Framework F080: Customer Segmentation and Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Sharpen your GTM focus and accelerate traction by targeting the right customers, not just the biggest market

You can’t sell to everyone — and trying to means you’ll convert no one. Without a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and segmentation plan, go-to-market teams waste time, dilute their message, and burn budget on the wrong targets.

This framework helps you define exactly who you serve best, segment your market by likelihood of success, and prioritize where to focus for fastest traction. It’s built for early-stage startups, corporate innovation programs, and any team launching a new venture or repositioning an offer​.

What You Will Achieve With This Framework

✔ Build a detailed Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) that guides targeting, messaging, and GTM plays​
✔ Segment the market based on firmographics, behavior, urgency, and adoption likelihood
✔ Prioritize 1–2 high-potential segments for launch to maximize impact with limited resources​
✔ Validate your ICP and segments through real-world tests: interviews, landing pages, outbound, and pilots
✔ Align product, marketing, and sales with shared market targeting priorities

Who This Is For

  • Founders and GTM leads at early-stage startups

  • Innovation teams launching products inside larger companies

  • Marketing leaders designing campaigns and positioning strategies

  • Strategy consultants refining segmentation targeting and positioning (STP)

When to Use It

Use this framework when:

  • You’re preparing to go to market with a new product

  • You need to focus your GTM motion after initial product development

  • You’re pivoting, repositioning, or entering a new vertical

  • You’re refining your ICP after early feedback from the field

What This Framework Replaces

✘ Guesswork-based targeting using only TAM or broad verticals
✘ Vanity segments that don’t actually convert
✘ Diluted positioning that appeals to no one
✘ “Spray-and-pray” GTM efforts with poor ROI

How It Fits Into Your Innovation Process

Use this before building your GTM or lead-gen plan. It’s foundational to messaging, positioning, campaign targeting, and even product roadmap prioritization.

Framework Sections

1. Define Your ICP:

  • Firmographics/demographics

  • Behavioral traits, urgency signals, and key pain points

  • Real customer examples and “best fit” snapshots​

2. Segment the Market:

  • Use variables like industry, size, buying maturity, geography

  • Avoid broad, non-actionable slices; focus on adoption behavior​

3. Prioritize for Launch:

  • Score segments on attractiveness and accessibility

  • Pick top 1–2 for launch, with documented “why” to align the team​

4. Validate Through Action:

  • Interviews, landing pages, outbound email tests, and pilot offers

  • Use conversion, resonance, and reply rate metrics to refine ICP​

5. Final Checklist:

  • Is your ICP narrow enough?

  • Are segments based on behavior, not just size?

  • Have you validated through tests, not assumptions?​