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How to implement behavioral segmentation?
Most marketers claim to “do behavioral segmentation” - but when you look closer, it’s all surface. Pageviews and clicks are lumped into a spreadsheet. No scoring. No intent modeling. No revenue linkage.
They’ve got tracking in place, but no segmentation logic.
They’ve got segments, but no automated flows.
They’ve got data, but no business impact.
The result? Campaigns that guess. Funnels that leak. ROAS that nosedives.
At Propel, we spend hours implementing behavioral segmentation for reputable brands and have seen our campaigns delivering the highest impacts!
We’ll walk through the real implementation process - the data sources, segmentation logic, behavioral scoring, tech stack, revenue attribution, and retention lift. Built for operators, not theorists. Built for 2025, not 2018.
Before you segment anything, answer this:
What problem are you solving with behavioral segmentation?
You’re not here to organize data. You’re here to move metrics.
Common use cases:
Every segment you build must map to a growth lever.
Not all behaviors are equal. You don’t need to track everything - just what drives action.
1. Website Activity
Track key components of behavioral segmentation like pricing page visits, scroll depth, and time spent on product or feature pages. These behaviors signal early interest, friction, or evaluation intent - crucial for top and mid-funnel segmentation.
2. In-App Behavior
Monitor feature usage, skips, frequency of logins, and user invites. This tells you how deeply a customer is engaging and where they might stall — perfect for lifecycle campaigns like onboarding and upsells.
3. Email Engagement
Analyze not just open rates, but click paths, time-of-open patterns, and what links users click most often. These cues help build segments based on curiosity, readiness, or product-specific interest.
4. Purchase History
Look at recency, frequency, and types of products purchased. These signals power segments like repeat buyers, loyalists, price-sensitive shoppers, or cross-sell opportunities.
5. CRM/Support Logs
Don’t ignore support tickets and sentiment. Negative feedback, unresolved outreach, or frequent help requests can indicate churn risks - and also offer a chance to intervene with tailored campaigns.
If your stack can’t unify these, you’re not segmenting - you’re guessing.
Behavioral scoring is how you separate passive lurkers from high-intent users.
Example Scoring Model: You’re not just observing - you’re quantifying readiness.
1. Viewed Pricing Page — +5 Points
This is a clear buying signal. Users who revisit your pricing page are actively evaluating your offer. Tag them as high-intent and push them toward conversion.
2. Replayed Demo Video — +4 Points
Rewatching a demo shows deeper interest. These users want to understand your product better and are likely in the decision stage. Prioritize them with case studies or ROI content.
3. Invited Teammate — +6 Points
Inviting others signals collaborative use — a strong indicator of product-market fit and stickiness. These users are excellent upgrade candidates for team or enterprise plans.
4. Skipped Onboarding — -3 Points
Skipping key onboarding steps is a red flag. These users might churn early or never reach activation. Flag them for re-engagement or support-driven flows.
5. Opened Email But Clicked Nothing — -1 Point
Passive behavior like opening without engagement signals low intent or misalignment. These users need better targeting or value alignment in messaging.
To implement behavioral segmentation effectively you must use tools like Amplitude, Mixpanel, or even Looker to assign weights based on actual conversion correlation. Don’t guess - model backward from your best customers.
“People who clicked an email” is not a segment.
“People who clicked onboarding but skipped setup = stuck users” - that’s a segment.
Example Segments That Drive Action:
1. High-Intent Evaluators (Consideration Stage)
These are users who have viewed your pricing page 3+ times within 48 hours and opened a case study email. They’re clearly researching and close to converting — perfect for sending trial offers or ROI calculators.
2. Activation-Stalled Users (Activation Stage)
These users started onboarding but skipped a key step (e.g., step 2). They need friction-reduction flows like in-app guides, videos, or a support CTA to push them toward activation.
3. Power Users (Retention Stage)
This group logs in 7 out of the last 10 days and has invited teammates. They’re deeply engaged — ideal for upsells, referral requests, or loyalty perks.
4. Churn Risks (Retention Stage)
If a user hasn’t logged in for 7+ days and ignored recent feature launches, they’re slipping away. Trigger a win-back campaign with reactivation nudges or feedback prompts.
5. Silent Cart Abandoners (Purchase Stage)
These users added items to their cart but didn’t check out or engage again for 3 days. Send urgency-based emails or SMS (like limited-time offers or social proof) to recover the sale.
Pro Tip:
Every segment should be backed by:
Every segment needs:
This is where most implementations fall short - segmentation without follow-through.
Example Flow:
Tools: Customer.io, Klaviyo, Braze, or native CDPs like Segment Personas.
Segmentation isn’t a one-and-done project. The benefits of behavioral segmentation are long-term, so you need to keep evolving.
You need to monitor what’s working, what’s stalling, and what needs refining. These metrics validate whether your behavioral segments are actually driving results.
1. Segment-Level CVR and CTR
Track click-through rates and conversion rates by segment. If a group is outperforming the baseline, that’s a sign your behavioral logic is working — and scalable.
2. Funnel Progression
Are users moving from signup to value to upgrade? Map how each segment flows through your lifecycle funnel. Bottlenecks mean your content or experience isn’t landing.
3. Retention Curve by Cohort
Look at how long users in a segment stick around. If the tail is long, keep investing in nurture flows. If it drops off fast, something’s broken.
4. Revenue per Segment
Tie each group to real business value. Compare LTV, CAC, and average order value. High-volume but low-value segments may not be worth the effort.
5. Behavioral Score Accuracy
If users with high behavioral scores aren’t converting, revisit your weighting logic. Scoring should reflect real intent — not just activity volume.
Segmentation shows what users do. Feedback explains why.
Example:
A SaaS found that “skipped onboarding” users said the setup felt overwhelming. A new walkthrough flow dropped churn by 19%.
Behavior + feedback = real segmentation intelligence.
This isn’t a one-time build - it’s a living system.
Your segmentation engine should get smarter every sprint.
This isn’t about data, or funnels, or even marketing.
It’s about using behavior to serve users exactly what they need - when they need it. That’s the importance of behavioral segmentation.
That’s how you reduce churn.
That’s how you increase LTV.
That’s how you win.
So - which segment are you triggering first?
Propel helps you do more than segment - it helps you act. Track real-time behavior across channels, build dynamic segments, and trigger personalized flows that convert.
No guesswork. No lag. Just lifecycle automation that adapts with every click.
Start using behavior to drive growth - with Propel.
👉 Get started today
Behavioral Segmentation vs. Other Types of Segmentation
How does Behavioral Segmentation Identify Target Markets
Future of Behavioral Segmentation
What Challenges Do Marketers Face with Behavioral Segmentation? [How to Overcome?]
Start with lifecycle goals → track meaningful behaviors → score and group → automate flows → analyze results.
A CDP (like Segment), analytics layer (Amplitude), and activation tool (Customer.io, Klaviyo, etc.)
They segment based on time-of-day purchase patterns and frequency to personalize mobile push offers.
Tracking too many signals with no action plan. If it doesn’t drive a trigger or a message - it’s noise.
Behavioral segmentation groups users based on their actions (like purchase frequency or product usage). Behavioral targeting uses those segments to deliver real-time, personalized messages. Segmentation is the strategy - targeting is the execution.
Use our free Retention Impact Calculator to see how much revenue you’re leaving on the table — and how much you could unlock by improving retention.
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