WSJ is building younger audience with Future of Everything

Wajma Mohseni, associate director of marketing and brand strategy at The Wall Street Journal, writes about how the paper is building a younger audience with its Future of Everything brand.

Mohseni writes, “When I started at WSJ in 2015, The Future of Everything was a magazine supplement in the newspaper, and it was distributed to more than a million WSJ subscribers. It was bold, bright, and quirky. The stories provided a unique look at the currents redefining business, technology, medicine, science, and culture. Content was housed digitally on WSJ.com and proved popular among members.

“While we suspected a similar appetite among non-traditional WSJ audiences, it wasn’t until we launched our paid digital campaign in 2017 that our hypothesis was validated. Our campaign broke social records for WSJ, bringing in the most subscription orders of any content series — up 300% from previous issue.

“But what distinguished it from other campaigns was its ability to reach a primarily young audience of men and women under 34 years old. Traffic continued to grow, up 316% from previous issue, with subsequent data showing that engaged members who read The Future of Everything are far less likely to churn.

“As the magazine thrived, the brand expanded. The Future of Everything now boasts a dedicated digital platform with a newly refreshed Web site, a podcast, newsletter, print section, satellite events, and the festival. We developed a formula for marketing the content, but the festival gave us a chance to really extend our creative chops.”

Read more here.