Business lead lists can be classified into a number of categories. They can be based on the various characteristics of the customers, such as age, sex and education. They can also be based on the geographical and other characteristics of the markets.

Segmentation based on region, continent, country, state and climate of the area comes under geographic segmentation. Segmentation based on age of the customer, sex, family size, race, religion, occupation and income level comes under demographic segmentation.

To consider an example, marketers have segmented the market for consumer goods in US into three broad segments: the high-income group, the middle class and the lower income group. Though the middle class constitutes a well-defined segment in itself, marketers have found that middle-class US consumers can be understood better if one further segments them into suitable subcategories.

Such segmentation would bring about a deeper understanding of their buying motives and behaviors. Once such segments are identified, products and appeals can be correspondingly tailored to fit individual segments.

Variables such as personality types, lifestyles and value systems form the basis of psychographic segmentation. Psychographics can prove valuable for finding and explaining markets, as consumer differences extend beyond demographics. Psychographic segmentation facilitates the selection of people who en masse react in a particular manner to a particular emotional appeal, and share common behavioral patterns as buyers.

Then there exists the buyer behavior segmentation where the primary idea is that different customer groups expect different benefits from the same product, and as such their motivations in owning it and their behavior in buying it will be different.

In volume segmentation, the quantity of purchase or the potential quantity of purchase is the basis for segmentation. There may be different types of buyers, such as bulk buyers and small-scale buyers, regular buyers and one-time buyers. All will have to be treated differently.