B2B companies lose valuable deals every day because they treat all business clients the same. A...
In B2B marketing, finding and connecting with the right business clients can be tough. Many companies send the same message to every client, but this doesn’t always work. Different businesses have different needs, goals, and buying behaviors.
A customer segmentation matrix helps solve this problem. It is a simple tool that groups your business clients into clear segments based on how they act or who they are. This helps you create marketing and sales strategies that fit each segment, making your communication more effective and personal.
For instance, you might group your clients by company size, industry, or how often they purchase from you. A small startup will need different messages than a large corporation. Using the matrix helps B2B companies improve how they target clients, close more deals, and build stronger relationships. In this article, you’ll learn how to apply a customer segmentation matrix in B2B marketing to drive better results.
Thinking about using RFM customer segmentation? Our article "RFM Customer Segmentation: Importance and How to Use It" can help.
What is the Customer Segmentation Matrix in B2B?
A customer segmentation matrix is a tool that helps B2B companies divide their business clients into groups based on shared traits or behaviors. This makes it easier to understand and meet their specific needs.
In B2B, you segment entire businesses, industries, or decision-making groups. These segments are built by looking at things like:
Firmographics: Company size, industry, location, and annual revenue
Behavioral data: How often they buy from you, how long their buying cycle is, and their level of engagement
Needs and challenges: What problems are they trying to solve with your product or service
Relationship stage: Whether they are new leads, current clients, or long-term partners
For example, a SaaS company might create segments for small tech startups with basic needs versus large enterprises needing custom solutions. By using a customer segmentation matrix, B2B businesses can focus on the right accounts and offer better, more personalized services and marketing.
Key Components of a Customer Segmentation Matrix
In B2B marketing, a customer segmentation matrix helps group businesses based on shared traits. This makes it easier to target the right companies with the right message. The key components of a B2B segmentation matrix include:
Firmographic Segmentation: This groups businesses by basic company information, such as industry, company size, location, or annual revenue. For example, you might create one segment for small tech startups and another for large manufacturing companies. Each group will have different buying needs and budgets.
Geographic Segmentation: This focuses on where the business is located, such as region, country, or city. Some companies may target businesses in specific markets, like North America or Europe, because business rules, cultures, or supply chain needs may change depending on location.
Behavioral Segmentation: This groups businesses by how they interact with your company. It includes things like how often they buy, how large their orders are, or how engaged they are with your content or sales team. For example, a business that attends your webinars or downloads your case studies may often be ready to buy soon, while a less engaged company might need more nurturing.
Needs-Based Segmentation: In B2B, companies often segment clients based on their business goals or challenges. For example, one group of clients might be looking for cost-saving solutions, while another might focus on finding premium, customized services. Understanding their needs helps you offer the right products or services to solve their specific problems.
Steps to Develop an Effective Customer Segmentation Matrix
1. Collect and Analyze Customer Data
To start, collect data on your business clients from different sources. This helps you understand who your clients are and how they behave. In B2B, useful data sources include:
CRM data: Past sales, client interactions, and account history are stored in your customer relationship management system.
Sales and contract records: Details like how much they buy, how often they buy, and the size of their contracts.
Website and email activity: Which pages do businesses visit, how long they stay, and whether they engage with your email campaigns?
Client feedback: Information from surveys or interviews that show what your clients need or expect.
Industry or firmographic data: Insights like company size, location, or market segment.
Once you have enough data, use simple analysis tools to find patterns. For example, you can group companies based on how often they buy or how big their orders are. You can also spot trends, like which businesses are more engaged with your marketing or sales team. This helps you create segments based on facts, not guesses.
2. Identify Key Segmentation Criteria
Next, decide which client characteristics are most useful for your B2B goals. For example:
If you want to improve upselling, focus on how often a client buys or how much they spend.
If you want to expand into new regions, focus on where clients are located or what industries they are in.
