News has always been integral to our daily lives. In the age of Twitter, breaking news reaches a mass audience the instant it occurs. But with the barrage of information coming at you, some individuals can miss crucial pieces or have a difficult time sifting through the noise. A new website newsletter is aiming to fix that, and it is called theSkimm.
Launching this week, theSkimm calls itself an online newsletter that simplifies the headlines for the professional who knows enough to know she needs more. They read, you skim, as their tagline goes. The concept is very simple and is all about execution, and after making it part of my routine, I can attest that theSkimm is the real deal. It is one of very few email newsletters I open up every single day. And I, a male in my 20’s, am not even their target market.
Speaking of their target market, it is very clear from their logo and daily email that they are targeting young professional women, generally ages 18+. While this may be their intention, both males and females feel that theSkimm is an enjoyable read and relevant to their daily lives.
Their experiment has been paying off. From information derived from their beta version, pre-launch, they were seeing impressively high engagement and open rate, with over 80% of email recipients opening up the email on a daily basis. As a side-note and basis for comparison, Facebook took the approach of targeting a limited demographic (college students) before expanding to the broader population. I think theSkimm needs to follow this Facebook model.
For me, there’s nothing worse than feeling caught uninformed in a professional or social setting. This is where they come in. theSkimm covers the most critical news and digests it in a form comprehensible to the average reader. They have very few to no links in the newsletter; everything you need to know is right there. They cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from politics, sports, entertainment, and finance.
I recently caught up with the founders, Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg, both of whom recently left their gigs at NBC News, to ask them a few questions:
Why did you build The Skimm?
theSkimm founders: We are two women who have always been obsessed with the news, even before our careers in the business. Given our backgrounds, we have always been the go-to source for friends seeking the scoop on current events or breaking news. We began to realize that behind our friends' questioning was a bigger problem that needed solving. We recognized three things: Reading the news is time consuming; wanting to read the news is a hobby; lastly, not everyone has the time or interest. But everyone has had the experience of being in a meeting or at a cocktail party when you haven’t had time to read the paper that day and a topic comes up you know nothing about. That doesn’t inspire confidence. We want to make sure that women can not only participate in, but start up the conversation on whatever the topic is – whether financial, political, international, tech or sports news.
Coming from the news world, we saw corporations trying to reach a younger news audience by constantly repackaging news and inundating users, whether by Twitter or Youtube, etc. It's noisy. We saw an opportunity to make news approachable.
Who is this targeting?
tSF: theSkimm is written with the woman in her 20s or early 30s in mind--she's well-educated and career-minded but knows enough to know she needs more. We looked at the stats--millennial women have more degrees than men, are out-earning their male counterparts, and are finding themselves in more leadership roles than ever. Yet women almost always score lower than men on basic current events quizzes, regardless of their education, age, or work status. On top of that, no one has figured out exactly how to target or advertise to them.
The most surprising thing about theSkimm is that many of our readers are men and stay-at-home moms. Our content is definitely gender neutral- everyone needs the news, whether or not they have time to read it. Each segment of our user base needs theSkimm for different reasons but the common thread is that we are unequivocally making them more informed on a daily basis.
Where do you want to go with the business?
tSF: The newsletter is just the beginning. We see ourselves as a service with endless reach. Our voice and style are distinct but the thinking behind theSkimm is simple: We read, you Skimm. We are an information concierge. We see ourselves utilizing innovative distribution opportunities, servicing new areas of content needs, and expanding in ways not previously imagined in the news world.
What makes you different from other newsletters?
tSF: There are more news sites, newsletters, and RSS feeds than you can count. That’s the crux of the problem. It gets to be overwhelming. theSkimm is your filter. We give you what you need to know, on-the-go, to get through any social or professional setting. We don’t aggregate material or overwhelm you with hundreds of links. We provide daily fresh editorial content and break down material in a way that is palatable, helpful, and actually enjoyable to read. Our "Repeat After Me" section has really taken off, we think, because we fill the gap for people who are asking "just tell me what I need to know."
How are you different than a lot of the female oriented sites out there?
tSF: One of the first people to whom we showed the sight (a man, ironically) said, “Don't take this the wrong way, but you write like men.” While we weren’t offended, we knew what he was trying say. Our logo may look it but our site is not 'pink.' Our tone is meant to have an edge that is definitely gender neutral. Personally, as readers, we are turned off to sites that target women with an overtly feminine tone and content. This isn't about women needing different news than men. This is about empowering women with the tools to start the conversation.
Why are you the best team to create something like theSkimm?
tSF: We are trained journalists, and moreover, storytellers. We have both worked in nearly every facet of NBC News and are able to tell the most complex story in a 30 second spot or a 2-hour documentary. We have the editorial eye to decipher what will become a main story and what the important takeaways are, across subject lines. Our advantage is that we know our demo because we are our demo. This helps us report on mostly hard news in a way that is fun, informative, engaging, and actually entertaining. Most importantly, we have the passion and energy to do this. We’re in it to change how women get news.
