Technographics
Also known as: technographic
In short
Technographics is the practice and field of profiling companies by the technology they use, much as demographics profile people by age or location and firmographics profile companies by size and industry. The word also commonly refers to the resulting attributes on an account.
This page covers technographics as a segmentation approach: how to turn technology attributes into target lists and campaigns. Technographic data is the underlying information itself.
Technographics as a segmentation lens
Instead of asking "how big is this company?", technographics asks "what is this company built on?" That question often predicts need, integration effort, and buying readiness better than size alone.
- Demographics: Who people are.
- Firmographics: What companies look like.
- Technographics: What technology companies use.
Ways to build technographic segments
- By presence: Companies using a specific tool, such as a given CRM.
- By absence: Companies missing a category you complement, such as no data warehouse.
- By combination: A pair of tools that signals a certain maturity or workflow.
- By change: Companies that recently added or dropped a tool.
Example
Say a company sells onboarding software that integrates with a popular HR platform. It builds three segments: users of that HR platform, users of a rival onboarding tool, and companies growing headcount without any onboarding tool. Each gets different messaging: integration, switching, and first-time adoption.
Getting started
1. Analyze your customers
List the tools your best customers share. Check whether those tools also appear among lost deals.
2. Pick a few tools that matter
Choose those that affect fit, such as required integrations. Dozens of weak signals add noise.
3. Add the fields to your CRM
Store them with a detection date so reps know how fresh each one is.
4. Test and review
Compare reply and win rates across segments, then drop segments that do not outperform.
Common mistakes
- Tool lists without strategy: A long list of detected tools does nothing until tied to a segment and message.
- No timing signal: Technographics show fit, not readiness.
- Blind trust: Detection is inferred, so errors are normal.
Technographics FAQs
What are technographics?
Technographics are attributes that describe which technologies a company uses, such as its CRM, marketing tools, or cloud platform. B2B teams use them to segment accounts and target companies the way demographics segment individual consumers.
What is the difference between technographics and firmographics?
Firmographics describe what a company is like: industry, headcount, revenue, and location. Technographics describe the technology it uses. Using both together helps you find companies that are the right type and have the right technical environment.
How do you use technographics for lead generation?
Build target lists from companies that use, lack, or recently changed a specific technology, then tailor outreach to that situation, such as an integration, a switch, or a first purchase. Pair the segment with a timing signal to reach accounts when they are ready.
Are technographics the same as technographic data?
They are closely related and often used interchangeably. Technographics usually names the practice or field of profiling companies by technology, while technographic data refers to the specific information collected, like which tools a given company uses.
