If you’re tired of blasting out B2B marketing campaigns and hoping something sticks, you’re not alone. Segmenting your audience isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s the difference between getting ignored and getting replies. This guide is for marketers, sales ops folks, and anyone else who’s trying to wrangle their B2B data into something useful. We’ll walk through how to actually segment audiences in Crustdata for campaigns that are targeted, relevant, and less likely to make people hit “unsubscribe.”
Why Bother Segmenting in the First Place?
Let’s get this out of the way: segmentation isn’t magic, but it works. Sending the same message to everyone wastes your budget and annoys your prospects. When you break down your audience into smaller, meaningful groups, you can send messages that actually matter to those people.
- Better open rates and replies. No one wants another generic sales pitch.
- Less unsubscribes. Relevant messages are less likely to get flagged as spam.
- Easier reporting. You’ll actually know what’s working and what’s not.
Crustdata makes segmenting possible, but it doesn’t do the thinking for you. That part’s still on you.
Step 1: Get Your Data House in Order
Before you start slicing and dicing, make sure your data isn’t a mess. Crustdata can only use what you give it.
What You Need:
- Clean company and contact records. Remove duplicates, fill in missing info, and standardize fields (like industry, company size, etc.).
- Consistent tagging or attributes. Decide on the fields you’ll use for segmentation (e.g., “Industry,” “Job Title,” “Annual Revenue”).
- Active integrations. Make sure your CRM, marketing automation platform, or wherever your leads live is connected to Crustdata.
Pro Tip: Don’t overthink this. You can always clean up more later, but if your core fields are junk, your segments will be too.
Step 2: Decide What Actually Matters
Not every field is worth segmenting on. Focus on what actually changes your message or offer.
Common B2B Segmentation Fields:
- Industry / Vertical (e.g., SaaS, Manufacturing, Healthcare)
- Company Size (employees, revenue)
- Job Function (IT, HR, Marketing, C-suite)
- Seniority (Manager, Director, VP, etc.)
- Technologies Used (if you sell tech)
- Geography (country, region, timezone)
- Engagement Level (opened emails, visited your site, etc.)
Pick two or three to start. If you try to segment by everything, you’ll end up with segments so small they’re useless.
Step 3: Build Segments in Crustdata
Now for the actual “how-to.” Crustdata’s audience segmentation is flexible but can get overwhelming if you go too deep. Here’s how to keep it practical.
3.1: Navigate to the Segmentation Tool
- Log in to your Crustdata dashboard.
- Go to the Audiences or Segments section (the exact name can change—Crustdata’s UI has been known to “evolve”).
- Click Create New Segment.
3.2: Define Your Filters
This is where you pick your segmentation criteria. For example:
- Industry: Select “SaaS” and “Healthcare.”
- Company Size: Choose 50-500 employees.
- Job Title: Pick “VP” or “Director” (use wildcards to catch variations).
Crustdata lets you stack filters using AND/OR logic. Be careful here—too many ANDs and you’ll have segments with three people.
Pro Tip: Start broad, then narrow down. If your segment is under 100 contacts, consider relaxing a filter.
3.3: Exclude or Suppress
Always suppress people who’ve opted out, bounced, or never engage. Crustdata supports exclusion lists or suppression filters—use them.
- No point emailing folks who hate hearing from you.
- Keeps your sender reputation clean.
3.4: Preview and Save
Preview your segment before saving. Check:
- Are these the right companies and contacts?
- Is the segment size big enough to be worth your time?
- Are there any obvious weirdos (e.g., students, competitors, etc.)?
Name your segment clearly—e.g., US SaaS 50-500 Employees VP+.
Step 4: Test and Refine Your Segments
The first segment you build probably won’t be perfect. That’s normal.
What to Look For
- Segment overlap: Are contacts showing up in multiple segments? Sometimes that’s fine, sometimes not.
- Tiny segments: If you have segments under 50, you’re probably being too picky.
- Weird outliers: Check for people who shouldn’t be there (e.g., “VP of Household Chores”).
Run a small test campaign to each segment before going big. Look at open rates, clicks, and replies. If you get junk results, tweak your filters.
Pro Tip: Document what each segment is for. Otherwise, six months from now, you’ll have no idea what “Segment_4_rev2” actually means.
Step 5: Sync Segments to Campaigns
With your segments ready, it’s time to put them to work.
- Connect your segment to your email or ad campaign inside Crustdata.
- Tailor your messaging for each segment. Don’t just swap out “Hi {First Name}.”
- Set up reporting by segment so you can see what’s working.
What Not to Do: - Don’t blast every segment with the same offer. - Don’t make campaigns so personalized they take forever to produce. Balance is key.
Step 6: Automate Where It Makes Sense
Crustdata lets you set up dynamic segments that update as people meet (or stop meeting) your criteria.
- Use dynamic segments for things like “engaged in last 30 days,” “new leads,” etc.
- Use static segments for one-off campaigns or very specific lists.
Automation = less busywork, but more chances for things to break. Check your segments every so often—especially if you change your data sources or field mappings.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
- Too many segments: You’re not Amazon. Start small.
- Messy data: If your CRM is full of garbage, fix that first.
- Ignoring engagement: Don’t keep sending to people who never open or click.
- “Set it and forget it” syndrome: Segments get stale. Review them quarterly.
- Overpersonalizing: If every email takes an hour to write, you’ll never scale.
What Actually Works (and What to Ignore)
Here’s the hard truth: your first few segments probably won’t move the needle much. That’s fine. The key is to keep things simple:
- Stick to two or three core segments until you see clear results.
- Focus on fields you can trust. If your data is spotty, don’t use that field.
- Don’t chase fads. “AI-powered intent signals” sound cool until you see how unreliable they are.
- Ask sales for feedback. They’ll tell you which segments actually convert.
Ignore anyone who tells you segmentation is a “set it and forget it” deal, or that you need 20+ micro-segments. That’s how you end up with a spreadsheet nightmare and zero extra revenue.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Audience segmentation in Crustdata isn’t rocket science, but it does take some upfront work. Start with what you actually know, keep your segments broad enough to matter, and check your results. Iterate as you go—don’t wait for perfect. The best segments are the ones you actually use.
If you’re stuck, just build one basic segment (say, “US SaaS companies 50-500 employees, VPs”) and run a campaign. Learn from the results. Repeat. That’s how the pros do it—no magic, just consistent, honest work.