Excellent Marketing Initiatives by Intuit

Introduction

The growth curve of a company is never a straight line, and that too in an upward direction. Successful, innovative, and out-of-the-box companies will face a lot of instability. Instability for them is not a chance to shut down the business but to show the business world and customers what the company can do again. Here we will learn about one such company and understand its entire growth trajectory. Many useful concepts and their applications will come to light with the discussion of Intuit.

Image − Intuit logo - August 2022

In this article, we will be diving deep into the birth and evolution of Intuit and, along with these, the excellent marketing initiatives by Intuit to better understand Intuit as a brand and its strategies.

The Birth and Growth Trajectory of Intuit

Intuit was founded by Scott Cook, an ex-employee of Procter and Gamble, and Stanford University programmer Tom Prolux. Intuit was founded in the year 1983, and the company launched its first product, Quicken, in the year 1984. The mission of Intuit as a brand is to revolutionize people’s lives by solving their important financial and business-related problems in the easiest and most effective manner possible.

Intuit, as a company, understood that for the general public or companies, more than analysis regarding finance and tax-related work, simplicity and ease are lucrative. All of Intuit’s products focus on providing its customers with the best service and the easiest way to get work done.

Intuit has launched many applications and programs throughout its journey to serve its customers, and some of them are as following −

• Snaptax

• Quicken

• Fasal

• Quick Books

• Turbo Tax, and others.

The company has faced its fair share of hardship. In the first few years, there were only two situations in which the company failed miserably and was on the verge of bankruptcy. Not all its products were well received by customers. Instead of dwelling upon the failures, the company decided to read its customers, market more, and then design products that would serve the customers, and this spirit is the sole reason for the success of Intuit as a brand.

Marketing Initiatives by Intuit

Some of the excellent marketing initiatives by Intuit are as listed below.

Design Thinking Initiatives by Intuit

When Intuit and its product failed twice in the early years, the company understood that the way to success was by giving customers what they wanted and not what the company thought would be best for them. As a result, Intuit adopted design thinking as its approach. In design thinking, the company observes the customer silently and then sees what excites the customer while using the product, what frustrates them, what can be done better, and how the product lacks from the perspective of the customer. With these wonderful insights, Intuit started developing new products as well as improving the existing ones.

Snaptax's application was developed through design thinking. It was noticed that customers got annoyed about the fact that they could not click a picture of their tax forms through their phones, upload the same, and get done with the task. Snaptax, an application by Intuit, solves this problem. Along with this, Intuit also invited customers to the research lab, where they would give them the new prototype and ask them to use it and share their honest feedback.

Customer Services by Intuit

Intuit understood that customers want ease and would require help while using the application. Intuit developed an excellent system of customer service through which they could assist their users throughout. This led to a lot of positive publicity for the company. Engaging with customers directly and often is the DNA of Intuit's success.

Marketing Initiatives by the Brand

In the early years of the establishment, Intuit focused on communication about the brand and its products through effective print advertising campaigns or favorable reviews in trade journals. Along with this, in the 2000s, Intuit started advertising or marketing products through channels like direct mail, web marketing, print, radio, and television.

Another interesting fact that Intuit noticed about itself is that out of every 10 purchases made by customers, roughly 8 of them come from word-of-mouth publicity. It proves that excellent customer service and understanding have been key factors in the development and enhancement of the brand.

Seasonal Marketing by Intuit

Intuit understood that the demand for its product would be seasonal and not year-round. The demand for Intuit products rises from November through April because that is the time when customers are expected to do all their finances and file their taxes. Whenever the company is advertising, they are focusing on product innovation and research and development.

Global Expansion and Problem Solving

The problem-solving approach of Intuit is the major reason for its success. When Intuit as a brand entered the Indian market, it realized that there was this problem of lack of knowledge. Farmers were exploited because they didn’t know what the current market price of their produce was, and hence Intuit came up with Fasal. Fasal helped the farmers understand the real-time price of the product in order to ensure that they could sell their products at the best price possible.

Acquisition of Interrelated Companies

Intuit acquired Mint.com, an application that helps customers track their expenses as per their budget, and Demand Force, which helped small and medium enterprises in their marketing and communication. These acquisitions helped the company expand its work portfolio and gain more relevant customers for Intuit.

Conclusion

Intuit has more than 40 million customers using its software or applications. The goal of Intuit is to solve the business, taxation, and finance-related problems of individuals and companies with ease and simplicity. The major success factor, or the way through which Intuit is accomplishing its goal and winning customers’ hearts, is through design thinking and understanding its customers (20% of the net revenue of Intuit is spent on customer research and observation). Instead of assuming what the customer wants, Intuit reads to their customer and asks them questions regarding what they want. Intuit today has a global presence, and the company is earning profits. Intuit has developed more than 50 different applications, and some of them have been really successful. Intuit is an amalgamation of technology and customer needs.