Customer Segmentation: Finding Your Resonant Audience

“Everyone is not your customer.” — Seth Godin

The Great Segmentation Misunderstanding

In a modern glass office overlooking London’s tech district, the leadership team of a promising software startup gathered for their quarterly strategy session. The company had developed a genuinely innovative productivity tool, and after six months in the market, they were seeing encouraging but inconsistent growth.

“Our challenge is obvious,” declared the marketing director, clicking to the next slide. “We need more customers. I’ve segmented the market demographically and identified five key verticals we should be targeting.” The slide displayed a neat grid of industry sectors, company sizes, and roles—a comprehensive tapestry of potential customers.

The CEO nodded approvingly. “Excellent. A bigger net catches more fish.”

Only the product manager looked uneasy. Studying the latest user data, she’d noticed something striking: their most enthusiastic users—those who engaged deeply, renewed instantly, and recommended fervently—didn’t fit neatly into any of these demographic categories. What united them wasn’t their industry or company size, but something far less obvious: a distinctive worldview about how work should be organised.

This scene illuminates perhaps the most profound misunderstanding in modern business positioning—that meaningful segmentation comes from observable external characteristics rather than deeper resonance with your fundamental essence.

In previous chapters, we’ve explored how to discover your irreducible essence, translate it into a unifying idea, select your positioning approach, understand competitive alternatives, pick productive fights, and identify your genuine differentiation. Now we confront a critical question: for whom does this distinctive position create the most natural gravity?

The answer rarely lies in traditional demographic or firmographic categorisations. The audience segments that become your greatest advocates aren’t defined by their external characteristics but by their natural resonance with your essence—the deep alignment between what you stand for and what they value.

The Evolution of Segmentation

To understand why traditional segmentation often fails to create gravitational pull, we must first understand its evolution and limitations:

The Demographic Trap

For decades, businesses have segmented markets primarily through observable external characteristics:

Consumer Segmentation:

• Age, gender, income, education, geography
• Marital status, household size, ethnicity
• Profession, urbanicity, lifestyle indicators

Business Segmentation:

• Industry, company size, revenue
• Geography, maturity stage, growth rate
• Department, team size, budget

These approaches persist because they’re easily observable, straightforward to target, and simple to explain to stakeholders. Yet they consistently fail to predict which customers will truly connect with a company’s essence.

Consider Figma, the collaborative design platform. If they had segmented their market purely by industry and company size, they might have focused on design agencies and creative departments in large enterprises—missing their explosive growth among cross-functional teams where designers collaborate with non-designers.

What Figma discovered was that their natural resonance wasn’t with a demographic category but with a specific mindset about collaborative creation—one that crossed traditional firmographic boundaries. Their gravitational pull was strongest with teams who believed in open collaboration rather than specialist silos, regardless of industry or size.

The Behavioural Evolution

Recognising the limits of demographic segmentation, many companies evolved to behavioural approaches:

• Usage patterns and product adoption
• Purchase frequency and spending behaviour
• Feature utilisation and engagement metrics
• Communication preferences and channel usage
• Customer journey and decision processes

This evolution represented significant progress, focusing on what customers do rather than just who they appear to be. Yet even behavioural segmentation only partially addresses the resonance question. Behaviour tells us how customers interact with current solutions but not necessarily which approaches naturally align with their deeper values and worldviews.

TransferWise (now Wise) discovered this distinction when analysing their customer base. Behavioural data showed similarities in how customers used their service (international transfers of specific amounts). But what truly predicted long-term loyalty and advocacy wasn’t behaviour alone but whether customers shared the company’s fundamental belief in financial fairness and transparency—a values alignment that demographic and behavioural data couldn’t fully capture.

The Psychographic Shift

The next evolutionary step came through psychographic segmentation:

• Attitudes, interests, and opinions
• Lifestyle choices and preferences
• Social and cultural values
• Personality traits and characteristics
• Aspirations and motivations

This approach delved deeper, recognising that internal characteristics often predict resonance better than external ones. Yet even psychographics often become generic categorisations that miss the specific alignment with your distinctive essence.

