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Generative AI is everywhere now. You see it in content, campaigns, customer experiences, and even internal workflows. It promises speed, scale, and efficiency, but there’s a harder question sitting underneath all that progress; Do your audiences actually trust it?

Trust in the Age of AI: What Consumers Really Think About AI Generated Content

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

No two customers are quite alike. But dig deeper and you’ll find that some of your B2B customers share unique characteristics. Knowing these characteristics — a process called B2B segmentation — makes it easier to tailor your marketing and customer journey in a way potential customers will notice.

In marketing, generalized messaging isn’t always effective. General messaging talks to everyone and no one. There’s nothing that makes your customer stop in their tracks and think, “Hey, they really get me!”

That’s where B2B customer segmentation can help. While many marketers associate segmentation with consumer marketing, it also applies to business customers. Here’s how you can use this strategy to reach more customers and drive more sales.

What Is an Example of B2B Customer Segmentation?

Key Differences Between B2B and B2C Customer Segmentation

Methods for Effective B2B Customer Segmentation

Best Practices for Successful B2B Customer Segmentation

Implementing B2B Customer Segmentation in Your Business

B2B customer segmentation refers to how you divide your business’s customers into groups, or “segments.” These segments are based on shared characteristics, such as the products they purchase or the lead channels they came through.

For example, a business selling software might have customers in multiple industries. Companies might vary in size (e.g., startups, enterprise customers). Knowing these characteristics, you can tailor your marketing, sales, and product offerings to meet their unique needs. This might have an affordable solution for smaller companies and more advanced features for enterprises, for example.

You might also hear customer segmentation referred to as audience segmentation. Same thing.

Ultimately, B2B segmentation helps you target your efforts more effectively. You can put the right message in front of the right person via the right channel. This also helps you prioritize resources and find growth opportunities within different segments.

The importance of customer segmentation cannot be overstated. Segmentation allows you to tailor your sales and marketing to different types of customers in ways that matter to them. They’re more likely to notice your campaigns when you speak directly to their needs. 

It also gives you a more accurate picture of who your target customers are and what makes them buy from you. Segmenting is powerful for surfacing your competitive advantages, and you can build on these insights to attract more customers.

Want to see how Meltwater Consumer Intelligence can help you create new customer segments? Click here and fill out the form below for a personalized demo!

Let’s dig deeper into our software business example of B2B segmentation. Here are customer segmentation examples to put things into perspective.

Your customers might include small businesses, mid-size companies, and large enterprises. A B2B customer segmentation strategy might include:

Smaller storage packages, basic features, and lower monthly fees for small businesses

More storage, advanced features, and scalable pricing plans for medium companies

Extensive storage, enterprise-level security features, dedicated customer support, and custom pricing for large companies

Companies of all industries rely on software for many aspects of their business. Knowing which industries you serve can help you better segment your customers and tailor your products to them. 

Segmentation for B2B in this case might include the following:

Technology firms might need fast, scalable solutions and integrations with other tech tools.

Healthcare organizations focus on data security and compliance with regulations like HIPAA.

Schools and universities could be interested in discounted pricing for educational institutions.

In this case, you’re looking at the characteristics that stand out to each type of industry. You want to align your messaging with what they think is important in a software solution.

Segmenting customers by geographic location is a common option for B2C marketing, but it can also apply to B2C. 

Here’s how segmentation for B2B might look:

Customers in North America may prefer local data centers and 24/7 customer support in their time zone.

European clients might prioritize GDPR compliance and multilingual support.

Businesses in the Asia-Pacific region might gravitate to flexible pricing and local partnerships.

Another option is to pay attention to your customers’ buying behaviors. Various customer behaviors can indicate their loyalty toward you and their willingness to buy from you in the future and refer you to others. 

B2B customer segmentation examples in this case may include:

New customers who likely need guidance early and often

Long-term clients who might be interested in premium features or upsells

Price-sensitive customers who prioritize cost over features and might respond better to discounts or special offers

Tip: Check out our Personalization at Scale Guide to discover how in-depth customer segmentation can help you create better customer experiences!

There’s some overlap between B2B and B2C customer segmentation, but the differences between the two are worth mentioning.

In B2C, your customers are individual consumers. Marketers usually segment customers by demographics (age, gender, income), psychographics (lifestyle, values), or behavior (purchasing habits).

In B2B, other characteristics matter. Businesses are your customers, not the general public. You can segment customers based on things like company size, industry, revenue, or even job function.

The decision-making process in B2B is often more complex and involves multiple stakeholders.

