How to do market segmentation

Why traditional B2B segmentation fails

The traditional approach — taking an industry (e.g. “engineering”) and a company size (e.g. “50–250 employees”) — no longer cuts it in today's digital competition. Companies within the same industry have radically different needs and buying behaviour.

If you sell a specific part for single-purpose machine manufacturers, the generic “engineering” label is too broad. Without finer segmentation your sales process runs into:

• Low efficiency: Sales reps spend a significant share of their time researching and verifying contacts instead of actually selling. According to Salesforce's State of Sales study, reps spend just 22% of their time with clients.
• Team demotivation: Constant rejection from irrelevant companies quickly burns out a sales team.
• High acquisition costs: The cost of acquiring one customer (CAC) grows proportionally with the time spent in “dead ends”.

4 pillars of modern segmentation: From data to situational understanding

Precise targeting requires combining multiple data layers. That's the only way to create a true Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).

The “Look-alike” method: Find twins of your best clients

The shortest path to a successful segment runs through an analysis of your existing “star” clients.

• Step 1: Pick 3–5 clients with whom you have the best relationships and the highest profitability.
• Step 2: Define their common traits — not just industry, but also how they present themselves on the web and which keywords they use to describe their services.
• Step 3: Look up similar entities in the countries or regions you're planning to expand into.

How to bring AI into strategic brainstorming

The main obstacle to segmentation is often “operational blindness”. We stick to the markets we know and miss new opportunities. AI can analyse data on hundreds of millions of companies and find connections that aren't obvious at first glance.

Intedat Match handles the process from idea to finished list:

• Brief: Describe in your own words what your company does and whom you're looking for (e.g. “I make precision aluminium components and I'm looking for partners in the automotive industry in Bavaria”).
• Analysis: The system searches a vast database (over 280 million companies across 195 countries) and suggests specific verticals with the highest match probability for your business.
• Result: Intedat Match not only recommends segments — it directly generates a list of relevant companies including contacts for the right people.

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Sourcing: How to segment the supplier market

Segmentation is just as critical for procurement teams during so-called Supplier Discovery. When looking for alternative suppliers, you don't only weigh price — you segment the market by risk and quality:

• Geopolitical risk: Distribute suppliers by regional stability (e.g. diversifying between Asia and the EU).
• Certifications and standards: Filter companies by whether they hold specific certifications (ISO, IATF, etc.).
• Production capacity: Segment by revenue and size so the supplier can actually handle your volumes.

See also our dedicated guide on supplier sourcing.

Market segmentation as a growth engine

Successful segmentation isn't a one-time task you tick off; it's a continuous learning process. The global market shifts, and your ICP should shift with it. By regularly testing new verticals and refining your data, you ensure your sales team always works with the freshest opportunities and that their activity delivers concrete results.