Patagonia’s experience illustrates this limitation. Traditional psychographic segments like “environmentally conscious consumers” proved too broad to guide their positioning. Their deepest resonance wasn’t with general environmental concern but with a specific belief system that valued environmental activism, product durability, and authentic outdoor experience—a distinctive worldview that standard psychographic categories couldn’t adequately capture.

The Essence-Aligned Breakthrough

The most powerful segmentation approach transcends these traditional methods to focus directly on resonance with your specific essence:

• Which customers naturally understand and value your essence?
• Whose worldview aligns most closely with your fundamental philosophy?
• Who shares your perspective on what matters in your category?
• For whom does your approach solve problems most comprehensively?
• Which customers would be most disturbed if your offering disappeared?

This essence-aligned segmentation doesn’t ignore demographics, behaviours, or psychographics—it incorporates these insights while focusing on the fundamental question of resonance.

When Mailchimp co-founder Ben Chestnut reflected on their journey from generic email service to focused small business platform, he identified this resonance breakthrough: “We initially segmented by company size and email volume, which made sense operationally. But our explosive growth came when we realised our essence of ‘empowering the underdog’ resonated most powerfully with a specific type of entrepreneur—creative, independent business builders who wanted to maintain their distinctive voice while growing. That alignment wasn’t a demographic category; it was a worldview that matched our own.”

The Four Dimensions of Resonance

How do you identify which segments naturally align with your essence? The Four Dimensions of Resonance framework provides a comprehensive approach to assessing this alignment:

1. Value Resonance: Alignment with What They Prioritise

The first dimension examines how closely your differentiation matches what potential customers inherently value—not what they claim to value in surveys, but what their actual decisions reveal about their priorities.

Key Assessment Questions:

• Which segments prioritise the specific value your differentiation creates?
• For whom are your strengths particularly meaningful and your limitations irrelevant?
• Who makes decisions based on the criteria where you excel?
• Which customers allocate resources to the areas your approach addresses?
• For whom would your trade-offs represent wisdom rather than compromise?

Example: Rapha’s Value Resonance

When cycling apparel company Rapha entered the market, they identified strong value resonance with a specific segment: serious recreational road cyclists who prioritised performance, heritage, and aesthetics over price sensitivity.

This segment didn’t simply prefer Rapha’s approach—their entire decision framework aligned with the company’s differentiation. While casual cyclists overwhelmingly prioritised price and recreational cyclists focused on comfort, this segment naturally valued precisely what Rapha delivered best: technical performance wrapped in cycling tradition and distinctive design.

This value resonance wasn’t a marketing creation but a natural alignment between what Rapha believed mattered in cycling apparel and what this segment already prioritised in their purchase decisions.

2. Belief Resonance: Alignment with How They See the World

The second dimension examines how closely your philosophical approach aligns with how potential customers fundamentally see the world—their beliefs about how things should work in your category.

Key Assessment Questions:

• Which segments share your worldview about your industry or category?
• Who naturally agrees with your perspective on what’s wrong with existing approaches?
• For whom does your philosophy feel like obvious wisdom rather than controversial stance?
• Which customers already believe in the principles that drive your approach?
• Who would support your distinctive choices even if they cost more or required adjustment?

Example: Basecamp’s Belief Resonance

When Basecamp developed their project management platform with a deliberately simplified approach, they discovered extraordinary belief resonance with a specific segment: small team leaders who shared their fundamental philosophy that most business software was unnecessarily complex and distracting.

This wasn’t merely preference but philosophical alignment. While enterprise IT leaders typically believed comprehensive features created value and many small businesses accepted software complexity as inevitable, this segment already shared Basecamp’s conviction that simplicity and focus were essential for effective work—a worldview that made their deliberately limited approach feel like clarity rather than restriction.

