Well, sort of.

It actually depends on what type of segmentation you’re interested in, which of course depends on what you plan to do with your segmentation. (Segmentation is not an end in itself but a possible means to an end.) My new report, “The Best Of Times And The Worst Of Times For Segmentation,” explores segmentation best practices, use cases, and approaches. The report is a response to the overwhelming demand I see from clients for segmentation research — 15% of my inquiries with brands this year have been about segmentation, making it my No. 1 inquiry topic.

Even though segmentation has been around for decades, companies use the term to mean two related things with very important differences:

  • Consumer segmentation defines groups within a market base for strategic decisioning.
  • Customer segmentation groups existing customers to differentiate treatment.

Conflating these two types of segmentation is dangerous because they serve different purposes and have different outputs. Many of the brands I spoke to for this particular research found that it’s virtually impossible to map one type of segmentation to the other. Plus, consumer segmentation is on the rise thanks to new AI-enabled solutions, while traditional customer segmentation no longer makes the cut. It’s time to embrace personalization wholeheartedly. Anyone who thinks differently has probably had too much eggnog.

As you look toward 2020, hopefully this report will help guide your segmentation plans. And if the holidays put you in a Dickensian mindset, please enjoy the references in the report.

As always, I’m here to discuss the report via inquiry, as well.

Happy holidays!