For instance, a purchase might require approval from a manager, finance department, and even the CEO. Because of longer and more complex buying cycles, marketers usually need to account for the roles and responsibilities of various decision-makers.

In B2C, the decision-making process is usually simpler — it typically involves just one or two people. Segmentation here might focus on individual preferences, emotional triggers, and buying motivations.

B2C transactions are usually smaller and more frequent. Segmentation focuses on purchase behavior, like how often someone buys a product or their average spend per transaction.

In B2B, transactions are larger in scale and the relationships are long term. Segmentation may focus on the frequency of purchases, contract size, or the potential for repeat business. For example, you might segment based on high-value clients versus occasional buyers.

Relationships are critical in B2B. Businesses tend to build long-term partnerships with vendors or service providers. Therefore, B2B segmentation may focus on customer loyalty, relationship stage (new vs. long-term client), or the potential for upselling.

While relationships matter in B2C, especially for building brand loyalty, the focus is heavier on attracting new customers and encouraging repeat purchases. Segmentation might target loyal customers, first-time buyers, or those at risk of churning.

The goal of B2B segmentation is to group your customers in a way that allows you to personalize your marketing to specific needs. These three B2B customer segmentation models can help you start uncovering potential customer segments.

Similar to segmenting by demographics, firmographic segmentation refers to dividing customers by company attributes. This could be company size, industry, revenue, or even the customer’s target customer.

Focusing on firmographics gives you insight into how a company operates and what their needs might be. You can better align your product offerings when you know their needs and preferences.

Many companies offer their B2B services in tiers — multiple levels of service at varying price points. You might market to each tier in different ways.

For example, your lowest-priced tier might cater to small businesses or price-sensitive customers who prioritize value. 

You can also peel back the layers of each tier to find sub-segments of each type of customer. 

A needs-based approach focuses on finding the specific needs or pain points of your customers. 

One option is to segment customers based on the challenges they face. For example, some businesses might prioritize cost savings, while others focus on improving efficiency or compliance.

Different customers might require different solutions. Segmenting by the type of solution they need — such as basic, advanced, or customized — can help you better meet their needs.

These are just a few types of B2B customer segmentation. As you explore different ways to group your customers, you’ll likely uncover multiple B2B customer segmentation characteristics that may prove valuable in your marketing.

The challenges of B2B customer segmentation can prevent companies from taking full advantage of this opportunity: a lack of marketing data, complex buying cycles, and changing market conditions, for example.

To get the most from B2B customer segmentation, we recommend following these best practices.

Take a moment to clarify your marketing goals. Are you trying to increase sales, improve customer retention, or optimize your marketing efforts? Your objectives will guide the segmentation process.

Make sure the data you’re using is reliable and up to date. You can check your CRM, sales data, and external sources to learn more about your customers and the relationships between them.

Consumer intelligence platforms like Meltwater can also help you find customer segments. AI-powered tools can find connections between data that might evade the human eye.

Segmentation doesn’t have to be overly complicated. Start small with basic, broad segments. Test these segments and adjust your approach before moving into more complex segments.

There’s a difference between personas vs segments, and both can help you effectively market your business when done right.

Your segment is a group of customers who share similar characteristics. Of that group, you can create one or more “personas” that represent people within the segment.

Personas are helpful when designing your marketing messaging. The personas should represent the customers within the segment. You can ensure you’re speaking directly to your ideal customer and get rid of any messaging or tactic that doesn’t cater to their needs.

As you develop your customer segments, make sure you test how well your marketing performs for each segment. Customer segmentation tools like Meltwater can help you keep the details of each segment in one place and track your efforts.

Customer segmentation for B2B can help you maximize your marketing resources while minimizing the effort to reach the right audience. Meltwater can help you surface segments with ease, including those you might not have thought to explore.

Meltwater is an AI-driven data platform that lets you tune in to your customers across the web. We analyze billions of data points in real time, allowing you to keep tabs on conversations that matter to your business. 

Discover more about your customers’ needs and what they’re saying about your products or industry, and get inside their minds so you can market to them more effectively.

B2B Customer Segmentation: Unlocking Business Growth

Wondering how school break flew by? You’re not alone. While many of us in the Northern Hemisphere were savoring the last days of summer, back-to-school season came creeping in. We took a look at the online, social media, and news conversation from July 1 through August 28 to see what was top-of-mind for parents, teachers, students, and more as the 2024-2025 school year begins.

Check out our back-to-school data blogs from 2022 and 2023 to see how trends have changed.