This belief resonance created natural ambassadors who championed Basecamp precisely because it embodied a philosophy they already held about how work should be organised.

3. Cultural Resonance: Alignment with Identity and Belonging

The third dimension examines how closely your essence aligns with how potential customers see themselves—their identity, aspirations, and the groups they feel part of or wish to join.

Key Assessment Questions:

• Which segments would see choosing you as an expression of who they are?
• For whom would your approach affirm their self-perception or aspirations?
• Who would feel a sense of belonging or community through connection with you?
• Which customers naturally identify with your story, values, or perspective?
• Who would see their choice of your solution as a signal to others about their identity?

Example: Patagonia’s Cultural Resonance

Patagonia’s environmental activism approach creates extraordinary cultural resonance with a specific segment: outdoor enthusiasts who see their equipment choices as expressions of their values and identity.

For this segment, choosing Patagonia isn’t merely about product performance but identity expression—a visible statement about environmental values, consumption philosophy, and outdoor authenticity. These customers don’t simply buy Patagonia; they belong to a community that shares a perspective on how businesses should operate and how products should be made and maintained.

This cultural resonance transforms customers into advocates who promote the brand not just because they like the products but because the association affirms who they believe themselves to be.

4. Operational Resonance: Alignment with Their Functional Needs

The fourth dimension examines how effectively your capabilities and operations address the specific needs and constraints of potential customers—how well your functional approach matches their practical requirements.

Key Assessment Questions:

• Which segments have needs that your capabilities address most comprehensively?
• For whom do your operational approaches create particular advantage?
• Who faces challenges that your specific methods solve most effectively?
• Which customers’ environments or constraints align best with your delivery model?
• Who would benefit most directly from your particular processes or methodologies?

Example: Stripe’s Operational Resonance

When payment platform Stripe developed their developer-focused approach, they discovered exceptional operational resonance with a specific segment: technology companies with engineering-driven cultures where developers influenced purchasing decisions.

For this segment, Stripe’s API-first approach, comprehensive documentation, and engineering-friendly integration method didn’t just offer incremental improvement but fundamental alignment with how they already worked. The functional match between Stripe’s operational approach and this segment’s development practices created natural affinity that older payment providers couldn’t easily match regardless of features or pricing.

This operational resonance made Stripe the natural choice not because of sales tactics or marketing but because their functional approach inherently mapped to how these companies preferred to implement payment solutions.

The Resonance Mapping Framework

How do you systematically identify segments with the strongest resonance across all four dimensions? The Resonance Mapping Framework provides a comprehensive methodology:

1. Segment Identification

The first phase identifies potential audience groups beyond traditional demographic categories:

Current Customer Analysis:

• Who already shows the strongest enthusiasm for your approach?
• What patterns emerge among your most loyal and engaged customers?
• Which customers promote you most actively to others?
• Who expresses the deepest understanding of your differentiation?
• Which customers would be most disappointed if you changed your approach?

Alternative Choice Analysis:

• Why do similar customers choose different approaches?
• What patterns distinguish your customers from those choosing alternatives?
• Which potential segments show interest but not commitment?
• What barriers prevent high-potential segments from choosing you?
• Where do you see partial resonance that could become stronger?

Essence-Derived Projection:

• Based on your essence, who would theoretically align most naturally?
• What organisations or individuals share your foundational philosophy?
• Where would your distinctive approach create most significant impact?
• Who faces problems that your unique approach solves particularly well?
• Which communities naturally value what makes you different?

This first phase should identify 5-8 potential segments with possible resonance, deliberately looking beyond conventional categories to consider alignment with your specific essence and approach.

2. Resonance Assessment

The second phase systematically evaluates each potential segment’s alignment across all four resonance dimensions:

Value Resonance Evaluation: For each potential segment, score (1-10):

• How strongly do their priorities align with your differentiation?
• How completely does your approach address their most valued outcomes?
• How willing are they to invest in the value you create best?
• How clearly do they recognise and value your distinctive approach?
• How negatively would they view your deliberate limitations or trade-offs?

