Smart Homeowner Explores The Great Indoors

Circulation Management, Sept 1, 2003

With the tagline of "Home Systems & Technology Explored," Smart Homeowner is the equivalent of Wired for diehard home-improvement buffs, covering in its pages the latest in technology, materials and techniques for the home, including energy-saving appliances and light bulbs, centralized heating systems and flooring.

Since the magazine's launch in September 2001, its goal has been to educate readers on how home systems and products work, so that they can make better-informed design and purchase decisions.

SH is neither a traditional do-it-yourself or shelter title, so conveying its mission to prospective readers via direct mail has been a real challenge, admits publisher Mike Payson.

"There's a group of people who like to do their own projects like hanging drywall and plumbing work, and there's a group who leave the work to architects and builders and focus on the decorating," he explains. "Smart Homeowner will appeal to readers in both groups, but it's primarily targeted at the specify-it yourselfer - people who want to get actively involved in design and product-selection decisions. They want to know enough about the options available so they can figure out, in conjunction with their builder, for instance, what will work best for them. It's akin to the trend in finance where people are making their own stock-selection decisions."

SH's basic white control package continues to be a work in progress. In May, two versions were dropped to 300,000 prospects. Both contained a sales letter and special-offer order card that remained unchanged, as well as a revamped brochure, whose numerous creative tweaks were meant to clarify the editorial mission. The brochure illustrates the point made by the outer envelope's teaser: "Make your home better, safer and more enjoyable. Find out how inside..." It depicts a cozy scene - a stone hearth with flames ablaze in front of an overstuffed leather couch - with a main coverline, "Special Section: Building with Stone," accompanied by "Low Cost, High Tech Appliances" and "Arming Your Home With the Right Alarms." One package, sent to the majority of prospects, included just these elements. The other - sent to 30,000 - added a buckslip, promoting the "Smart Homeowner Pocket Guide to Home System Repair," as a premium on order.

Both packages offered a subscription price of $19.95 for six issues, including one trial issue.

So far, gross response for each version is "down a bit" in comparison to SH's January mailing, according to Payson. "I think it's a seasonal impact," he surmises, "because response has been pretty consistent over the last two years."

In reviewing the data, Payson found that the premium package shows the most promise from prospects on consumer lists rather than on professional or serious do-it-yourself lists. "I think that's because the premium - essentially a guide to home repairs - isn't as useful to the pros and serious DIY people who already know how to fix this stuff," he says.

"Ultimately, we'd like to develop a premium that's more in line with our specify-it-yourself mission. We have a few concepts, but we didn't have time to develop them for this campaign."

According to Payson, SH will likely market two different control packages in the future: the current control with premium for the shelter side of the audience and a voucher or professional courtesy package for the do-it-yourselfer or professional side.

Seen in the Mail items are identified and researched by MarketRelevance.com , an online direct mail and email promotion-tracking resource offered by ParadyszMatera. Senior Editor Marybeth Luczak conducted the interview.