Segment First, Then Spend

The problem

Two different organizations, in two different industries, had the same underlying problem: acquisition spend was going out broadly, without a clear picture of which channels or customer segments were actually converting well.

The question

Of everyone being reached, who was actually worth reaching — and which channels were bringing them in?

The approach

A segmentation framework was built directly from customer and transaction data to identify the highest-value acquisition channels and segments, rather than relying on assumptions about which channels “should” work. In parallel, a funnel-attribution analysis connected marketing spend to actual downstream conversions at the channel level, and a content/keyword gap analysis identified where organic traffic could reduce reliance on paid spend entirely.

What I found

Acquisition performance varied significantly by channel and segment — spend and results were not evenly distributed, and some of the largest opportunities weren’t where the largest budgets were going.

What changed

Budget was reallocated toward the channels and segments the data actually supported, and organic content was prioritized as a lower-cost complement to paid acquisition — turning a broad, assumption-driven spend pattern into a targeted one.