Belief Resonance Evaluation: For each potential segment, score (1-10):

• How closely does their worldview align with your fundamental philosophy?
• How naturally do they agree with your perspective on industry problems?
• How personally do they connect with your origin story and motivation?
• How consistently do their choices reflect principles similar to yours?
• How likely would they be to defend your approach to others?

Cultural Resonance Evaluation: For each potential segment, score (1-10):

• How strongly would they identify with your brand and approach?
• How connected would they feel to others who choose your solution?
• How closely does your essence align with how they see themselves?
• How likely would they be to display or reference their choice of you?
• How well does your approach match their aspirational self-perception?

Operational Resonance Evaluation: For each potential segment, score (1-10):

• How completely does your approach address their functional needs?
• How well do your methodologies align with their existing processes?
• How effectively does your delivery model fit their constraints?
• How naturally would your solution integrate with their environment?
• How significantly would your specific capabilities solve their challenges?

This systematic assessment creates a comprehensive resonance score (out of 40) for each potential segment, identifying those with the strongest natural alignment across all dimensions.

3. Prioritisation Analysis

The third phase evaluates business potential for segments with the strongest resonance:

Market Opportunity Assessment: For high-resonance segments (score >30), evaluate:

• Market Size: How large is this segment in terms of potential customers?
• Growth Trajectory: Is this segment stable, growing, or declining over time?
• Value Potential: What revenue or impact might these customers represent?
• Competitive Position: How effectively are their needs currently being addressed?
• Accessibility: How efficiently can you reach and engage this segment?

Strategic Alignment Assessment: For high-potential segments, consider:

• Resource Alignment: How well do your capabilities match their requirements?
• Expansion Potential: Could success with this segment create momentum for others?
• Strategic Direction: How does this segment align with long-term objectives?
• Competitive Insulation: How defensible would your position be with this segment?
• Cultural Compatibility: How naturally would serving this segment fit your organisation?

Adoption Friction Assessment: For priority segments, analyse:

• Switching Barriers: What prevents these customers from adopting your approach?
• Education Requirements: What understanding gaps might limit resonance?
• Implementation Challenges: What difficulties might they face during adoption?
• Risk Perception: How might they view the risk of choosing your approach?
• Alternative Attachments: What existing solutions or approaches must they abandon?

This balanced assessment helps identify segments that combine strong resonance with viable business opportunity—those where natural alignment creates potential for sustainable advantage.

4. Targeting Strategy

The final phase develops specific approaches for priority segments:

Value Proposition Refinement:

• How should your differentiation be articulated for this specific segment?
• What aspects of your approach create most meaning for these customers?
• How can you express value in their language and priorities?
• What proof would most effectively demonstrate value for this segment?
• How might value articulation evolve through their customer journey?

Channel Strategy Development:

• Where does this segment naturally gather information and make decisions?
• Which approaches would most effectively reach them with minimal waste?
• What voices or platforms have established credibility with this segment?
• How do they prefer to evaluate and purchase solutions like yours?
• What communication formats would resonate most naturally?

Offering Optimisation:

• What specific aspects of your approach might be enhanced for this segment?
• How might you address unique requirements without compromising essence?
• What additional capabilities would create distinctive value for these customers?
• How could you reduce friction points specific to this segment?
• What would make your approach an increasingly obvious choice for them?

Community Building:

• How might you connect customers within this segment to each other?
• What shared experiences or challenges could create community bonds?
• How can customers contribute to and shape your approach?
• What ongoing value could you create beyond the core offering?
• How might customer advocacy be naturally encouraged and amplified?

This targeted approach ensures your strategy doesn’t just identify resonant segments but develops tailored approaches that strengthen natural alignment while enhancing differentiation.