Back-to-school conversations have been rising gradually since early July. Mentions spiked four times higher than average on August 26, the first day of school in many regions of the United States and Canada. Among the content that scored the highest engagement that day were several Pinterest recipes for school snacks, quick breakfasts, and easy weeknight meals. 

This post on Pinterest generated about 248,000 engagement actions.

Learn more about how consumers use Pinterest to find budget-friendly meal ideas and recipes for plant-based dupes of their favorite foods.

The overall sentiment of this year’s back-to-school conversations have been more positive than negative thanks to posts expressing anticipation and joy for returning to classes. Still, not all students were excited about the new school year. The content that generated the most engagement was a post on X about a child who thought they were finished with school. 

This post on X generated about 310,000 engagement actions, including about 17,000 reposts and 1,700 replies, in just over a week.

For the second year in a row, #clearthelist is the second most popular hashtag in the conversation. Educators and their supporters use the hashtag to promote back-to-school supplies and resources for their classrooms. 

In a similar vein, #bettertogether has newly become a top back-to-school hashtag. Both it and #clearthelist are commonly used to indicate a sense of collaboration and community in supporting teachers and their classrooms.

This post on X generated about 1,5700 engagement actions and got about 66,500 views.

On X, slightly more than half of those talking about back-to-school season self-identify as teachers. That is one reason why authors in the X conversation tend to be adults.

And while Amazon is the most-mentioned online store on X, a different website leads the way in back-to-school conversations on Pinterest.

On the visual pinboard site, Etsy racked up more than 3,600 mentions, more than three times the volume of Amazon mentions. Compare that to the overall conversation, shown below, where Amazon was the clear e-commerce winner. 

Explore our data deep-dive into how consumers discover and research new items and brands. 

The stack of books emoji is having a moment in the sun with about 51,400 mentions in back-to-school conversations. Netizens often use it in posts about back-to-school tips, checklists, craft ideas, and giveaways. Meanwhile, the broken heart emoji is the icon of choice for posts about back-to-school anxieties, as well as related health and financial struggles. 

Confused about emoji meanings? Take a look at our helpful guide.

Overall, digital conversations indicate a general sense of hope and excitement going into the school year. Interested in seeing how these topics evolve as the months go on? Learn how with a demo of the Meltwater Suite. 

2024 Back-to-School Topics and Trends

Your market positioning strategy is a key piece when it comes to brand development. It helps guide content marketing plans, influencer marketing tactics, pricing and distribution models, and can even have an impact on decisions made outside of the marketing department.

But the concept of marketing positioning can be a little ambiguous. So in this post, we’ll delve into all you need to know about marketing and product positioning.

How to Kick Start Your Market Positioning Strategy

Examples of Marketing Positioning Signals

Branding and digital marketing expert, Phil Kotler (also known as the "father of modern marketing”), defines market positioning as “the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market”. 

In general, strategic positioning is used to influence the perception of a company or product in relation to others in the market. The idea is to create an image and brand identity that audiences recognize and relate to in a positive way.

See also: what is brand recognition, and the secrets behind excellent product branding 

Perception is complicated. It varies from person to person and it’s fragile — it can take years to craft and seconds to shatter. 

So, if it’s so temperamental, why do professionals invest millions into strategic market positioning? Well, there are a number of advantages that outweigh the risks, including:

With advantages like these, it’s clear why so many teams strive to have a well-laid out brand positioning strategy. Read on for how you too can reap these kinds of rewards.

To get started on a market positioning strategy, you need to asses the market as a whole, learn and track how your competitors are doing, and understand your goals. Here are some simple steps you should follow:

In order to create a unique positioning in marketing, you first need to understand how you compare to other companies in your space. This can be achieved through performing a competitive analysis using competitive intelligence.

How much influence do they have on each other?

What key themes are associated with each competitor?

Are certain competitors thought of more favorably?

What do consumers like and dislike about them?

Where are they performing the strongest? 

How is the industry landscape performing as a whole?

Any threats or disrupters to keep an eye on?

How does your organization compare and contrast amongst others in your category?

Once you have the answers to the above questions, your competitive positioning will become clearer. 

Additional resources: How to Perform a Competitive Analysis, Competitor Benchmarking: What It Is and Why It Is Important﻿

Next, using the insights gathered from your competitive analysis, create a map of the market that shows your competitive positioning. A perceptual map, sometimes referred to as a position map or market map, is a visual representation of how competitors are positioned in relation to your organization. 

Through market mapping, you can better understand the thoughts and behaviors of consumers, spot industry trends, and identify gaps in your category, helping you craft a unique and differentiated identity.

