If you’re in B2B sales, marketing, or founder mode and tired of chasing the same tired leads, this is for you. You know your “ideal customer profile” (ICP), but you’re wondering what else is out there—segments you’re missing, new angles to test, or even whole markets you’ve overlooked. Datagma can help dig those up, but let’s be clear: there’s no magic “find hidden markets” button. Here’s how to use Datagma to actually do the work, spot real opportunities (not vanity ones), and keep your sales pipeline moving.
Why Your ICP Is Probably Too Narrow (Or Too Vague)
Let’s get this out of the way: Most companies either box themselves into a tiny ICP or cast such a wide net that it’s meaningless. “We sell to tech startups!” is as useless as “We sell to companies with more than 50 employees.”
If you want to grow, you need to: - Find patterns in who actually buys, not just who could buy. - Test new segments, not just hope they come to you. - Stop chasing clones of your current customers by default.
This is where Datagma comes in: it’s a database and enrichment tool that can help you dig into real company data, spot new segments, and sanity-check your assumptions—if you use it right.
Step 1: Map Out Your Current ICP (Don’t Skip This)
Before you start hunting for new markets, you need a baseline. Otherwise, you’re just poking around in the dark.
What to do: - Write down your current ICP: industry, company size, tech stack, geography, key decision makers, etc. - List your 10 best customers and note what they have in common. This isn’t always the same as your theoretical ICP. - Be honest about who doesn’t buy from you and why.
Pro tip: Don’t just use your “biggest” customers—look for the ones who bought quickly, stuck around, and didn’t nickel-and-dime you to death.
Step 2: Use Datagma to Profile Your Best Customers
Now let’s get some actual data instead of gut feelings.
How to do it: - Pull your customer list into Datagma. You can upload CSVs or connect via API. - Use Datagma’s enrichment to fill in missing firmographics—industry, employee count, funding, tech stack, tools used, etc. - Sort and filter to spot patterns. For example: - Do 70% of your best customers use HubSpot? - Are most of them Series B SaaS companies? - Did they just open a new office in Europe?
What works: - Enrichment is fast and mostly accurate. You’ll spot things you’d have missed Googling companies one by one. - You can export and play with the data in a spreadsheet if you want to slice it differently.
What to ignore: - Don’t get distracted by vanity data (like social followers or random awards). Focus on things that predict buying behavior.
Step 3: Hunt for Similar Companies—And Adjacent Ones
Here’s where Datagma actually gets useful for expansion. Instead of “companies like X,” you can get creative.
How to explore: - Use Datagma’s filters to build lists of companies that match your real customer patterns, not just your gut ICP. - Example: “Fintech startups, 50-200 employees, using Intercom, Series A-C funding.” - Try loosening one variable at a time: - Bigger companies? Smaller? - Different tech stack? - Same size, but in a new vertical? - Look for “adjacent” segments—those that almost fit your ICP, but not quite. Sometimes these are your next best customers.
Pro tip: If you see clusters (e.g., several customers in logistics tech, but you’ve never marketed there), that’s a segment to test.
What to watch out for: - Don’t just chase big lists. More contacts isn’t more revenue. - Ignore segments that look “cool” but don’t match your strengths (e.g., don’t target crypto if you don’t understand it).
Step 4: Test Your New Segments—Quickly
This is where most teams stall: they build a list, then sit on it, overthink messaging, or try to be perfect.
What to do: - Pull the new segment list from Datagma. Start with 50–100 companies (not thousands). - Craft a simple, honest outbound message. Reference the thing that made you pick them (“Noticed most of our top customers are Series B SaaS teams using HubSpot—figured you might have similar challenges.”) - Track response rates, not just opens. - If you get traction (replies, meetings booked, positive signals), double down. If not, try another segment or tweak your message.
What works: - Speed. The whole point is to test fast and move on if it’s a dead end. - Personalized outreach based on real data (not “Hi {FirstName}, I see you’re in {Industry}!”).
What to skip: - Don’t blast out to huge lists without testing messaging first. - Don’t waste time on “spray and pray” campaigns. It’s not 2015 anymore.
Step 5: Use Enrichment to Refine Your Messaging (and ICP)
As you get feedback, keep enriching your data. Datagma lets you update and fill gaps as you go.
How to do it: - After a campaign, run your engaged leads through Datagma again. - See if the ones who responded share traits you hadn’t spotted before (e.g., all use a particular tool, or all recently raised funding). - Update your ICP doc and share findings with your team. - Adjust your filters and test again.
Honest take: Most ICPs are a moving target. That’s normal. Datagma is only as good as the questions you ask and how often you revisit the data. Treat it like a living document, not a one-and-done exercise.
Common Pitfalls (And How to Avoid Them)
It’s easy to get lost in the weeds with data tools. Here’s what to watch for:
- Shiny object syndrome: Just because Datagma can pull weirdly specific data (“companies using both Webflow and BambooHR with a CEO named Steve”) doesn’t mean you should target it.
- Overfitting: If you build your segment too tightly (“must use X, Y, and Z tools and have raised exactly $10M”), you’ll limit yourself to a tiny, maybe non-existent pool.
- Ignoring actual results: If a segment doesn’t bite, move on. Confirmation bias is real; don’t keep chasing a market just because you want it to work.
Pro Tips for Getting Real Value from Datagma
- Always double-check data quality. No tool is perfect; use LinkedIn or company sites to sanity-check high-value targets.
- Use Datagma to enrich inbound leads, too. Sometimes your next segment finds you.
- Share findings with sales, marketing, and product teams. New segments can mean new features or campaigns.
- Document every test: what you tried, what worked, what bombed. You’ll thank yourself later.
Keep It Simple, Test, and Iterate
You don’t need to buy into the hype or overcomplicate things. The real value of Datagma is helping you find and test new market segments faster than you could on your own. Don’t expect it to do your thinking for you, and don’t use it as an excuse to avoid talking to real people.
Stick to the basics: - Map your real ICP. - Use Datagma to find patterns and adjacent segments. - Test quickly, refine, and repeat.
If you keep it simple and stay skeptical of your own assumptions, you’ll spot new opportunities before your competitors—and you’ll avoid wasting months on dead-end lists.