In today’s competitive landscape, companies often focus on broadening their reach and growing revenue by pursuing more leads and targeting a wider audience. But growth doesn’t always come from casting a wider net—it often comes from understanding your best customers and, equally important, their best customers. This concept, sometimes referred to as the "ICP of your ICP," can unlock untapped opportunities and refine your marketing and sales efforts to be more precise, effective, and profitable.
Understanding the ICP of Your ICP
Most companies are familiar with the concept of an ideal customer profile (ICP)—a representation of the companies or decision-makers that are the best fit for your offerings. However, taking it a step further to explore the customers of your ideal customers creates a multiplier effect in your GTM strategy.
The ICP of your ICP approach starts with analyzing your current top-performing clients. You can classify your ICP by determining those customers who
- Purchase more from you than other customers
- Have the potential to purchase more from you than other customers
- Deliver the most profitability to acquire and serve
- Serve as your biggest advocates to refer new customers
- Or any combination thereof
Next, consider what types of companies/consumers does your ICP serve? What industries comprise their ICP, and who are the key decision-makers in those buying decisions?
By mapping these relationships, you begin to uncover a secondary layer of opportunity—new markets that are aligned with your capabilities, but one you might not have previously considered.
The Business-to-Business-to-Business Scenario
For example, a manufacturer providing specialized equipment to assembly line operators may identify that its best clients are in the automotive sector, serving suppliers who, in turn, provide parts to global automakers.
By understanding the buying needs and decision-making processes of the automakers, the manufacturer can tailor its value propositions to resonate with this extended network, even though the automakers themselves are not direct clients. When your customers’ customers buy more from them, they buy more from you.
In addition, you can consider what other companies have similar buying needs and decision making processes as automakers. Maybe tractor, trailer, boat, lawnmower, ATV, and other producers mimic automakers as an ICP – so the question becomes, what assembly line operators serve those similar industries where your value proposition will resonate for the same reasons with suppliers to other markets.
The Business-to-Distributor-to-Consumer Scenario
An often-overlooked dimension of the ICP-of-ICP strategy is the Business-to-Distributor-to-Consumer (B2D2C) approach. By understanding not just your distributors but the end consumers they serve, manufacturers can craft targeted marketing and sales campaigns that drive consumer demand.
For example, a manufacturer produces industrial-grade air filtration systems that it sells primarily through distributors who supply HVAC contractors. By analyzing the ICP-of-ICP, the manufacturer identifies that the end users—commercial building managers—are highly motivated by energy efficiency and regulatory compliance.
Armed with this insight, the manufacturer develops a targeted campaign directed at building managers, including educational content, case studies, and ROI calculators. As a result, building managers demand these filters from their contractors, who in turn place larger orders with the distributor. The distributor sees higher sales volume, and the manufacturer’s product experiences increased penetration in the market—all driven by targeting the end consumer within the distributor network.
Data: The Foundation for ICP-of-ICP Success
Executing an ICP-of-ICP strategy requires accurate, structured data. Here are the key elements:- CRM Excellence: A robust CRM system is essential. It should allow you to track both direct customers and the organizations they serve, including key contacts, purchase history, and engagement data.
- Decision-Maker Identification: Understanding the hierarchy within your ICP’s clients is critical. The first step is to identify who the decision makers are; this research may require investment in tools such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Affinity, and etc. From there it’s determining who holds influence over purchasing decisions? Who evaluates vendors? Which departments are involved in cross-functional approvals?
- Interest and Motivation Mapping: Decision-makers often have different objectives and pain points. Your messaging must align with these interests, particularly when enterprise-wide decisions involve multiple stakeholders. Understanding their motivations—whether it’s cost savings, operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, or growth enablement—helps craft campaigns and sales outreach that resonate.
People: Aligning Sales and Marketing with the ICP-of-ICP
Even with strong data, the human element is crucial. Sales and marketing teams must be aligned and trained to approach these secondary targets thoughtfully. Consider the following:- Sales Enablement: Provide your sales team with the tools and information to engage decision-makers at the next level, including industry-specific knowledge, case studies, and competitive intelligence.
- Marketing Collaboration: Marketing should develop content and campaigns that speak to the nuanced interests of the ICP-of-ICP, leveraging insights from sales interactions and client data.
- Cross-Functional Coordination: Teams that manage accounts, marketing, and customer success must share intelligence to avoid duplication, ensure consistent messaging, and capture new opportunities.
Process: Structuring GTM Activities
Once you know your ICP-of-ICP, the next step is designing repeatable processes that enable targeted GTM execution:- Segmentation and Prioritization: Not every secondary contact is equal. Prioritize opportunities based on potential lifetime value, alignment with your offerings, and likelihood of engagement.
- Tailored Engagement Plans: Develop multi-touch campaigns that are relevant to each decision-maker’s role and pain points. This can include personalized email outreach, thought-leadership content, or participation in industry-specific events.
- Sales Playbooks: Define step-by-step procedures for outreach, discovery, and follow-up. Include clear guidance on how to escalate conversations or navigate complex approval processes.
- Feedback Loops: Ensure every interaction is captured and analyzed to inform future campaigns. Data-driven iteration is the backbone of a successful ICP-of-ICP GTM strategy.
Systems: Technology to Support Strategy and Execution
Modern GTM strategies require technology that scales. Beyond a CRM, consider:- Marketing Automation: Platforms that can segment secondary targets, trigger personalized campaigns, and track engagement metrics are critical for scaling your ICP-of-ICP initiatives.
- Analytics and Reporting: Track every touchpoint and conversion to evaluate which campaigns drive results, allowing you to double down on successful tactics.
- Integration: Seamless integration between CRM, marketing automation, and customer success tools ensures that data flows freely, enabling more informed decision-making.
Tracking Effectiveness: Metrics That Matter
For ICP-of-ICP strategies to deliver tangible business value, tracking is essential. Key performance indicators might include:- Engagement Rates: Are decision-makers interacting with your campaigns? Which channels perform best?
- Conversion Velocity: How quickly do leads move through the sales funnel compared to standard ICP leads?
- Deal Size and Profitability: Are secondary clients generating higher revenue or improved margins?
- Customer Retention: Do these relationships extend the lifetime value of your primary clients or introduce stickier engagement?
Conclusion: Precision Over Quantity
Experience teaches us that growth often comes from precision depth, not shallow masses. By identifying the ICP of your ICP, companies can expand their reach in a structured, high-impact way. This approach allows organizations to focus on the highest-value relationships, align sales and marketing around meaningful targets, and make the most of their investment in people, data, and systems.
The key takeaways for business leaders considering this strategy are:
- Define the ICP-of-ICP: Understand your top clients’ customers, decision-makers, and purchasing behaviors.
- Invest in data and systems: A robust CRM, integrated marketing automation, and analytics are critical.
- Align people and processes: Sales and marketing must collaborate with clear, repeatable playbooks.
- Measure relentlessly: Track engagement, conversion, revenue, and retention to optimize GTM initiatives.
When executed well, the ICP-of-ICP approach transforms your market perspective from reactive to proactive, turning insights into measurable revenue growth. In today’s competitive business landscape, this precision can be the difference between incremental gains and transformative success.
About the Author
Tara is the Owner and CEO of Atomic Revenue, where she continues to problem-solve, innovate, and define the formula for and establish the discipline of revenue operations that launches client growth with stronger foundations and better ROI. As the company's EOS® Visionary, it is her passion to share what she has learned over the course of her career and help other business owners and leaders increase revenue and grow with consistency. She is also a renowned national speaker.
