CRM Segments: Why Knowing What Customers Do Isn’t Enough
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CRM Segments: Why Knowing What Customers Do Isn’t Enough
As a marketing leader, you've almost certainly built campaigns around segments defined by your CRM data.
You've targeted the "high-value purchasers," the "frequent browsers," the "discount-driven shoppers," or the "loyalty programme members."
You've sliced behavioural data a dozen different ways, created RFM models, layered in scores and signals.
Your targeting looks sharp. Your automation hums along. Your reporting ticks all the right boxes.
And yet... something’s missing.
Campaigns hit the right inboxes but don’t always land.
Personalisation feels a bit mechanical.
Messaging talks about what people do, but often misses why they’re doing it.
It’s not a marketing execution problem.
It’s a customer understanding problem.
Your CRM segments are telling you only half the story.
The Behaviour-Motivation Gap
You know what your customers do.
You don’t always know why they do it.
And that gap matters more than most teams realise. For example...
- Two customers buy your premium product every month. One loves craftsmanship. The other wants the status that premium brands signal.
- Two customers browse your site every week. One is loyal, hunting for new releases. The other is weighing up better deals elsewhere.
- Two customers only buy during sales. One’s price sensitive. The other just loves the thrill of "beating the system."
Same behaviour.
Completely different motivations.
If your campaigns don’t match the motivation behind the behaviour, you're not just missing opportunities, but you could be actively turning people away.
Why CRM Segmentation Falls Short
CRM segmentation has become the default for a lot of teams. And it's definitely better than random targeting.
But it’s not enough anymore - because it has some fundamental blind spots:
1. It Captures What, Not Why
CRM data is great at telling you what customers clicked, opened, purchased or ignored.
But it can’t tell you what they’re thinking or feeling underneath it all (which is where real relevance lives).
2. It Reinforces the Past
CRM segmentation is built on what customers have already done.
It rarely shows you what they might do differently tomorrow, or what’s shifting quietly underneath the surface.
3. It Fragments the Customer Experience
CRM systems often slice customers differently across channels - web, email, in-store.
But your customers don’t experience you in silos. They experience one brand, everywhere.
4. It Misses Everyone You Haven’t Reached Yet
A CRM can only segment people who are already in your system.
It tells you nothing about the next wave of customers you're trying to attract.
5. It Misses Emotional Depth
You can know what someone bought and still be clueless about why they bought it.
Without emotional depth, even the best targeting risks sounding generic.
Why Behavioural Personalisation Isn’t the Full Answer
A lot of teams double down on behavioural personalisation, believing sharper targeting would fix everything.
It helps, but only to a point.
Because behavioural data still can’t tell you the story your customer is living.
It can’t tell you what matters to them, what they hope for, what they fear.
Behaviour shows what happened.
Motivation tells you why it matters.
And it’s the "why" that makes marketing move people.
How to Bridge the Behaviour-Motivation Divide
Don’t worry - you don’t need to throw out your CRM segments. You just need to layer them with real human understanding.
Here’s how leading marketers are bridging the gap:
1. Overlay Motivations on Top of Behaviours
Take your existing behavioural segments and ask: what different mindsets could sit behind these patterns?
- Talk to real customers inside each segment.
- Look for emotional drivers: needs, values, goals, anxieties.
- Build "motivation overlays" that can sharpen how you message.
Example:
A travel brand finds that their frequent bookers included Status Seekers, Memory Makers, and Escape Artists - all booking for very different emotional reasons.
Speaking to those motivations, not just the "behaviour," unlocks far higher response and conversion rates.
2. Build Hybrid Segmentation Models
Don't pick between behavioural and motivational segmentation. Combine them.
- Start with what people do.
- Enrich it with why they do it.
- Design segments that feel real (both operationally and emotionally).
Example:
A financial services brand not just grouping customers by spending habits. They also factor in attitudes towards risk and money, letting them personalise both offers and tone.
3. Implement Progressive Profiling
Don't try to learn everything at once. Build motivational insight over time:
- Create lightweight preference centres.
- Use smart interactions to surface emotional drivers naturally.
- Let motivational profiles evolve as you learn more.
Example:
A tech brand adding subtle "why questions" into their customer journey, therefore building a goldmine of insight without bombarding customers with long surveys.
4. Connect CRM Data with Insight Teams
Operational data and strategic insights should be best friends, not strangers.
- Feed research insights back into CRM tagging.
- Blend quantitative and qualitative inputs.
- Build smarter, more human segments - not just transactional ones.
5. Test Messaging Based on Motivations
You can learn as you go:
- Create messaging variants that appeal to different motivations.
- Test them within the same behavioural segment.
- Track which emotional hooks actually drive action.
You’ll uncover layers in your audience that behavioural targeting alone would never show you.
Five Moves Marketing Leaders Can Make Right Now
- Audit your CRM segments. Where are motivations invisible or assumed?
- Run motivation discovery sessions with key behavioural groups.
- Prototype hybrid campaigns that speak to both action and attitude.
- Create a shared insight space for marketing, CRM, and research.
- Add one new "motivation capture point" to your customer journey.
From Targeting to Understanding
Segmentation isn’t about slicing audiences thinner and thinner. It’s about understanding them deeper and deeper.
When you combine what people do with why they do it, you stop just targeting and start genuinely connecting.
The marketers who win next won’t be the ones who know the most about customer behaviour. They’ll be the ones who understand customer motivation.
The question is: are you building for that future?
This article is part of our series on making segmentation truly actionable and impactful across organisations, drawn from insights shared in our latest exposé, "Rebuilding the Foundation: The State of Segmentation in 2025."
Want the full deep dive? Get the exposé here.
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