Tools for Building A Better B2B Customer Engagement Strategy

Making Powerful Use of Both Segmentation & High Value Targeting

B2B sales and marketing teams have access to more customer signals than ever before, yet most commercial organizations are working with only one of the two data-rich, analytical frameworks needed to turn those signals into action—either Segmentation or High Value Targeting (HVT). There are, in fact, compelling reasons for using both to optimize strategy and execution.

A critical problem lies in the misconceptions around what each one accomplishes. Many treat HVT as simply the activation step that enables you to find and reach your most attractive target segments. That view devalues both frameworks and, more importantly, leads organizations to underinvest in one or the other. Segmentation and HVT are doing meaningfully different analytical work. Understanding the distinction, and knowing when it matters, are some of the more consequential choices a commercial team can make.

Used together, these two frameworks answer the most fundamental questions in commercial strategy: who deserves our investment and how should we engage them? Alone, each framework falls short.