A campaign to partner universities and sign up students is paying dividends for the Wall Street Journal.
Education sales vice president Jodi Harrison says in an INMA blog that the programme is bigger than ever. “Building relationships with students and those early on in their careers will help to create lifetime connections for our business,” she says. “By providing students with trusted news and information from the Wall Street Journal, we are fostering a future of informed and passionate leaders – whatever their major.”
The programme was launched in 2017 following a shift to “view everything through the eyes of the customer” in a bid to accelerate digital subscriber growth.
A new membership model then saw the creation of unique and distinctive experiences, from development of a dynamic paywall to the launch of loyalty and event programmes.
The student membership programme is designed to provide partnering universities, their students, and faculty with access to the Wall Street Journal, “meeting students where they are” so that they are more likely to become subscribers upon graduation.
“Our goal is to showcase how students can leverage the content and services WSJ provides to prepare for and grow in their careers,” says Harrison. “We know from our research that students who regularly engage with WSJ and its suite of products are more likely to convert to individual subscribers after graduating.”
The programme provides universities with a suite of digital products, benefit programmes, classroom tools, and on-campus experiences, intended to make it an integral learning resource. “We work with universities to offer a customised engagement plan, providing all the tools needed to get the most out of the partnership,” she says.
Students can personalise preferences on the WSJ app, receive content suggestions, and explore multimedia offerings to consume news in a way that suits their interests.
In September 2020, the Journal launched the WSJ Jobs Summit, a complimentary, full-day event targeting job seekers in varying stages of their careers, and offering practical and service-oriented guidance. Two more Jobs Summit events followed in 2021, with more than 3500 students and recent graduates taking part. Another is planned for April 12 as the job market returns.
Student Editor Summits are a way of inspiring the next generation of editors and journalists, with students studying journalism able to learn about the different aspects of journalism and possible career paths. Another no cost event, it is also available to students from across the country in an expanded digital format.
Students hear from WSJ journalists in a student-only setting, and can ask questions via a live Q&A session and join in peer-to-peer networking.
This year, plans are to engage with more community colleges, where 34 per cent of US undergraduates are enrolled. “Accessibility to this market is very important to us,” says Jodi Harrison. “At Dow Jones, we believe our content is most valuable in the hands of our audiences.
“To help the world’s decision-makers, we need to be accessible wherever they are.”