Both B2B and B2C marketing can benefit from audience segmentation for analytics reporting. Market segmentation is exactly the opposite mentality from mass marketing. In mass marketing, an agency would send the same email or message to a large group, and segmentation allows for targeting smaller groups with more specific and appropriate messages.
Segmentation is a vital part of marketing automation, scoring of prospective customers and driving efficiency into the marketing process. By identifying audience segments, an agency or business can optimize the marketing message so it is appropriate to the needs, desires, interests and buying behavior of your audience with greater detail and specificity. Ultimately this process improves relevancy and drives a better response rate.
Segmentation can drive better results for B2B marketing throughout the funnel. For example with digital marketing, both SEO and PPC advertising will be more effective by focusing resources on the most relevant keywords and focus-areas for a brand. A lack of targeting can drain a budget and dilute the effectiveness of an SEO campaign. By re-focusing paid spend for search and by more specifically optimizing a site for keywords that relate to critical audience segments, digital marketers can spend less resources and earn greater rewards--through the reduction of waste.
For businesses and agencies unaccustomed to segmentation, a few challenges may arise upon the out-start. The labeling and grouping of leads, customers and prospects takes time, energy and strategy. The effort is well worth it though. The result of the effort can drive greater efficiency in marketing campaigns, while providing a framework for new insights. The segmentation work may be done on both the beginning of a campaign (or prior to a marketing campaign) as well as post hoc (after the campaign launches as you begin to gather data based on the campaign performance).