Intuit, TurboTax
May-Aug 2023
Background
TurboTax (Intuit) has been the undisputed leader when one thinks of tax filing software, with its origins dating back to the 1980s. Though it had an absolute dominance in the market, it was time to begin thinking long term for a few factors
The tools primary audience was largely millennials and above, it was not driving adoption with Gen Z and new filers
New tax filing tools were entering the market (e.g. SimpleTax) which were appealing to the younger demographic
With a target audience so massive and diverse (essentially 90% of the country's population), there was a need to personalize the filing experience beyond a generic one
My role was to oversee the revamping of the customer journey to reactivate and retarget the existing customer base, specifically using a dual-channel strategy of email & in-app notifications.
The new strategy would ensure that the customer journey is personalized end-to-end, all the way until they submit their tax filing, and even beyond.
My Solution
Segmentation: Classified our diverse customer base into 9 segments, which would then allow us to personalize each impression they receive
Customer Journey Mapping: Mapped a 13-touchpoint duo-channel customer journey, meticulously planning each impression a customer receives and why they receive it
Asset Creation: Coordinated 3 teams and 3 agencies to deliver 52 assets
Measure Results: Examine uplift in filing rates, as well as success in attracting Gen Z filers
Customer Journey & Segments
Creating a complex customer journey for 90% of the Canadian population was causing my brain to malfunction right at the brainstorming table. So, my first instinct was to visualize; I mapped out the entire customer journey with all its relevant touchpoints across both channels (email & in-app notifications).
This allowed me to get further granular, drafting what needs to be communicated at each touchpoint and how each messaging can be personalized according to who receives it. This invites the question—how do we classify "who receives it"?
For this, I utilized Twilio's Segment to perform segmentation of the existing customer base. Some of the attributes, among many others, that I examined were:
Age
Gen Z, Millenntial, etc
Last Login
1 year, 2 years, etc.
Location
City
Product Used
DIY, Assist, Full . . .
Each of these attributes could be utilized to customize a certain aspect of each communication with dynamic variables (i.e. visual imagery in an email, tone & language used, call-to-action, notification title, and more).
Segments created
9
Customer Journey Mapping
Segmentation
Project Management & Asset Creation
The next step was to design the creative elements and visualize how each dynamic variable would fit. Here, I was responsible for coordinating between 3 agencies and 3 teams to bring this to fruition
Superside
Publicis
Movable Ink
UI/UX Team
Data Team
Brand Team
The result was a combined drafting of 52 emails & in-app notifications for all 13 touchpoints (4 samples for each touchpoint which we eventually eliminated and decided on 1 for each touchpoint).
Each touchpoint communication had an average of 3 dynamic variables, meaning that throughout the complete customer journey, a customer would have 39 impressions personalized to them based on their segment.
Assets delivered on time
100%
Touchpoints
13
UI mockups
52
Project Management
UI Design
Branding
Personalization
Email Marketing
Reactivation
The process was extremely tedious considering that I was acting as a project manager for the complete creative process while confronted with the most complex customer journey I had come across; not only was I supposed to drive them all the way from login to file submission, but I also had to account for the curveballs like abandoned filers and choosing the right personalization that would nudge them to go to the next step.
Outcomes
The revamp was ultimately an undisputed success; the click-through-rates increased by 18% and filings witnessed a boost by 12%.
Not only did we maintain a an average retention rate of 81%, but Gen Z filers witnessed the highest retention rate of 87%, achieving our initial objective of driving a new focus towards new filers.
All this while, 100% of assets were delivered on time, and the tax season was a success for the Lifecycle Team.
Retention rate
81%
Gen Z retention
87%
Boost in filings
12%
CTR uplift
18%
Learnings
When faced with a large customer base, personalization and warmth can become a huge challenge for marketing teams
In such scenarios, the power of data and automation must be HAS to be leveraged to maintain the quality of relationships with customers
