How to Diversify Your Audience in 2024: A Guide for Small Business Owners

Expand reach & grow revenue

The world is a big place, full of different cultures and ways of thinking. The United States, in particular, is a vast melting pot, gathering individuals from all over the globe under a single flag. Despite this, advertising has long focused on singular audience segments—typically white, middle-class people.

However, times are changing. Studies show that people are more likely to engage with advertising that is diverse or inclusive of a variety of cultures and ethnicities. Audiences want to see advertising that reflects their own lives and culture as a whole—which means marketers should develop creative that embraces a variety of experiences and diverse audiences.

Here, we’ll explore ways you can speak to diverse audiences and expand your marketing initiatives to reach more people.

Identify untapped market segments

Targeting the same audience over and over can get your marketing efforts stuck in a rut and prevent your business from meeting its full potential. Opening yourself up to new ideas and experiences is a great way to take your creativity in directions you might never have considered before. 

Conducting market research is a great way to avoid this potential advertising pitfall. It can start with a simple survey sent to your current customer base, giving you greater insight into who’s actually engaging with your business. The data might reveal underserved or untapped markets you didn’t even know existed. 

If you’re using performance marketing platforms to engage with customers on social media or other digital channels, they often come equipped with analytics tools that provide detailed breakdowns of your current audience. You’ll be able to examine segments like consumer location, age range, interests and other diverse demographic details.

With this information in hand, you can modify your ad creative and marketing strategies to more effectively target these new segments. This information isn’t just helpful for pivoting on active campaigns—you can generate new consumer personas and bring them with you into future planning sessions, allowing you to cast a wider net to capture larger, more diverse audiences.

Leverage social media influencers to expand your reach

According to a 2021 Nielsen study, 88% of global audiences are more likely to trust people they know for recommendations on new products and services than any other channel. In the age of social media, that means influencers.

These individuals on social media offer advice and insight on a variety of topics. They can also connect your business with a more diverse and engaged audience than standard advertising channels.

However, trust and authenticity are the keys to making influencer marketing work. Look for accounts that fit your product or business model, and work with them to develop a message that will resonate with their audience. 

Also, don’t discount the effectiveness of microinfluencers. These accounts may boast smaller followings than the most popular accounts on social media, but they often boast higher return on ad spend (ROAS) due to their lower cost and higher engagement rates.

Read 5 Effective Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Businesses for more tips on expanding your digital presence.

Embrace diversity in ad creative

People want to see their life experiences reflected in the media they consume, whether through movies, TV shows or even advertising. Treating a single skin color or life experience as the default will only alienate your business from a broader audience. 

In fact, one study from the University of Oregon found that racial diversity in advertising that includes “a mixture of models of different races” makes consumers feel more connected to society at large while increasing the value of your business in their minds. 

To leverage these feelings, consider embracing a wide range of skin colors, cultures, genders and body types to provide a more diverse palette for your marketing efforts. This may require additional effort, as you may need to retool your message to speak to different audiences. The results, however, are worth it.

Email is a great way to connect your marketing message directly with a diverse audience. Read 5 Essential Email Marketing Tips for Small Businesses and learn how to create more engaging copy that people will want to read.

Don’t forget about accessibility

When you’re assembling creative—whether that’s a social media post, video or website landing page—it’s important to pay attention to the details. Many people often take elements like color contrast or text size for granted, but they’re instantly noticed by consumers with poor vision and can provide an unsatisfactory experience if they’re not handled well. Focusing on these and other seemingly small details will go a long way toward making your content more accessible to an audience that wants to engage with it.

For example, if you’re posting a video ad on social media, remember to include subtitles. This isn’t just helpful for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. It’ll also make the video accessible to those who have the volume turned down on their phone or are flipping through social media on a loud, packed subway.

Other details include creating ad copy in multiple languages, which you can then use in conjunction with performance marketing tools to target specific audiences. Also, don’t forget about web accessibility. Elements like image alt text, logical heading order and proper link text etiquette will make your ad copy vastly more readable, whether the viewer is using assistive technology or not.

Growing your business with an inclusive mindset

Inclusivity is vital to expanding your business beyond its current limits. The more people you can reach and bring into your audience, the more likely you’ll be able to generate sustainable growth in 2024 and beyond. However, inclusivity must be more than just a box to check—it must become an intrinsic part of operations, from hiring to project ideation and execution.

Looking for even more ways to grow your business? Check out the Walmart Business content hub for marketing tips, financial guides and more. 

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