Case Study: Notion’s Resonance-Driven Growth

Perhaps no company better illustrates the power of essence-aligned segmentation than Notion, the all-in-one workspace platform founded by Ivan Zhao and Simon Last. Their journey from struggling startup to $10+ billion valuation demonstrates how identifying resonant segments can transform market position and growth trajectory.

The Initial Struggle

When Notion launched in 2016, they faced a crowded productivity landscape dominated by established players like Evernote, Microsoft OneNote, and Google Docs. Their initial positioning was broad—a flexible workspace for notes, tasks, and knowledge management.

Despite a compelling product, early growth was inconsistent. “We were targeting everyone who needed to organise information,” recalls Zhao. “That’s theoretically everyone, but in practice, it was no one specifically.”

This broad approach created several problems:

• Generic messaging that resonated deeply with no one
• Scattered marketing efforts across too many channels
• Product development pulled in multiple directions
• Difficulty building momentum through word-of-mouth
• Challenges describing differentiation in meaningful terms

The Resonance Discovery

The turning point came when Notion began analysing not just who used their product but who loved it—examining patterns among their most enthusiastic users who renewed instantly, engaged deeply, and recommended fervently.

“What we discovered wasn’t a demographic pattern but a worldview alignment,” explains Akshay Kothari, Notion’s COO. “Our power users weren’t defined by industry or company size but by a specific perspective on how information should be organised and work should be done.”

This analysis revealed four segments with extraordinary resonance across all dimensions:

1. Tech-Savvy Knowledge Workers

• Value Resonance: Prioritised flexibility and customisation over predefined structure
• Belief Resonance: Shared philosophy that tools should adapt to workflows, not vice versa
• Cultural Resonance: Identified as innovative problem-solvers who optimise their work environment
• Operational Resonance: Natural comfort with block-based architecture and workspace customisation

2. Design-Oriented Creative Professionals

• Value Resonance: Valued visual organisation and aesthetic clarity
• Belief Resonance: Shared perspective that information structure should be both functional and beautiful
• Cultural Resonance: Identified as visual thinkers who appreciate thoughtful design
• Operational Resonance: Natural alignment with Notion’s visually-oriented organisational approach

3. Documentation-Focused Technical Teams

• Value Resonance: Prioritised connected information over fragmented docs
• Belief Resonance: Shared philosophy that knowledge should be centrally accessible
• Cultural Resonance: Identified as systematic thinkers who value comprehensive documentation
• Operational Resonance: Natural fit with Notion’s database and linking capabilities

4. Modern Project Managers Seeking Flexibility

• Value Resonance: Valued adaptability over rigid project frameworks
• Belief Resonance: Shared perspective that project tools should adapt to specific team needs
• Cultural Resonance: Identified as pragmatic facilitators focused on outcomes over process
• Operational Resonance: Natural alignment with Notion’s flexible project management approaches

These weren’t traditional demographic segments but essence-aligned groups defined by shared worldviews about how information should be organised, work should be conducted, and tools should function.

The Strategic Pivot

Based on this resonance discovery, Notion made a decisive shift—focusing resources specifically on these high-resonance segments rather than pursuing broader appeal:

Product Development:

• Created templates specifically designed for each resonant segment’s workflows
• Prioritised features that enhanced value for high-resonance users
• Developed onboarding experiences tailored to different segment needs
• Built capabilities that addressed specific challenges these segments faced
• Maintained flexibility while reducing complexity for key use cases

Marketing Approach:

• Refined messaging to speak directly to the worldview of resonant segments
• Shifted resources to channels where these segments naturally gathered
• Developed content specifically addressing their distinctive challenges
• Featured case studies highlighting segment-specific applications
• Created communities connecting users within each resonant segment

Growth Strategy:

• Focused acquisition efforts on environments with high segment concentration
• Developed ambassador programs within resonant communities
• Created segment-specific resources and educational content
• Built relationships with influencers trusted by priority segments
• Designed activation paths tailored to each segment’s natural workflow

The Bidirectional Insight

Perhaps most interestingly, this segmentation work didn’t just guide targeting—it fundamentally refined Notion’s understanding of their own essence. As they engaged deeply with these resonant segments, they discovered that their core essence wasn’t just about productivity (as initially articulated) but about flexibility and customisation—the ability for users to create their own systems rather than adapting to predefined ones.