Market maps takes the form of a matrix, representing two or more attributes that are rated on a scale. It's typically to compare a qualitative vs. qualitative attribute such as the following:

Here are some examples to help you get started creating your your own map:

Never made this type of map before? We can recommend checking out GroupMap’s free tool and reviewing this article offering tips on plotting and reading market maps. 

By now you should have a good idea of how you want to be perceived. The next step is to formalize these ideas into a written statement.

As explained by Hubspot, a positioning statement is a brief description of a product or service, the target market, and how the product or service fills a particular need of the target market. 

It's an internal tool designed to focus and align efforts with your brand, mission statement, and value proposition. 

G2: G2 provides a B2B review site for business professionals who are looking to quickly discover, buy, and manage the best technology for their needs. Unlike other B2B review sites, G2 offers 700K+ unbiased and verified user reviews in over 1400 categories.

HubSpot: Since 2006, HubSpot has been on a mission to make the world more inbound. Today, over 68,800 total customers in more than 100 countries use HubSpot’s award-winning software, services, and support to transform the way they attract, engage, and delight customers. Comprised of Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, and a powerful free CRM, HubSpot gives companies the tools they need to Grow Better.

Tips for writing a positioning statement:

Follow the below positioning statement example formula as a rule of thumb: 

For [your customer], [your company] is the [your market] that best delivers on [your promise] because [your company] is [your evidence].

Now you that you understand your positioning and have summarized it into a statement, it’s time to think about what marketing positioning strategies you’ll use. 

Companies that generate strong, positive, connections in consumers minds didn’t happen by chance. A team of marketing experts carefully crafted that perception through a number of signals (or strategic positioning strategies). 

Let’s explore some of those signals in more detail:

More often than not, price is a key factor in a customers decision-making process. Because of this, marketing teams use their pricing strategy to portray a distinct image and, hopefully, influence how prospective customers perceive the value being presented. 

Pricing strategy can revolve around keeping prices as low as possible, or it can be more complex. Offering "premium" prices, or pricing higher than the competition can trigger a sense in consumers mind that the higher priced items are better quality, or more worth the cost.

Price and perceived quality often go hand in hand, which is why they’re frequently used attributes for perception maps. According to David Aaker, consultant and professor, perceived quality has three prongs:

1. Objective quality: based on the performance of a product
2. Manufacturing quality: based on how well made a product is (or isn't)
3. Product-based quality: associated with features, parts, ingredients, or services

Say you have two TVs, one is a 4K plasma Smart TV with after sales care, and the other is a standard model with no bells and whistles. 

You may think that the entry-level TV would naturally be perceived as being lower quality as it has fewer features. But strategic marketing positioning requires you to understand what "quality" means to different customer segments. 

If certain audiences prefer to look at the manufacturing specs materials used and the entry-level TV comes out top, consumers will deem that to be of better quality regardless of the product attributes of the plasma TV. Moreover, the plasma TV may be produced by a company that has a history with product recalls, in which case, consumers are likely to think that entry-level TV is still better quality. 

So to summarize, it's important to achieve perceived quality on a level that consumers consider important. Want to learn more about better understanding your target audience and their decision making process? Check out our Meltwater Audience and Consumer Insights tool or take a look at the best consumer insights tools in comparison!

Another positioning signal often leveraged by marketing and branding teams is corporate endorsements. 

While McDonald's is known as being a fast-food company, they worked to dispel their unhealthy image through their London 2012 Olympic sponsorship. 

Despite the sponsorship confusing people at first, it gave McDonald's the publicity and platform they wanted to raise awareness around obesity. In line with their sponsorship, they unveiled a large-scale promotional push which took place throughout the duration of The Games and included activity toys with Happy Meals and vouchers for sport sessions. 

The Meltwater Blog

B2B Customer Segmentation: Unlocking Business Growth

2024 Back-to-School Topics and Trends

How to Create an Effective Market Positioning Strategy

Food Prices and Inflation: What’s Trending in Online Conversations and Media Coverage

Target Group Analysis: Understanding Your Ideal Customers

37 Tips for How to Get More TikTok Followers

A Marketer's Guide to Lead Generation (New Tips & Strategies)

Twitch Influencers: Top 5 Twitch Influencers to Work With in 2025

Paris 2024: The data behind what got the world talking

The Power of Instagram Stories: A Marketer's Guide

How to Find Twitter Influencers to Grow Your Brand

5 Vital Marketing Collaboration Stats (And How We Found Them)