah Levener]

Yes.

[Nate]

But if you're. And I, I wouldn't even limit that just to boomers. If you're over 30, I don't think you care about.

[Sarah Levener]

Yeah.

[Nate]

The latest tick tock trend.

[Sarah Levener]

No, no. Anybody in like their 40s right now is like, because they have kids that are involved in it. Their teenagers are like really on TikTok right now. So the 40, 50 year olds are like, geez. So for boomers, here's how to fix this. If you're currently marketing towards trendy stuff, you need to shift towards being a more trusted resource as a brand. So use authority signaling, which means I want to see more like 30 day back, like money day guarantee type of things. I want to see more testimonials. Please go to trusted news sources that they already ingest content from and try and partner with them. Certifications do really well for this group. You got to use those authority signals to help kind of build on this trust idea.

[Nate]

That's why infomercials and TV and celebrity endorsements worked so well for them.

[Sarah Levener]

Yes. Oh my gosh, it really does. Because they, they tend to trust people that they've seen for a long time. If they've been following one particular person for generations of their family or even just the last 10 years, they trust them more than these brands that are like, trust us. Here's all these social proof, like trust. They don't trust that. So don't do that. Okay, number two, boomers actually read more than almost any generation before them or after them.

[Nate]

What are they reading?

[Sarah Levener]

They all sorts of different things. So if you're a Gen Z audience, millennial audience, you're overstimulated because you're constantly consuming Content, Right. So video format, even if it's a written format, it's truncated. The boomers though, they're reading all sorts of like online publications. So we're talking like newspapers, magazines, online articles, blog posts in particular. And they're also reading just general stuff. They're reading stuff outside of the screen. So they read a lot of books. These are well read, well educated folks who are incredibly interested in getting as much information as possible. So because they read, please, here's how to fix it. If you're already chewing too many truncated things to a boomer, you need to start doing long form copy in ways that they already want to ingest. Email may not be the format that they want to read. Maybe don't do as many long form emails to them. Figure out a different way to say it. There's lots of different ways that you can push long form other than just like email marketing.

[Nate]

So I know someone running like 35 minute video VSLs on metal. Thank you to a boomer audience. That's crushing.

[Sarah Levener]

Crushing.

[Nate]

That blows my mind. I don't understand. We should actually have them on the podcast because it'd be super interesting. But this guy's like fantastic copywriter and just writes these things over and over and over again in a crush.

[Sarah Levener]

It I don't know what it is that we're so like against this format of long form anymore just because I know short form is just the easiest format, but also it's expensive and then.

[Nate]

If it doesn't work, you feel like you wasted it.

[Sarah Levener]

But it's very true for the boomers though, man. Like all they, all they want to do is sit here and learn like they're big learners. It's again, I think we have a mislike informed view of a boomer. It's not that they just can't handle the fast format or whatever. Boomers are technologically savvy. Like they didn't grow up with tech and they use it all the time. Like, yeah, all they want though is to slow down. They value this slower speed so well.

[Nate]

And like, like even just thinking about it now, like, boomers obviously get a bad rap a lot of the times. But like we is our content and our likes top tier right now. Because I'm like, I hate the shit our generation has done.

[Sarah Levener]

Yes.

[Nate]

And like sometimes the thought of like, I'd love to read a magazine about a topic I'm interested in.

[Sarah Levener]

Yes, I just want to read a book.

[Nate]

Relaxing day. That would be.

[Sarah Levener]

I can't tell you how many like paper books I've picked up in the last couple of months. I started doing audible, I started getting. I started getting all the stuff on my phone. And I was reading that for years. For the last four years, I've been tech focused when it comes to books, and I just recently went back to paper books and the experience is drastically different. And again, this is the reason why I think the boomers just like it. They're like, why do we got to do everything on a screen? I agree, I agree. Okay. Number three, I think every brand should always do a customer service test. This is incredibly important for boomers. In particular, a customer service test, meaning what I call you, right? If you have any sort of product that's going out to a boomer, I want you to look through your entire website, all of your ads, all your emails, and think to yourself, would this person get on the phone with us based upon what we're showing them? If the answer is no, you're not talking to a boomer. Boomers freaking love talking to real people. It's the reason why they invented the zero button for operators. Every boomer I've ever met is like, just give me a person. Like, let me talk to somebody. And they, they can't stand it when they can't talk to a real person quickly. Right.

[Nate]

So you have selected to purchase product in bulk from a warehouse. How does it mess that up? Speak to a representative, an agent, customer service, anybody. Let me get a human.

[Sarah Levener]

So please, the easiest way to fix this is just have a real accessible human somewhere in your business that can answer the phone. For a boomer to just be like, where's your number? Let me just call you and talk to you about what I want to do. Again, I don't want you guys to think this is coming from a place of like, well, boomers are just slower than everybody else.

[Nate]

No, a boomer value and value reality a lot more than we do.