Review your client data and look for patterns in how businesses buy or interact with you. This helps you pick the right factors (like company size, industry type, or buying cycle) to build strong segments.
Always choose criteria that lead to clear actions. If a segment won’t help improve sales or marketing efforts, it may not be useful. Keep reviewing these criteria to stay aligned with changing customer behavior.
3. Create Customer Profiles and Segments
Now, use the data to group your clients into clear segments. Each segment should include businesses with similar needs or behaviors.
For example, you might create segments like:
Enterprise clients: Large companies that need custom solutions and long-term contracts.
Mid-sized businesses: Companies that need scalable services but may have tighter budgets.
Small businesses or startups: Businesses with basic needs and shorter buying cycles.
After creating segments, build simple profiles for each group. A profile includes key details like company size, buying behavior, challenges, and business goals. These profiles help your marketing and sales teams deliver the right message, product, or service to each group.
4. Implement Segmentation Strategies
Put your segmentation into action by adjusting your marketing and sales strategies. For example:
Sales teams can focus more time on high-value accounts and create custom proposals for them.
Marketing teams can send targeted emails or run ads that speak to each segment’s specific needs.
Customer success teams can personalize onboarding and support based on each client’s segment.
For instance, enterprise clients might get dedicated account managers, while smaller businesses might prefer self-service options or shorter sales processes.
5. Monitor and Optimize Segments
Segmentation is not a one-time task. Regularly check your segments to see if they still match real customer behavior.
Review KPIs like conversion rates, deal size, or customer lifetime value.
Gather client feedback to see if your segments make sense from their point of view.
Track changes, like if a client grows into a new segment or changes how they buy.
Keep testing your strategies. For example, try different emails or offers for each segment and see which ones perform better. Based on these results, keep improving your matrix and client profiles.
Implement the Customer Segmentation Matrix Across B2B Industries
1. Financial Services: Segment Business Clients and Manage Risks
In B2B financial services, banks and lenders use a customer segmentation matrix to group business clients by financial behavior, company size, or risk level. This helps them offer services that fit each client’s needs.
For example, large corporations with high cash flow may be offered premium banking packages, while small businesses might get basic credit lines or financing solutions. Segmentation also helps in risk management. If a business shows unusual financial activity, like late payments or sudden changes in spending, it can be flagged for further review.
By segmenting companies based on factors like credit history and transaction volume, financial institutions can offer tailored services, improve client satisfaction, and reduce financial risk.
2. B2B SaaS: Personalize Product Offers and Support
In B2B software (SaaS), companies use a segmentation matrix to group clients by business type, product usage, or growth stage. This helps create customized service plans and upsell opportunities.
For example, tech startups might need basic software plans, while larger enterprises may require advanced features and dedicated support. Businesses that actively use a product (high engagement) could be offered premium upgrades, while inactive clients might receive special onboarding support to improve usage.
By focusing on how businesses interact with their software, SaaS companies can deliver better customer service, increase renewals, and drive more upsells.
3. Manufacturing and Supply Chain: Optimize Inventory and Partnerships
Manufacturers and suppliers use customer segmentation to manage inventory and build strong partnerships with their B2B clients. Companies can segment buyers by order size, purchase frequency, or region.
For example, distributors who place bulk orders regularly will be placed in a different segment than small businesses that only buy once in a while. This helps the supply chain team forecast demand better and avoid stock issues.
Regional segmentation is also key. Manufacturers can distribute inventory based on where demand is highest, such as focusing more stock in regions where large clients are located. This lowers shipping costs and improves delivery times.
4. B2B Sales & Marketing: Prioritize Leads and Personalize Campaigns
Sales teams leverage segmentation to identify and prioritize high-value leads, ensuring resources are directed toward prospects with the highest conversion potential. Lead scoring is a widely used technique where prospects are categorized based on their interactions with the business, such as website visits, email engagement, and past purchases.
A well-defined customer segmentation matrix helps sales teams focus on warm leads, reducing time wasted on uninterested prospects while increasing conversion rates.
