Targeting & ICP
How to Choose Industries for a B2B Campaign
Start from why an industry would actually need what you sell, not from a list of industries that seem broadly plausible. A useful industry filter has a specific, explainable reason behind it, a shared regulatory pressure, a common operational pain point, a comparable buying process, not just a guess that "companies like this might be interested."
Practical guide · Published August 22, 2026 · Written by Zaki Usman
Start from the reason, not the list
It's tempting to start by brainstorming a list of industries that feel adjacent to your product and work backward from there. A more reliable approach starts from the actual problem your product solves and asks which industries experience that problem in a strong, consistent way. That reasoning is what makes the resulting industry list defensible, and it's usually narrower and more specific than a brainstormed list would be.
Where to look for real signal
Existing customers are the strongest signal, which industries convert fastest, retain longest, and get the most value. Where that data doesn't exist yet, look for a structural reason a specific industry would face the problem you solve more acutely than others, a regulatory requirement, a labor market pressure, an operational bottleneck common to that type of business.
One industry or several
A single, well-chosen industry can be a strong, focused starting point, especially for a first campaign, since the message can speak directly to that industry's specific situation. Multiple industries can work too, as long as each one has its own real reason for being included rather than being added mainly to increase list size.
Testing before committing
Where there isn't a strong existing signal to draw on, a modest first run against a single hypothesis industry, sized large enough to produce a reliable read, is a reasonable way to validate the reasoning before expanding into additional industries based on assumption alone.
Frequently asked questions
Often just one, chosen for the clearest, most explainable reason it would need the product. A focused message tends to outperform a broader one trying to cover multiple industries at once.
Rely on structural reasoning, a shared operational pressure or regulatory driver, and treat the first run as a test of that hypothesis rather than a confirmed strategy.
Not directly. Format should track account value and list scale more than industry itself, though the message content should absolutely reflect the industry.
Yes, if the resulting list can't reach a scale that justifies a dedicated run. In that case, a closely adjacent industry may need to be added to reach a viable size.
Occasionally, for a product that genuinely serves a need common across many industries. Even then, a shared operational or structural reason should tie the industries together, rather than including them simply to increase reach.
Related topics
Work with Yotru
How Yotru's targeting handles industry selection
When Yotru builds a target list, we push for the explainable reason behind an industry filter before we accept it, existing customer patterns where they exist, or a structural pressure specific to that industry where they don't. That's also what shapes the message itself, since a single-industry campaign built around a real, specific reason tends to outperform a broader one trying to speak to several industries at once. .