“Our users taught us who we really were,” reflects Zhao. “By understanding who resonated most deeply with our approach, we gained clarity about our own fundamental essence that we hadn’t fully articulated even to ourselves.”

This bidirectional refinement—where resonant segments helped clarify essence articulation—created a virtuous cycle where clearer essence understanding enabled more focused segment targeting, which in turn further refined essence clarity.

The Transformation Result

This essence-aligned segmentation transformed Notion’s trajectory:

• Accelerated growth through focused resource allocation
• Strengthened differentiation by emphasising aspects most valued by resonant segments
• Enhanced product development through clearer prioritisation
• Created powerful word-of-mouth within segment communities
• Established distinctive position despite larger competitors

Most importantly, it shifted Notion from competing broadly across the productivity landscape to becoming the obvious choice for specific segments that naturally aligned with their essence—creating gravitational pull that attracted perfect-fit customers without requiring massive marketing budgets or feature battles with larger competitors.

Counter-Example: Quibi’s Segment Confusion

To understand the consequences of failing to identify resonant segments, consider Quibi, the short-form mobile video platform that raised $1.75 billion before closing just six months after launch in 2020.

The Demographic Obsession

Unlike Notion’s essence-aligned approach, Quibi based its strategy on traditional demographic segments. Founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, the service targeted “millennials on the go” with premium short-form content designed for mobile viewing.

This demographic approach created several fatal flaws:

1. Value Misalignment Rather than identifying segments that valued their specific differentiation (high-production mobile content in short formats), Quibi assumed all millennials would prioritise these attributes. In reality, this demographic contained vastly different value priorities—many valued content libraries over production quality, community features over mobile optimization, or niche interests over general entertainment.

2. Belief Disconnection Quibi never identified segments that shared their worldview about how entertainment consumption was evolving. Their philosophy that premium content should be formatted specifically for mobile viewing didn’t align with how most consumers (including millennials) actually wanted to consume video—even when mobile.

3. Cultural Vacuum Despite substantial marketing, Quibi never established cultural resonance with specific communities who might have identified with their approach. They remained a service people might use rather than one they would belong to or identify with.

4. Operational Mismatch Quibi’s rigid mobile-only approach failed to align with how even their target demographic actually consumed content across multiple devices and contexts, creating functional friction even for interested users.

The Missing Resonance

What Quibi failed to recognise was that successful positioning requires identifying segments with natural resonance across all dimensions—not just demographic categories presumed to be valuable markets.

As media analyst Matthew Ball noted: “Quibi didn’t fail because millennials don’t watch short videos or premium content. They failed because they never identified specific audience segments where their particular approach created natural resonance. Instead, they built a platform for a demographic category rather than for people with specific values, beliefs, and needs that aligned with their essence.”

The contrast with Notion’s approach is striking. While Notion discovered segments defined by worldview alignment rather than demographics, Quibi remained fixated on broad demographic categories despite spending vastly more on market research. This fundamental difference in segmentation approach—essence alignment versus demographic categorisation—helps explain why one became a $10+ billion success while the other collapsed despite $1.75 billion in funding.

The Bidirectional Relationship: How Segments Refine Essence

While we’ve primarily focused on how essence guides segment identification, it’s important to acknowledge that this relationship works both ways. The process of discovering resonant segments often reveals essence elements that weren’t fully articulated or understood.

This bidirectional relationship creates a virtuous cycle where essence guides segment identification while segment exploration simultaneously refines essence understanding:

1. Revealing Hidden Essence Elements

The process of identifying resonant segments often uncovers aspects of your essence that were present but unarticulated.

