5 Best Practices for Designing Graphics That Speak to Multiple Target Audiences

You may think achieving a near-universal appeal sounds like an exercise in futility. However, it is challenging but not impossible to design graphics that speak to multiple audiences if you follow best practices. Best of all, doing so can be rewarding for your clients and portfolio.

What It Means to Design Graphics for a Diverse Audience

Audiences’ expectations, preferences and background knowledge vary widely, even among those within the same segment.

For example, the college demographic is far more varied than it may seem. Some undergraduates who play collegiate sports find athletes’ endorsements persuasive, while others embrace campy generational trends and respond well to identity marketing.

Even those who follow trends may have constantly changing preferences because various online algorithms push them through a revolving door of new content. Others will commit to an emerging, aesthetic-based niche for months or even years. A segment can always become more granular if you dissect it enough.

Appealing to many groups is not about pleasing everyone by incorporating all their interests into a jumbled patchwork. Instead, look for hidden commonalities. There is almost always a shared thread you can follow.

Imagine the owner of a new high-end cafe asking you to create designs for foodies and business professionals. The first group loves to dine out, while the businesspeople want to climb the corporate ladder. What do they have in common?

For starters, both audience segments have a taste for imaginative, high-end foods. Though one might post online about their dining experiences and the other primarily entertains clients, upscale restaurants’ quality and creativity are the cornerstones that connect them.

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Belonging to a group is human nature. If you look hard enough, you will find that even the most unlikely pairings agree on something.

When to Design With Multiple Target Audiences in Mind

Should graphic design address several target segments? Is it your responsibility to decide, or do you wait until a client directs you to do so?

You can interpret multiaudience targeting in various ways. Forbes argues that every brand has three target audiences — potential consumers, existing buyers and stakeholders. Marketing material should raise awareness, retain customers and build a brand identity.

Following this interpretation, most of your projects should simultaneously focus on numerous segments to maximize the value you drive for your clients.

However, there are circumstances where your direction may be more explicit. Imagine a complex consumer brand that wants to attract all big-box store shoppers. You would then need to appeal to people from different family compositions, generations, ethnicities and genders.

These segments are vastly different. For instance, each generation’s unique traits and qualities define its behaviors. While Generation Z values authenticity and ethics, Baby Boomers appreciate tradition and reliability.

What might unite such diverse groups? Well, given that the client sells their products in a brick-and-mortar store, location is an influential factor. Depending on the area’s median income and the product’s price, income level could also help you narrow your focus.

My Take on Designing Graphics for Diverse Demographics

In these instances, I would recommend using language emphasizing the item’s value, letting consumers know they can get superior quality at an affordable price. Putting phrases like “limited-time offer” and “guaranteed satisfaction” in large, sans-serif typeface would improve accessibility and visibility.

Make the packaging stand out on store shelves with vibrant and attractive colors. Industry professionals say orange is an excellent pick because it can convey urgency and create a striking contrast with complementary hues.

Strategic font and color choice will drive retail sales in this area, freeing you to experiment with the rest of your design. This flexibility is helpful when you have a picky client or are unsure where to take the project.

Unless you are working on an ultra-personalized project, there is no harm in incorporating colors, content or concepts that attract a broad range of viewers.

Appealing to Multiple Target Audiences With One Design

Creating numerous variants is the most straightforward way to create graphics that speak to multiple groups. However, your client may not want to pay for several rounds of revisions. Besides, that kind of work is needlessly time-consuming.

However, narrowing your focus can be challenging if you lack experience targeting diverse groups. Ideally, you should aggregate and refine their shared interests and expectations so you only have to produce one primary graphic. First, you must identify the overlap, extracting subcultures from larger demographics.

Conduct market research for accurate, data-driven insights. You can deliver value to your customers by personalizing specific messages and visuals.

This preparation may be time-consuming, but personalized content gets results. McKinsey & Company research shows it can increase revenue by 5% to 15% and raise the return on investment by 10% to 30%. Consider framing this as a selling point for your clients, increasing your rates as needed.

Best Practices for Refining Your Target Audiences

Designing for multiple audiences does not have to be challenging. Following these best practices will guide your work and help you get results.

1. Conduct A/B Testing for Design Variants

A/B testing involves showing at least two variations to a live audience to gauge their responses. Ensure a few people in each group represent a relevant segment to get the most accurate results. These insights will help you polish your final product.

2. Use Behavioral Segmentation

How do you appeal to disparate people without watering down your work? As you know, pleasing everyone is impossible. Instead, try using behavioral segmentation.

Behavior is the one thing that unites people with no shared geographic or demographic characteristics. Unlike lifestyle information or interests, it considers how they interact with a product, service, publication, post or event.

Can you find a commonality in their purchase histories? Are they all trying to solve the same problem with items they buy? When in doubt, look at their behavior.

Best Practices for Designing With Universal Appeal

The concept of universal appeal may sound preposterous, and it is to some extent. However, if you follow best practices, I am confident you can attract every audience your client wants to target.

1. Prioritize High-Level Information and Visuals

Think of graphic design as blogging — you must separate your title, headings, subheadings and body text. Then, readers’ eyes can flit to the information they need instead of lingering on irrelevant sections. Relevant visual hierarchy is crucial when engaging a diverse audience.

Everyone’s background knowledge and expectations differ, so you should make your final product scannable. Emphasize high-level information like dates, brand names or calls to action. Make sure to leave room for granular details for those who need more information.

2. Rely on Psychological Marketing Tactics

When in doubt, psychological tactics engage the vast majority of people. Strategic color choice is one of the most straightforward ways to do this. Research shows around 93% of consumers base their purchasing decisions on color.

Instead of solely following color theory or using what looks best to you, consider the emotional and psychological effects. While orange can convey affordability, blue is among the few colors associated with positive emotions across all cultures.

3. Explore Attention-Grabbing Elements

Since you cannot appeal to everyone, the next best strategy is to maximize the number of eyes on your design. Try attention-grabbing elements like bold typefaces or emojis. For reference, research shows using symbols or emojis can increase the number of likes by 72% and the number of comments by 70% on average.

What to Consider Before Publishing Your Design

Once you have mastered the fundamentals of creating graphics that speak to numerous audiences, you must research who will view your designs and where. Formatting and layouts are critical when dealing with such a diverse group.

If your work will go online, making it mobile-friendly should be your top priority. Around 92% of the world’s internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Will the final product look as good on a laptop as it does on a smartphone or tablet?

You must get even more granular if your client wants to publish your work on social media. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, adults under 30 are significantly more likely to use social media. Still, many older adults have an online presence — they are more likely to congregate in places like Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest, while younger generations prefer platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, Reddit and Instagram.

You could make several resized templates for each platform. Alternatively, use layered vector graphics, strategically incorporating parts of the foreground and background into each iteration for a more dynamic approach.

For example, while you can display additional background elements in a Facebook cover photo, you would only include the immediate area around the focal point in an Instagram post.

Please Your Clients and Improve Your Design Portfolio

You can simultaneously attract countless segments by researching and thinking outside the box. It may take time to adjust, but you should get the hang of this approach in no time if you have been in the industry long enough. If you are strategic, you can please your clients while making your portfolio more impressive.