[Sarah Levener]

I just. It drives me crazy that we have this weird view of them that just like, well, they're older, so they just. I don't know, they're not able to. No, it's not that.

[Nate]

Grew up in the real world. I know that none of us did.

[Sarah Levener]

But, like, they grew up in the physical, like, realm. So they.

[Nate]

How old were you when you got your first smartphone?

[Sarah Levener]

I was 19. 20.

[Nate]

Yeah, maybe so. Yeah, I was. I mean, I was 12.

[Sarah Levener]

You were 12 when you got.

[Nate]

Oh, my God, like, what your problem?

[Sarah Levener]

I had a. One of those, like, brick Motorola phones that had the, like, actual old school snake on it. That was Classy. I had such class. Okay, all right, number five, number five, Boomers love a good deal. This is like pretty universal for boomers. So discounts actually do work for this group and bundling does, but they don't like gimmicks. Please don't make it gimmicky. Right? Like they, they love those discounts and their deals because they really did grow. I mean, they invented the coupon. Like, these guys are very price conscious of things. They're very frugal spenders for the most part. So please don't over complicate it. Like get them a deal, but just don't make it gimmicky. Make it simple and transparent. Try not to make it like we have seven different products and they're all different prices. And if you add this and you get 50% off, but if you add this, you get 20. Too much, too much. Simplify your offers down for them and give them a good deal. Make it worth their while and they'll spend money. Like we said, they got 4.4 trillion to spend. So, like, it's not like they don't want to. They got money to spend. Okay, number five, last one on here. How to sell to a boomer. Make it look like it's their idea, okay? Which means please don't try and tell them what they want. Don't hard sell on these limited time offers or pressure tactics like they're already skeptical as enough as like a consumer group based upon how they grew up and all of the turmoil they experienced. So please, like don't, don't act like you know better than what they do. Respect their experience as people. Right? Use familiar language that they already know. Let them feel like they're in control of the process by giving them control. Which one do you want? How many do you want? What size do you want? Let enter in your credit card information. We're not going to take anything else. Like we don't need your firstborn child's name, like we don't need to know your favorite color. Those types of things make it really simple for these guys to get what they need and what they want because at the end of the day, they don't like being sold to. Right? But they really do love making smart purchases. They're good consumer group. They're smart, savvy people and they deserve better. So anyways, five ways you can sell to a boomer today. What do you think about that? Should we do more of these?

[Nate]

I love this episode. I didn't contribute a ton. This was great.

[Sarah Levener]

Are you just being nice to me. You just humor me so I can talk about the generations more. Okay.

[Nate]

Education, how old are boomers? Quick question up top. No, but I think like some of this stuff is crazy, impactful and like, even if you don't, even if you don't think boomers or any, you know, age group is your main demographic is like, well, is it 10% of your customers? 20%? Like, this is how I would be thinking about creative strategy is like when we talk about who and when we're selling to people, it's like, this should be a part of it. And right now we don't have any. What's the word? Why can't I think of this generation? We don't have any generation specific messaging that would be interesting, at least that I know of. But it's like, could we take our main headline, that's one for three years in a row, and write a version for boomers and for Gen X and for Gen Z and.

[Sarah Levener]

Well, that would be millennials. Yeah.

[Nate]

And see what happens.

[Sarah Levener]

Yes, yes, yes, yes. That would be so fascinating. So baby boomer generation was born between 1946 and 1964. Anywhere in that particular.

[Nate]

So my parents, I've been right to call them because they are my in laws.

[Sarah Levener]

Yep, yep. Anybody older than 1946, when they were born, then. Yeah, 1946, 1964, you can typically say a boomer is anywhere between like late 50s to early 70s.

[Nate]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levener]

Somewhere there. Because again, depending on what you look up, everybody has a different range for what it is. But anyways, okay, this is a good episode. We're going to do more of these. I'm going to do every single generation. So if you want to go through and learn all about what they went through, what they emotionally feel from childhood, and then all the way up into how to sell to them and how to do it well and hopefully ethically, people, let's be kind out here. Every human on the planet is hurting, so be kind. Market, ethically, all that stuff. We're gonna do more episode these.

[Nate]

But when I try to exploit people.

[Sarah Levener]

For profit, I kind of just hate it in general if anybody tries to do it. But yes, everybody, be kind. Okay. People are fighting hard fights out here at Sarah Levener. You want to follow, follow me anywhere you can consume content at Sarah lavenger on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube. I'm sort of on Instagram, kind of on TikTok. Come check us out at Tether Insights if you want to kind of get more information on which generation you're currently marketing to what they believe, how they were parented, and how that actually affects your growth as a brand. These are incredibly important concepts. Please, please, please. Millennial term. Don't sleep on this. I hate it when people say this, but don't sleep. Sleep on it. People. Come check us out. Great episode.

[Scotty]

The Brain Driven Brands podcast is part of the Learn and Laugh series on the Quickfire Podcast Network.