Targeted marketing works because it pushes you to understand the people you're trying to reach and find ways to connect with them. Here are some ideas to try out:

Solve their problems. The easiest way to get landowners to pay attention to your materials is to lead with their questions and concerns. Once you have their attention, you can give them new information and ideas.

Avoid jargon. Don't use technical terms that might be familiar to you but not to your audience. Instead, use language that landowners use themselves. Click here for examples of terms to use or avoid.

Connect through shared values. Highlight the values you share with your audience and let them know you understand their perspective on the issue (even if it is different from yours). This makes your message more believable and relevant to your audience.

Lead strongly. Communicators often list all the reasons to take a particular action, hoping that people will focus on the ones that make most sense to them. That's asking people to do too much work—if they don't see a good reason up front, they won't pay attention to your message. Lead strongly with one or two points that are likely to resonate with most, or many, members of your audience.

Get real. Make sure people have the resources to do what you're asking them to do. And if your "ask" doesn't fit with their world view at all, back up a little—perhaps you can ask them to do something else that fits with their resources, is less intimidating, and/or more acceptable.

Recognize differences. Landowners love their land for different reasons and express it in different ways. Don't ally yourself with the timber or any other industry, or with any group of service providers. State agencies should also avoid taking an environmentalist perspective; landowners will respond best if they see you as an unbiased resource that is not wedded to any ideology or industry.