# Segmentation

> Dividing your audience or customer data into groups that share attributes or behavior, so each group can be analyzed, targeted, or messaged differently.

**Segmentation** is dividing your audience or customer data into groups that share attributes or behavior — new vs returning, high vs low value, by source, by product interest — so each group can be analyzed, targeted, or messaged differently. It is an analysis-and-organization step that happens on your data before it is used for targeting.

## How segmentation works with AnyTrack data

Because AnyTrack collects conversions with their source, value, and customer identifiers, the data it forwards lets you segment by what actually drove revenue — converter vs non-converter, by [conversion](/glossary/conversion) type, by campaign — and turn those segments into [audiences](/glossary/audience) the ad platforms can act on. Cleaner conversion data makes segments more accurate, which in turn makes targeting and lookalike modeling more accurate.

## Segmentation vs Ad Targeting

- [Ad Targeting](/glossary/ad-targeting) — segmentation builds the groups from your own data; ad targeting aims a campaign at people, often using those groups.