Speaker Spotlight: Insights from Elsa Court
As part of our new Speaker Spotlight series, we present practical insights and subject-specific expertise from journalists, media professionals and experts in various fields: What struggles, dilemmas and conflicts do they encounter? And which tools, tactics or tips can they recommend to others to help them overcome these challenges?
For this latest edition, we spoke to Elsa Court, Audience Development Manager at The Kyiv Independent. In her role, she ensures that the newspaper’s content reaches a global audience while helping to develop community-building initiatives.
Furthermore, Court explains why it can be worthwhile to use different platforms and formats, and what really resonates with readers in an age of news fatigue.
In 2025, the Kyiv Independent gained more than 10,000 new paying members. Which three measures were most effective in driving that growth?
Elsa Court:Key to our success in 2025 was running two membership campaigns with specific, publicly stated goals. For both campaigns, we directly communicated with our audience using creative messaging and a live public counter on the website, as well as a counter in the office to keep the team aligned on the push (it also was the first time we made membership a central goal for the whole company). Second, we experimented with geo-targeting readers in our 10 largest markets for membership. We customized the banners for each country – for example, different banners for Swedish vs Danish readers. Third, we tested a new marketing email format: personal, first-person, and narrative-driven, featuring personal stories of our team, and confirmed our theory that our audience responds more to authenticity and personality than to institutional or brand-driven communications.
What role do community-building innovations and social media play in reaching broader and potentially younger audiences?
We're active across nearly a dozen social media platforms, from established networks like Facebook, Instagram, and X to newer platforms like TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky. You can reach a completely different demographic on Reddit than on LinkedIn, but both are important for understanding your audience and how to engage with it. So, we try to be active on as many platforms as possible. We also experiment with different formats, such as vertical video, since this is how younger audiences consume content. Our readers are at the core of what we do, so beyond social media, we are also building our own community online. One of our biggest innovations is our members-only Discord server, now with over 3,300 members, which serves as a hub for community participation — from sharing notes from Ukrainian language lessons to asking questions directly to our journalists.
Which signals best indicate whether editorial content truly resonates with your audience?
Since our business model relies on reader revenue, pageviews alone don't tell the full story. We've found that big spikes in pageviews driven by platforms like Google Discover, for example, do not necessarily translate into conversions. Engagement metrics, such as reading time or page depth, show a more accurate picture of whether our content resonates and correlates more closely with conversions to membership. We also have a members-only comments section under our articles, which provides qualitative data on which topics are genuinely sparking debate among our most engaged audience.
Was there a moment when you realized audience support – not just readership – would be crucial for the Kyiv Independent's survival?
Audience support has been essential from day one, but over the last year, it's become clear how crucial a steady, recurring revenue stream is amid fluctuations in attention to Ukraine. Media across the world are dealing with growing news fatigue among their audience — we're dealing with not just news fatigue, but war fatigue too. Moreover, the support from our audience isn't just something we care about financially. Hearing from our members, answering their questions, seeing how many people across the world care about stories from Ukraine — this is also a source of strength for our whole team.
At the DW Global Media Forum, Elsa Court will join the panel entitled “Beyond the paywall: Innovative newsroom business models from around the globe” that spotlights innovative newsroom leaders from across various regions and types of outlets. In fast-paced pitches, they will showcase their creative solutions designed to meet readers' expectations and remain profitable.
Join us at the #GMF26 and get your ticket now.
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