Tips for implementing B2B market segmentation

Nowadays, customers need to feel unique. 

Therefore, personalization has been a trend in marketing and sales for the last few years. 

Segmentation is a step beyond personalization. 

Thanks to it you can group customers based on similar characteristics and target your campaigns saving time and money, that is, being more effective and efficient in achieving your goals. 

In addition, this marketing technique brings benefits for your customers, who receive from you what they need at the right time; and for your business because your resources will be better allocated, your conversion rate will increase, and you will differentiate yourself from your competition. 

If you’re a bit lost on this topic, you’re in luck. 

Read on and discover the best tips to implement segmentation in your B2B business. 

Before implementing any type of segmentation, you must make a crucial decision in your business: 

Do you want segmentation to be a simple tool for your B2B business or do you prefer it to become the executive mindset of your company?

Maybe right now you’ve got a blank stare on your face and you’re thinking, “I don’t know how to make this decision on my own. 

If so, here’s some advice: it’s better to go with the second option. 

Think it through. 

Working with segmentation in the B2B market is a total change of business mindset because we are talking about changing the “know-how” of your business. 

Why? 

Because thousands of businesses have spent years interacting with each other and looking for ways to collaborate without making sense, without knowing if some profiles fit with others; in other words, without segmenting properly. 

This has led almost all of them to waste time in meetings that went nowhere and, even, to reach agreements that have failed. 

Once you are clear about what we have just told you, it is time to segment to make your business profitable. 

How to do it? 

Here are the tips we promised you at the beginning of this post.

Tips for implementing profitable segmentation for your B2B business

#1 Investing in the process

Yes, we’re sorry, but that’s the way it is. 

You may have established the profile of your ideal customer based on questionnaires and collecting the answers of each of them to define an idea of what that customer is like. 

But, as we said at the beginning of the post, segmentation is a step further. 

Think that you must go as deep as possible into these profiles, group them based on their similarities to be able to trace the Customer Journey and draw the most accurate marketing strategies. 

That takes a lot of time, time that you will not be able to dedicate to it because you have to take care of your business. 

Therefore, you will have no choice but to invest and delegate if you want segmentation to be a success.

#2 Review your value proposition

You have clear profiles, similarities, you have defined how they go through the sales process, and you have marked the segmentation group. 

That’s great. 

Now it’s time to adjust your value proposition to the segmentation group you are targeting. 

You must make it clear: what you do, for whom, how you differ and how you solve the problems or meet the needs of the defined segment.

#3 Communicate to your employees the importance of maintaining segmentation at all levels.

In this case, the important thing is that the segmentation process does not remain only in the Marketing department, but that all the staff assumes the need for this process to be done well so that the information and messages that are transmitted to potential customers are consistent.

#4 Align the Sales and Marketing Departments

Both departments must work hand in hand so that the definition of segmentation groups is efficient. 

The Marketing team will help to know and capture potential customers and the Sales team will have to correctly inform each segment.

#5 Focus work on priority segments

You must focus on priority segments and not so much, for example, on geographic criteria.

At the same time, your internal meetings should be directed towards specific segments and not towards products, markets, or sales, which is the norm.

#6 Work in active prospecting by segments

Working in this way will specialize your employees and your business, so the organization, skills, techniques, and conversations around your B2B will change radically. 

In addition, B2B market segmentation will force you to constantly recycle yourself to adapt to the evolution brought by new customers.

#7 From there, it is time to communicate in a segmented way.

With all this work done, you can start creating ads, posts, emails, and all kinds of content based on each segmentation group. 

It’s time to gain their trust, understand them, and meet their needs.

#8 Evaluate, at least annually, the results

Finally, you must evaluate if the priorities of your business are still the same, if the needs and characteristics of your segments are also the same, if the results have improved or not, etc. 

If there are changes, you will have to recalculate and balance everything again. 

We hope these tips for implementing segmentation in the B2B market have given you enough guidance. 

We know. 

We know it’s quite a complex job and cannot be done lightly if you want to achieve real goals. 

That’s why we advised you before to delegate this task to professionals specialized in market research and segmentation. 

If you want to start with this task and you don’t know how to do it, write to us and we will start looking for your segmented groups!