When it comes to targeting specific audiences in your marketing efforts, it’s imperative that you do all you can to send out the right message. As marketing communications professionals, we cannot control how our audiences respond to our messages. We can only control what it is that we put out there, so we need to be careful how we do our craft.

The gay and Hispanic markets can be particularly tricky audiences to target. Gay audiences, for example, are very diverse in terms of their race, age, income and other key demographics. Similarly, Hispanic audiences present the challenge of assimilation and how tied to Hispanic or American culture they may be. On top of these imbedded obstacles, we also have to manage what are often controversial or complicated issues surrounding each group. For example, marriage equality for gays and immigration issues for Hispanics. The good news is, there are some easy-to-follow do’s and don’ts you can follow to effectively target gays and Hispanics in a socially-sensitive way that leaves little or no room for controversy.

DON’Tuse negative stereotypes. This may seem like a no-brainer, but many industry professionals who are unfamiliar with gay or Hispanic culture may be offensive without knowing it. The best way to know appropriate depictions or uses of images of gays and Hispanics is to look at media produced within those communities. Since they are produced specifically for gay and Hispanic audiences, typically within those communities themselves, they have a good pulse on how to portray the audiences.

DO use gays and Hispanics you may know as sounding boards for ideas. In a perfect world, you should have members within your company or marketing agency who are a part of these communities. As gays or Hispanics, their input naturally comes from the perspective of a gay or Hispanic person, so they offer an invaluable, authentic perspective on what works and what doesn’t.

DON’T try too hard to connect with gays and Hispanics. Many times, attempts at connecting to a minority audience can come off as disingenuous or artificial. I remember packaging for Starbucks coffee one year. It had a bi-racial family, complete with one black child and one white child. I’m not sure what it was, but something about it felt too forced. Maybe if the children would have had skin tones that reflected the reality of many bi-racial children, it would have been better. The point is, trying too hard can backfire.

DO work to understand the gay and Hispanic communities and use symbols from their cultures in your marketing. A rainbow flag bumper sticker in a car ad is a simple way to instantaneously connect with a gay audience member in an unobtrusive, inoffensive way. Showing a Hispanic family crowded around a table full of fresh tamales at Christmas conjures up a connection to a holiday and traditional food that is near and dear to many Hispanics and capitalizes on family and religious values.

DON’T plan marketing and communication around time-sensitive issues or causes surrounding each group. Supporting Hispanic or gay causes can be short-lived and have a low return on investments. While aligning yourself with theses minority groups’ causes may have some short-term benefits, Hispanics and gays want to support businesses that support them regardless of the issue of the day. If you’re not willing to support the groups beyond the issue at hand, you may come across as opportunistic.

DO understand the cultural values for gays and Hispanics and use them as marketing platforms. For instance, verbiage like “equality” resonates to a gay audience regardless of the state propositions on a ballot or state Supreme Court proceedings. “Familia” and “raza” are reflective words for family that are indicative of values held by Hispanics regardless of the time of year or issues at hand.

As you look at implementing these ideas into your own marketing communications strategies, there is an important point that overarches all of the dos and don’ts – you need to know your gay and Hispanic audiences. Without truly understanding these communities and what matters to them, you limit your ability to effectively craft messages that speak to them on a level of deep engagement. As with any other audience, you need to be able to clearly articulate how your brand fits with what matters to gays and Hispanics. If you can do this, then you can run a very successful campaign and reap the benefits of work well done.