The Russian advertising media market is dead — that’s what the creators of the Kit newsletter think. How can independent media grow their audience? One way is to send people interesting emails.
We talked to Sergey Yakubov, the publisher of the Kit newsletter. Previously, it was only received by Meduza readers who donated money to the media, but now it is available to anyone who wants it. At the end of the article, we summarize how this experience can be useful to other media outlets.
What is a Kit newsletter?
Kit appeared in the fall of 2021 and was conceived as a product for Meduza donors. The publication existed in this format until the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. After that, the editors decided to open access to the subscription for everyone.
The main idea is to comprehend what is c level executive list happening in the broken world we live in now. And also to help the average person build a personal survival strategy. The authors of Kit try to raise topics that are poorly or not covered at all in Russian-language media.
How did you launch the mailing list?
On November 5, 2021, we sent readers the first text by Olga Dobrovidova, one of the best Russian-language journalists who writes on scientific and environmental topics.
The article was about carbon footprint .
Before this letter, four months had passed since how to make a customer journey map to drive business growth the idea was conceived. We were recruiting staff, looking for intonations. The topics of the mailing were:
- the climate crisis – few people wrote about it back then;
- covid – it was the height of the pandemic;
- politics is the most current topic;
- the future – options for the development of society and technology.
What kind of emails does Kit send?
It is impossible to write briefly about something complex. Therefore, each Kit letter is 25-30 thousand characters on a complex topic with scientific facts, theses and expertise. This can be an understanding of a phenomenon, person or event – both relevant and something that is timeless.
We come out twice a week – on Tuesday and Friday. Many people do not have the opportunity or strength to read complex, although very interesting texts more often. And even more frequent periodicity could affect the quality of the articles.
So, Ki t is 8-10 letters for thoughtful reading per month.
How does the editors create texts?
Ideas for letters are created by the entire Kit japan business directory team at weekly meetings. Editors and journalists suggest topics. The team discusses how best to present them, which author to assign to work on, which heroes and experts to contact.
We don’t write about individual stories and events, but try to think about long-term, non-obvious, “cross-cutting” trends. Or about something that literally hangs in the air, but no one knows exactly what it is. For example, why microchips are needed, how propaganda works , or why people are taken prisoner in war .