Keeping up with the news today is time consuming, and frankly nerve racking. Have you had a conversation around the water cooler and pretended you knew what was being said, or sat befuddled by trending topics on Facebook or Twitter. With so many news outlets out there on mainstream media and social media it’s hard to keep up. TheSkimm, a daily email newsletter, helps you keep in the know. The tagline says it all:
“We do the reading for you - across subject lines and party lines - and break it down with fresh editorial content.”
The
co-founders of theSkimm, Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg know exactly how to
market their newsletter because they are their target audience. The twenty
something women market to fellow twenty something go getters; specifically
women (take a look at their logo). They would be the first to argue their
readership base is more than their target market. They send newsletters to you after you sign up
(it’s free!). They want you to share their brand via Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest, Instagram, and they blog using their Tumblr page. Beyond selling the
brand as a news outlet, they understand you. They want you to be in on "theSkimm
life" community.
The
bite-size stories theSkimm team churn out are perfect companions for posts to
Twitter and Facebook. The stories themselves market the site, but the site uses
clever hashtags to get readers involved. Readers post #ShowSomeSkimm, #SkimmSpotted,
or #SkimmLife to get their fellow skimm’r to notice stories and engage new
readers.
I take my coffee with @theskimm, and you should too: http://t.co/1EKy0vxj6b #ShowSomeSkimm #SkimmLife pic.twitter.com/AXKKJsdzro
— Gigi O'Connell (@gigioconnell) October 1, 2014
The founders clearly want you to subscribe to their newsletter, but
want you to know theSkimm is not another annoying email chain and the word is catching on.
Ready to take on Friday with @theskimm by my side. #SkimmLife pic.twitter.com/Wz8j4IaVV1
— Alex Jones (@FBetchesGetAlex) September 26, 2014
On their
blog, Zakin and Weisberg share news found in their daily newsletters. They also
discuss their lives and give advice as entrepreneurs. Their most recent post
discusses the conflict between Israel and Hamas. However, it doesn’t tell you
about the conflict. It tells you how their readers found problems with the skimm
they posted. Taking on negative emails isn’t unheard of in the media, but
willingly posting the negative email is another story. By writing about it in their
blog, the writers let you know they hear you. Zakin and Weisberg post at the
end of their blog post:“We do our best. You have a lot of opinions. And we hear them.”
Another
post spoke about the company turning the “terrible twos”. The writers share highlights from their second
year in the business including what they learned, hiring their first employees,
and a tweet from notable millennial Lena Dunham, star and creator of HBO’s Girls. A show also about twenty
something girls paving their way in life (hmm,
I am sensing a theme).
By sharing
trials and tribulations with you, the former NBC producers now seem like your
two best friends—they’re relatable. Not all of us have our own start-up,
but we can relate to chasing the dream and working hard to get there. They make
you want to subscribe to their dream and learn a little something about the
world along the way--at least enough to keep you talking at the water cooler.
Nice post! Through The Skimm we can get what we need to know, without slogging through thousands of words. Voice and legibility set The Skimm apart from others.
ReplyDeleteI heard about The Skimm this week as well and was so tempted to sign up. I think I might now! It would be interesting to compare the information that you get from The Skimm to say a nightly news program just to see how effective the content they provide is.
ReplyDeleteI heard about this through my parents a few weeks ago, actually! This is so cool as a twenty-something female, myself, I am in love with what I see of their branding, marketing, and the people behind the product!
ReplyDeleteThe kind of written communication we are learning in the class is so applicable to today's business world and political culture(s). Everyone is constantly exposed to so much media (especially online) and people like to get their information in short, concise, easy-to-take-in segments. This service provides exactly this!
Not only that, but they encourage being a part of a community and expanding your world view without being overwhelmed, which is so perfect! They took what they were observing and applied it to their product AND how they continuously grow their product.
It's great to see this service (which, for me, has the appeal of satirical news i.e. John Stewart, John Oliver, or Stephen Colbert and the credibility of NPR) have such master of the groundswell!
I find this very interesting as well as helpful, I might even subscribe to skimm. I often find myself to busy with daily life to even worry about the news let alone look it up. Anything I do know of the news is because someone has told me or I am eves dropping on a conversation. I also find the branding of their idea very unique to the 20 something age female crowd. Skim the news is what we usually do because we often to busy jump starting our careers while figuring out who we are, and skim is usually what we put in our coffee worried about our diet and looking young. Because after all its once you hit your mid 20s that you realize aging is a reality.
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