One thing about me? I love segmentation.

That might make me sound boring, but I promise I’m not. In fact, segmentation is probably my favorite strategic PMM activity. Not just because it’s fun to work on (like type 2 fun), but because it almost always leads to outsized impact.

Let me show you what I mean.

A few years ago, I was leading a segmentation project at Kajabi when something surprising jumped out of the data.

One customer segment (small but mighty!) was converting faster and sticking around longer than the rest. Curious, my team pulled together an in-person workshop to dig deeper.

That’s when the real insight emerged: these customers loved Kajabi, but they were frustrated we didn’t offer a branded mobile app. They wanted to build their own, fully white-labeled experience — and they were willing to pay for it.

That workshop turned a spreadsheet insight into a roadmap decision. The branded mobile app became a new product and quickly turned into a major revenue driver. It’s still one of my favorite examples of segmentation done right.

In today’s edition, I want to show you how to get that kind of impact with my MAP model, a simple framework for identifying and prioritizing your best customer segments.

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Map Your Best Customers

Let’s be honest: most persona work is kind of useless.

I’m actually a little allergic to the idea of a persona. Half the time, it’s built on vibes. Someone read a market report. Someone else met a prospect at a conference. Suddenly, the whole GTM strategy is being shaped around a hypothetical customer who’s never even paid you.

Your ideal persona might be aspirational, but your best segments are real customers. They’re measurable. And they’re already paying you today.

You just need to know where to look.

The MAP Model

The MAP model is my go-to framework for identifying and prioritizing customer segments that actually drive growth. It’s a three-part process:

Measure Volume

Before you look at what’s possible, look at what’s already true.

Start by identifying clusters within your existing customer base. Who’s already using your product? Where are you seeing the most volume?

You’re not choosing “best” yet, you’re just mapping what’s there. Look across demographic, firmographic, psychographic, and behavioural data. The goal is to surface patterns that already exist in your customer base.

Side note: make sure your dataset includes leads, paying customers, and churned customers. Sometimes your worst-fit customers teach you just as much as your best ones, and you want them in the mix.

Analyze Performance

Now that you know who you’re attracting, it’s time to understand how those customers actually perform. For each segment cluster, look at key business metrics like:

• Conversion rate – How easily do they become customers?

• ARPU / LTV – How much do they spend? How long do they stick around?

• Churn / retention – Are they getting value over time?

• CAC – How expensive are they to acquire?

This is where the myth of the “dream persona” often falls apart. A big enterprise logo might look good in a case study, but if it costs a fortune to close and churns six months in, it’s not your best segment. They’re certainly not going to fuel sustainable growth.

You’re looking for the sweet spot: easy(ish) to acquire, valuable, and sticky.

Prioritize Potential

Finally, it’s time to zoom out and look at the external opportunity. Just because a segment performs well today doesn’t mean it’s the best one to scale.

Ask yourself:

• Is this a large and/or growing market? Will it support our long-term growth ambitions?

• Can we win here? How competitive is the space?

• Does this align with where our product is going? Or would we need to adjust the roadmap?

This is where the tradeoffs (and tricky conversations) happen. Maybe one segment is easier to win today, but another has stronger long-term upside.

It’s not always an easy decision, but at least now your decision is grounded in real customer performance AND market context. Not just opinions.

If your current segmentation feels fuzzy or just...vibey, it might be time to map it out.

CAMPER ESSENTIALS

🎓 Study: I break down the MAP model in my Segmentation Certified course with the Product Marketing Alliance. It’s packed with frameworks, templates, and practical examples.

🎧 Playlist: If you have 30 minutes to spare, listen to this fun, tactical podcast convo where I share even more segmentation best practices (and a few hot takes).

Until next week,