When TransferWise (now Wise) analysed their most enthusiastic customers, they discovered that these segments didn’t just value their lower fees but fundamentally aligned with their transparency philosophy. This insight helped them recognise that financial fairness was more central to their essence than they had previously articulated—a realization that subsequently strengthened both their internal identity and external positioning.

2. Clarifying Essence Priorities

Segment resonance patterns often reveal which aspects of your essence create the most meaningful differentiation, helping prioritise among multiple elements.

When Mailchimp examined which segments showed strongest resonance with their approach, they discovered that empowerment resonated far more powerfully than technical capabilities. This pattern helped them recognise that their essence centred more fundamentally on empowering small businesses than on email marketing technology—a priority clarity that subsequently guided both product development and positioning.

3. Finding Essence Language

Sometimes your resonant segments articulate your essence more clearly than you can internally, providing language that better captures your fundamental identity.

When Basecamp explored how their most aligned customers described their value, they discovered the recurring theme of “calm”—contrasting their approach with the chaotic nature of typical workplace technology. This customer language helped Basecamp articulate their essence more effectively as “the calm company” rather than just simplicity-focused productivity—a linguistic refinement that strengthened both internal alignment and market positioning.

4. Discovering Connection Patterns

The relationships between resonant segments often reveal patterns that deepen essence understanding beyond individual segment insights.

When Notion analysed commonalities across their four highest-resonance segments, they discovered that flexibility and customisation were the consistent threads—not just productivity or organisation. This pattern recognition helped refine their essence articulation from generic productivity tool to the more distinctive “all-in-one workspace where you build exactly what you need”—a clarification that strengthened both product direction and market position.

As you identify your resonant segments, remain attentive to these bidirectional insights. The audiences that naturally align with your approach often understand aspects of your essence more clearly than you do yourself—providing invaluable perspective that can refine both your internal identity and external positioning.

The Resonance Mapping Tool

To apply these principles to your own business, the Resonance Mapping Tool provides a systematic approach:

1. Candidate Segment Identification

Begin by identifying potential segments beyond traditional demographic categories:

Current Customer Analysis:

• Who shows the strongest enthusiasm for your approach?
• What patterns emerge among your most engaged customers?
• Who expresses the deepest understanding of your differentiation?
• Which customers would be most disappointed if you changed approach?

Essence-Derived Projection:

• Based on your essence, who would theoretically align most naturally?
• What organisations or individuals share your foundational philosophy?
• Who faces problems that your unique approach solves particularly well?

List 5-8 potential segments with possible resonance, deliberately looking beyond conventional categories to consider alignment with your specific essence and approach.

2. Resonance Assessment

For each potential segment, score alignment across all four dimensions:

Value Resonance (1-10):

• How strongly do their priorities align with your differentiation?
• How completely does your approach address their most valued outcomes?
• How willing are they to invest in the value you create best?

Belief Resonance (1-10):

• How closely does their worldview align with your fundamental philosophy?
• How naturally do they agree with your perspective on industry problems?
• How personally do they connect with your origin story and motivation?

Cultural Resonance (1-10):

• How strongly would they identify with your brand and approach?
• How connected would they feel to others who choose your solution?
• How closely does your essence align with how they see themselves?

Operational Resonance (1-10):

• How completely does your approach address their functional needs?
• How well do your methodologies align with their existing processes?
• How effectively does your delivery model fit their constraints?

Calculate a Combined Resonance Score (out of 40) for each segment.

3. Business Potential Analysis

For high-resonance segments (score >30), assess business viability:

Market Opportunity (1-10):

• How large is this segment in terms of potential customers?
• Is this segment stable, growing, or declining over time?
• What revenue or impact might these customers represent?

Competitive Position (1-10):

• How effectively are their needs currently being addressed?
• What advantages does your approach offer these customers?
• How defensible would your position be with this segment?

Accessibility (1-10):

• How efficiently can you reach and engage this segment?
• What channels allow cost-effective connection?
• What barriers might limit your ability to connect?

