Maximising B2B Email Engagement through Advanced Segmentation in 2025

One might think that with the rise of AI and automation, B2B email marketing would be losing its power. But it's not. In fact, with inboxes more crowded than ever, email is becoming an even more important marketing channel—provided you know how to cut through the noise with audience segmentation and targeted messaging. Because, in 2025 (and beyond), one-size-fits-all emails don't stand a chance. What does? Smart, targeted, and highly personalised segmentation strategies are key to connecting with B2B buyers, especially in the competitive food and nutrition industry.

This blog post explores what email segmentation is, how it works, the different types of data you can use to segment your audience, and how to apply smarter insights to build more targeted, effective campaigns in 2025. Ready to dive in?

Who are we? Smartcore is your best-in-class B2B food and nutrition marketing solutions partner for smarter digital campaigns that drive business growth. We help ingredient suppliers reach their target audience – our unrivalled first-party data of over 409,000 food and nutraceutical ingredient buyers – based in key regions around the globe. Download our Digital Media Kit to discover our smarter digital products and packages designed to meet your marketing needs.  

What Is Email Segmentation and How Does It Work?

Imagine receiving an email that feels like it was written just for you—because it most likely was. That’s the power email segmentation holds.

At its core, email segmentation is about treating your audience like real people, not just names on a list. It's the process of dividing your email contacts into smaller groups based on shared characteristics, allowing you to send content that’s relevant and personal, not generic.

Segmented campaigns drive significantly higher engagement rates. Why? Because sending the right message to the right person at the right time builds stronger connections, trust, and action.

The most effective segmentation strategies today tap into attributes such as:

• Demographics/Firmographics: This involves grouping your contacts by industry type, company size, job function, or country to ensure your messaging aligns with their professional needs.
• Behavioural Signals: Think tracking actions such as event attendance, webinar sign-ups, website browsing patterns, and purchase history, which gives you real clues about what your audience cares about.

By leveraging these segmentation strategies, you can create emails that resonate with each segment of your audience, leading to higher engagement and better results.

The Power of Behavioural Insights for Smarter Segmentation

When it comes to segmentation, knowing more about your audience than just their job title or location is key. This is where understanding your audience's behaviour is of utmost importance. Behavioural insights are the clues your audience leaves behind as they interact with your brand. Think digital actions such as downloading whitepapers or browsing content across your website, and physical actions like attending industry events. These behaviours offer valuable signals about what matters most to your audience.

For instance, picture this scenario: a lead consistently engages with online content around your sustainable ingredients, joins a webinar about sustainable supply chains, and attends a conference at a B2B event such as Vitafoods Europe or Fi Europe, where the focus is on cognitive health or plant-based alternatives. These actions suggest that they might be interested in your latest range of cognitive health or plant-based products. Behavioural insights help you spot these patterns and fine-tune your campaigns to speak directly to the needs and interests of your audience. So, it’s not just about collecting data but rather about using it to respond and personalise in real-time.

In HubSpot’s 2025 State of Marketing report, we learn from marketers that focusing on the customer and their experience with your brand has become important. The survey reveals 96% of marketers reporting that personalised experiences have increased sales. Thus, behavioural insights allow you to create dynamic, evolving segments that shift as your audience engages with your brand, where your messaging can focus on nudging them closer to your desired action. 

Tips for Effective Segmentation

As we’ve seen, segmentation is everything. It allows you to target the right audience with the right message at the right time. And effective segmentation isn’t just about dividing your audience into groups; it’s about making those groups work for you. Here are five key tips to help you segment smarter and build campaigns that resonate:

1. Attend events to collect high-quality leads: Industry events, such as trade shows and webinars, are goldmines for collecting highly engaged leads. By speaking to attendees and tracking their behaviour, you can identify serious prospects who are actively interested in your products or services.
2. Leverage geo-regional targeting to connect with relevant audiences: Targeting based on location can significantly improve the relevance of your content. Whether you’re focusing on global markets or specific regions, aligning your messages with regional trends or regulatory needs will resonate more with your audience.
3. Continuously refine segments based on behavioural and firmographic data: As your audience interacts with your brand, continuously updating your segments based on their behaviours (e.g. email opens, content downloads, or event attendance) ensures that your messages stay relevant and timely.
4. Segment by engagement level to improve conversion: Not all leads are created equal. By segmenting your contacts based on how engaged they are with your content (such as frequent clickers or content downloaders), you can tailor your campaigns to nurture these leads more effectively and move them down the sales funnel.
5. Personalise content for each segment: Once your segments are set, make sure to tailor the content specifically for each group. Whether it’s addressing pain points, highlighting relevant products, or showcasing testimonials from similar companies, personalisation boosts engagement and trust.
6. Test and Learn – Don’t be afraid to experiment with different segments to see what resonates best. Test subject lines, content types, and offers across various segments, and use the insights to continually refine your approach.

By following these tips, you can improve the relevance of your campaigns, increase engagement, and ultimately drive better results.

The Case for Responsible Campaigning

As marketers, it's crucial to think beyond short-term gains and focus on the long-term impact of our campaigns. Responsible campaigning isn't just about ethical practices—it’s about aligning with sustainability efforts, considering the bigger picture, and treating your audience with respect. Here are three key principles for responsible campaigning:

• Prioritise data privacy and transparency: Always ensure that your audience knows exactly what they’re signing up for. Be clear about how their data will be used and offer easy ways for them to opt out. A responsible marketer builds trust through honesty and transparency.
• Use sustainable digital marketing practices: From optimising your email campaigns to reducing your digital footprint, every action matters. Using efficient design, compressing assets, and reducing unnecessary data usage helps lower energy consumption and supports a greener digital ecosystem.
• Create meaningful and relevant content: Your content should serve your audience, not just your brand. Focus on providing value with each communication, ensuring that your messages resonate with their needs. By being mindful of your content’s relevance, you avoid oversaturation and unnecessary noise.

Take a look at Smartcore’s responsible digital ecosystem. As an Informa brand, we embrace the sharp sustainability standards championed by our wider business. By optimising our digital marketing campaigns and ensuring energy-efficient approaches, we reduce our environmental impact while delivering effective solutions for our clients. Click here to explore our responsible campaigning practices.

Partner With Us

As we’ve seen, advanced segmentation is essential to cutting through the noise, reaching your target B2B buyers in food and nutrition, and maximising email engagement.

If you’re looking to elevate your email engagement through advanced segmentation, here’s a top product to help you. Our Targeted Custom Branded Email enables you to share your expert content with a segmented audience of your choice (from our database of 409,000+ relevant buyers) and drive this traffic to a landing page of your choice to generate additional brand awareness and leads throughout the year.

Discover interviews with satisfied clients, including Zooca®, Uelzena Ingredients, and IMCD Food & Nutrition, and see how our smarter segmentation and digital campaigns have helped them drive success. Get in touch today to learn how we can help you thrive in 2025.