So you’re using Vero for your B2B email marketing, and you want your campaigns to actually get noticed—not just tossed into the void. Good call. But here’s the truth: most “segmentation best practices” guides are either way too generic or assume you have a team of data scientists on call. This one’s for the rest of us—real marketers, founders, and ops folks who want results without the fluff.
This guide will walk you through what actually works for segmenting B2B customers in Vero to boost engagement, avoid common traps, and keep things as straightforward as possible.
Why Segmentation Matters (and Where It Goes Wrong)
Segmentation sounds fancy, but at its core, it’s just sending people messages that actually matter to them. Get it wrong, and your emails feel like spam. Get it right, and you’re suddenly the rare B2B brand people actually want to hear from.
But here’s where most teams slip up: - Too many segments, not enough substance. You end up with 27 micro-segments and no clue what to send to any of them. - Relying on demographics alone. Company size and industry are fine, but they don’t tell you how a customer actually uses your product. - Set-and-forget mentality. Segmentation isn’t a one-time project. It needs updates as your customer base grows and changes.
Let’s talk about how to do it right—without overcomplicating your life.
Step 1: Decide What Segmentation Actually Means for You
You’re not Amazon. You don’t need to over-engineer this. Start by asking:
- What’s different about how our customers use our product? (Not just who they are, but what they do.)
- What’s our main goal? (Onboarding, upsell, retention, all of the above?)
- What data do we really have, and is it accurate? (Be honest.)
Pro Tip
Don’t build a segmentation model around data you wish you had. Build it around what’s actually reliable in your CRM or product analytics.
Step 2: Nail Down Your Core Segmentation Criteria
Here are the core segmentation buckets that actually move the needle for most B2B businesses using Vero:
1. Customer Lifecycle Stage
- Are they leads, trials, paying customers, or churn risks?
- Most engagement tactics start here—think different nurturing for a new trial vs. a power user.
2. Company Attributes
- Industry: Sometimes worth it, especially if your use cases are industry-specific.
- Company size: Useful for tailoring messaging—what matters to a 10-person startup is different from a 500-person enterprise.
- Region: Time zones and language preferences matter. Don’t send “Good morning!” emails at 2am local time.
3. Behavioral Segments
- Product usage: Who’s using your product daily vs. who signed up and ghosted?
- Feature adoption: If someone hasn’t touched a big feature, they’re ripe for targeted education.
- Engagement with emails: Opened/clicked in last 30 days? If not, maybe try a different approach.
4. Role and Persona
- Are you talking to decision-makers or hands-on users? Tailor your content accordingly.
What to Ignore (Most of the Time)
- Overly granular geographic data (city-level, zip code) for most B2B plays.
- Vanity segments based on “job title contains ‘ninja’”—stick to what changes how you’ll communicate.
Step 3: Set Up Vero for Practical Segmentation
If you’re new to Vero, here’s the reality: it’s flexible, but not magic. Garbage in, garbage out. Here’s how to set it up for B2B segmentation that works:
1. Get Your Data Into Vero—Cleanly
- Sync your CRM data: Most B2B teams have customer data in tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, or even Google Sheets. Use Vero’s integrations or API to pull in customer records.
- Track product usage: Use Vero’s event tracking to log user actions (logins, feature clicks, etc.).
- Custom fields: Set up custom properties for company size, industry, lifecycle stage, etc.
2. Build Segments Using Filters (Not Just Lists)
- Vero lets you create dynamic segments using filters—think “All users at companies with >100 employees who haven’t used Feature X in the last 30 days.”
- Avoid static lists unless you have a good reason—they’ll go stale fast.
3. Keep Segments Manageable
Aim for 3–7 core segments to start. More than that, and you’ll drown in complexity. Remember: The goal is to send better messages, not to win a segmentation contest.
4. Test Your Segments Before You Hit Send
Run a preview on your segments to make sure you’re not accidentally emailing the wrong group (it happens more often than you’d think).
Step 4: Map Segments to Real-World Messaging
Segmentation isn’t the goal—relevance is. Here’s how to actually put your segments to work:
1. Personalize by Lifecycle
- New trials: Send onboarding tips, quick wins, and a personal check-in.
- Active power users: Share advanced features, invite to webinars, or ask for feedback.
- Churn risks: Send a “Hey, noticed you haven’t logged in lately—need help?” email.
2. Tailor by Company Size and Role
- For small companies: Emphasize speed, support, and ease of use.
- For larger orgs: Talk scalability, integrations, or compliance features.
- Send different content to admins vs. end-users. One cares about billing, the other about “how do I get this to work?”
3. Time and Frequency
- Don’t blast everyone at once. Use local time send options if you have regional clients.
- If a segment hasn’t engaged in months, slow down the cadence or try a reactivation campaign.
4. Don’t Over-Personalize
It’s tempting to drop in every custom field you have—“Hi, NAME from COMPANY working in INDUSTRY!”—but honestly, that’s a fast track to sounding robotic. Focus on real value, not just mail merge tricks.
Step 5: Measure, Adjust, and Don’t Get Precious
The only way to know if your segments are working is to track results. In Vero, look at open rates, click rates, and, most importantly, what happens after the email (signups, upgrades, replies).
What to Watch For
- Segment fatigue: If a segment stops engaging, rethink your approach or combine it with another.
- Data drift: Make sure your data stays updated—stale info leads to embarrassing mistakes.
- Over-segmentation: If you’re spending more time managing segments than writing emails, dial it back.
Pro Tip
Sometimes, a well-written plain-text email to your whole user base outperforms a hyper-targeted campaign. Don’t be afraid to test broad sends now and then.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
- Overthinking it. You don’t need AI-driven micro-segmentation to see results. Start simple and only add complexity when you see a clear need.
- Letting segments go stale. Put a quarterly reminder on your calendar to review and prune segments.
- Ignoring feedback. If people reply to your emails, treat that as gold—adjust segments and messaging based on what real users say.
Wrap-Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Segmentation isn’t a one-and-done project. Start with a few useful segments, see what actually drives engagement, and adjust from there. Don’t let the “best practices” crowd convince you to build something so complicated you can’t manage it. The best segmentation is the one you’ll actually use.
Stay skeptical, keep things practical, and remember—most B2B teams are figuring this out as they go. You’re in good company.