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A guide to segmenting in a data world

Segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) is a core concept in strategic marketing. At its most basic level, it is the process of understanding your audience, reaching out to your audience, and communicating your product or service in a way that meets their needs. And while its application is possible across most marketing activities, it is the world of digital marketing where it can get exciting.

In our constantly connected, data-driven world, the ability to segment and target audiences is more important than ever. By understanding your audience and their needs, you can create content and messaging that resonates – and ultimately drives results. So how do you go about segmenting your audience effectively? This guide will show you how to get started.

 

Getting started with segmentation

Before we get onto segmentation and targeting, we should get to know our target accounts. To do this, marketers use Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) and buyer personas: 

Ideal customer profiles - defining your ICP helps your target advertising and marketing efforts. An ICP is a description of the perfect customer for your business. Knowing your ICP allows you to focus your marketing efforts on attracting customers who are most likely interested in what you have to offer.

Buyer persona - a representation of your ideal customer, a composite sketch of your target market, based on data and research. Understanding your buyers helps target and engage your audience, leading to conversions and more revenue. A buyer persona might include answers to questions such as:

  • What do they do?
  • What is their background?
  • What are their pain points?
  • What are their interests?
  • What are their demographics?
  • What are their short and long-term goals?

In summary, ICPs are the companies you should be segmenting, and buyer personas are the individuals within those companies for targeting.

 

A guide to segmentation

Market segmentation involves dividing a total addressable market (TAM) into groups based on definable criteria such as needs, wants, interests, company type, and sector. In the B2B world, segmentation should enable group companies that fit your ICP criteria.

Segmentation is important because it allows businesses to target specific groups of consumers with laser precision. Identifying and targeting key consumer segments enables effective resource allocation and personalized marketing efforts to maximize results. Additionally, segmentation can help businesses better understand their customers’ needs and develop more targeted products and services that meet those needs. Ultimately, segmentation can lead to increased sales and higher levels of customer satisfaction.

If you’re looking to get started with segmentation, here are some tips.

 

Segmentation by firmographics

Firmographics is a way to segment your customers based on shared attributes and is like using demographics in B2C marketing. With firmographics, you can group companies by size, location, or technologies - finding target accounts based on your ICP. The theory is sales and marketing efforts are likely best spent on companies with similar characteristics to your success stories.

 

Segmentation by needs

Segmenting your market by needs focuses on buyer motivations. The process involves finding target accounts with shared pain points and is therefore inherently more subjective than segmenting by firmographics. The theory behind segmenting by needs is it's easier to target organizations with similar pain points. There are a few different ways to go about this, but the most common is to use market data sourced from a reputable data provider. This can come from surveys, company analysis, or buyer intent data. Once you have this data, you can look for patterns and trends. From there, you can begin to create your segments.

 

Segmentation by behaviors

Segmenting by behaviors involves looking at how consumers act and then grouping them based on those shared behaviors. For example, someone who frequently buys new software may be grouped with others that do the same. By understanding these behavior patterns, marketers can better target their advertising and messaging to reach the right consumers. Behavioral segmentation works as it allows marketers to understand how consumers behave and make decisions. This type of information can be valuable for crafting effective marketing campaigns.

 

Segmentation augmentation

Once you have clearly defined your market segment, it is time for targeting. Segmentation augmentation is a process that can add value by analyzing your market segment, understanding its critical make-up, and finding similar target accounts to add to it. At Qualifi we use proprietary technology to help customers expand their reach using exactly this approach. 

 

Final thoughts on segmentation

If you want to create successful digital marketing campaigns, it’s essential to understand and apply the principles of STP. And while there are many ways to do this, start by looking at your audience. Who are they? What needs do they have that your product/ service can meet? 

Once you know your target market, you can begin creating content and messaging that resonates with them. Data is vital in segmentation because it allows businesses to identify their target market, craft relevant marketing messages, and know when to send them. This helps save time and money by not wasting resources on marketing to audiences unlikely to convert. 

 

How we can help

If you are looking to improve your segmentation and reach highly-targeted audiences, get in touch. We provide access to granular audiences built from the unique first-party data we have captured throufh decades of connection buyers and sellers online.