Strategic Alignment (1-10):

• How does this segment align with long-term objectives?
• How well do your capabilities match their requirements?
• Could success with this segment create momentum for others?

Calculate a Business Potential Score (out of 40) for each high-resonance segment.

4. Prioritisation Matrix

Map segments on a matrix for visual prioritisation:

• X-Axis: Business Potential Score
• Y-Axis: Resonance Score

This creates four quadrants:

• High Resonance/High Potential: Primary Focus
• High Resonance/Lower Potential: Secondary Focus
• Lower Resonance/High Potential: Selective Approach
• Lower Resonance/Lower Potential: Avoid

5. Essence Refinement Assessment

Based on your resonance findings, reflect on essence clarity:

• What aspects of your essence created strongest resonance?
• Did high-resonance segments reveal essence elements you hadn’t fully articulated?
• What language did resonant segments use that might enhance your essence expression?
• What patterns emerged across different resonant segments?
• How might these insights refine your essence articulation?

A Final Thought: Magnetism Through Resonance

As we conclude our exploration of resonant segmentation, it’s worth reflecting on a fundamental truth: the customers who will create your greatest gravitational pull aren’t those who match a demographic profile but those who share your worldview.

The businesses that become obvious choices in their markets don’t achieve this status by targeting the largest segments or most conventional categories. They create natural magnetism by focusing on audiences with whom their essence naturally resonates—those who see the world similarly, value the same things, and identify with the same approach.

This principle transcends size, industry, and business model. From tiny studios like Studio Neat to global platforms like Notion, from consumer brands like Patagonia to B2B companies like Basecamp, the pattern holds consistent: find the segments that naturally align with your essence, then focus relentlessly on serving them with authenticity and excellence.

Your path to becoming the obvious choice begins not with chasing the biggest market but with finding your resonant audience—those for whom your distinctive approach creates natural gravity that no marketing budget or feature set could ever replicate.

As Seth Godin wisely observed: “Everyone is not your customer.” The sooner you embrace this truth and identify who truly resonates with your essence, the sooner you’ll create the focused magnetism that makes you the obvious choice in your market.

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The Resonance Mapping Worksheet

1. Segment Identification

List 5-8 potential segments with possible resonance:

1. ---

2. ---

3. ---

4. ---

5. ---

6. ---

7. ---

8. ---

2. Resonance Assessment

For each segment, evaluate:

Segment 1: ________________

• Value Resonance (1-10): _____
  • How strongly do their priorities align with your differentiation?
  • How completely does your approach address their valued outcomes?
• Belief Resonance (1-10): _____
  • How closely does their worldview align with your philosophy?
  • How naturally do they agree with your perspective on problems?
• Cultural Resonance (1-10): _____
  • How strongly would they identify with your brand?
  • How closely does your essence align with their self-perception?
• Operational Resonance (1-10): _____
  • How completely does your approach address their needs?
  • How well do your methods align with their processes?
• Combined Resonance Score (max 40): _____

Repeat for remaining segments.

3. Business Potential Analysis

For high-resonance segments (score >30), assess:

Segment: ________________

• Market Opportunity (1-10): _____
  • Size, growth trajectory, value potential
• Competitive Position (1-10): _____
  • Current solutions, your advantages, defensibility
• Accessibility (1-10): _____
  • Reach efficiency, channels, connection opportunities
• Strategic Alignment (1-10): _____
  • Capability match, expansion potential, organisational fit
• Business Potential Score (max 40): _____

Repeat for remaining high-resonance segments.

4. Priority Segments

Primary Focus (High Resonance/High Potential):

• ---

• ---

Secondary Focus (High Resonance/Lower Potential):

• ---

• ---

Selective Approach (Lower Resonance/High Potential):

• ---

• ---

5. Essence Refinement Insights

Based on resonance patterns:

Strongest Resonance Elements:

• ---

New Essence Insights:

• ---

Customer Language Discoveries:

• ---

Potential Essence Refinements:

• ---