In marketing, segmentation enables hyper-targeted campaigns that resonate with specific customer groups. Instead of sending generic ads, businesses can create tailored messaging for different audience segments.
For example, a luxury brand can target affluent customers with exclusive offers, while an eco-friendly brand can focus on environmentally conscious consumers. By continuously refining customer segments based on evolving behaviors, sales and marketing teams can enhance engagement, optimize ad spend, and build long-term customer relationships.
Utilize Revenue Intelligence to Implement the Customer Segmentation Matrix
In B2B marketing and sales, revenue intelligence helps businesses make smarter decisions by using data. It gathers and analyzes information from sources like CRM systems, sales records, and client engagement data. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), it can spot patterns, predict how business clients will act, and suggest ways to improve sales and marketing performance.
When building a customer segmentation matrix, revenue intelligence helps B2B companies avoid guessing. It provides real-time insights that show how different businesses behave, what they need, and how likely they are to buy. Instead of sticking to outdated segments, companies can adjust their customer groups as new data comes in. This leads to better targeting, stronger lead conversion, and higher client retention.
Solutions like 180ops help B2B companies automate and improve this process. Using AI-driven insights, 180ops helps track business client behavior, predict future needs, and improve how companies engage with each segment. It connects data from different sources—like CRM, financial data, and market insights—to give B2B teams a clear and complete picture of their clients.
With tools like 180ops, B2B businesses can build accurate, real-world segmentation models and stop relying on guesswork.
Conclusion
A customer segmentation matrix helps B2B companies group business clients based on key factors like industry, buying behavior, or company size. This leads to better targeting, stronger client relationships, and smarter decision-making. It is both a useful strategy and a practical tool for improving how businesses engage with other businesses, optimize operations, and grow revenue.
When applied and refined regularly, the segmentation matrix helps B2B companies stay aligned with changing client needs and market shifts. But success comes not just from building segments—it comes from using them to take focused action that drives real business results.
180ops is a revenue intelligence platform that helps B2B businesses build a data-driven customer segmentation matrix using real-time insights. By combining AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics, 180ops helps analyze client behaviors, predict trends, and improve engagement strategies. It brings together data from CRM systems, financial records, and external sources to create accurate and up-to-date business segments.
With tools like predictive analytics, churn detection, and tailored recommendations, 180ops empowers B2B companies to make faster, smarter decisions and grow revenue.
Contact us today to start improving your B2B segmentation strategy with 180ops.
FAQ
What Is a Customer Segmentation Matrix in B2B?
A customer segmentation matrix in B2B is a tool that groups business clients into categories based on shared traits like company size, industry, buying behavior, or business needs. It helps B2B companies create targeted sales and marketing strategies and build stronger client relationships.
What Are the 4 Types of Customer Segmentation in B2B?
The four types are firmographic, geographic, behavioral, and needs-based.
Firmographics looks at details like company size or industry.
Geography focuses on where the business is located.
Behavioral tracks how businesses buy and engage with you.
Needs-based segments clients by their specific challenges or goals.
What Are the 4 Types of Market Segmentation in B2B?
In B2B, market segmentation is firmographic, geographic, behavioral, and needs-based. These categories help companies understand and target business clients more effectively by offering products or services that solve their unique problems.
What Are the 4 Pillars of B2B Segmentation?
The 4 pillars are firmographic, geographic, behavioral, and needs-based segmentation. These pillars help B2B companies organize clients into meaningful groups, leading to better decision-making, tailored messaging, and improved client engagement.
What Are Some Practical B2B Examples of Customer Segmentation Matrices?
A SaaS company segments clients by subscription level or feature usage.
A manufacturer groups distributors by order size and region.
A financial service provider segments businesses by revenue and risk profile.
A logistics company groups clients by shipping volume and delivery locations.
B2B businesses use segmentation matrices to personalize offers, improve targeting, and strengthen partnerships.
