Web3 User Segmentation: 6 Use Cases, 5 Metrics, and How to Target Onchain Audiences [With Formulas]

Web3 User Segmentation: 6 Use Cases, 5 Metrics, and How to Target Onchain Audiences [With Formulas]

Web3 User Segmentation: 6 Use Cases, 5 Metrics, and How to Target Onchain Audiences [With Formulas]

Yos Riady

Yos Riady

Last Updated

Last Updated

Updated

Key Takeaways 

  • Web3 segmentation focuses on wallet behavior, not just demographics. 

  • High-value users can be identified and rewarded using onchain activity. 

  • Real-time data from wallets drives better targeting and engagement. 

  • Segments like NFT collectors, governance voters, and DeFi users enable personalized campaigns. 

  • Retention and churn tracking by segment reveals weak points in the user journey. 

  • Tools like Formo help visualize and act on segmentation data instantly.

User engagement is critical for the success of decentralized applications (dApps). Unlike Web2, where engagement metrics focus on clicks, time spent, and interactions, Web3 engagement extends to wallet activity, token holdings, governance participation, and more. Web3 User Segment Analytics leverages onchain and offchain data to group users based on their behavior, enabling highly targeted engagement strategies.

This article explores Web3 User Segment Analytics, key metrics, common user segments, and practical steps for implementation.

Web3 user segmentation helps you to effectively tailor marketing efforts and understand user behavior

Web3 user segmentation helps you to effectively tailor marketing efforts and understand user behavior

What is Web3 User Segmentation?

Web3 User Segmentation is the practice of categorizing users into groups based on their interactions with dApps, onchain activity, token holdings, NFT ownership, and other Web3 behaviors. This helps tailor marketing efforts and understand user preferences more effectively.

Unlike traditional segmentation methods focusing on demographics or past purchasing behavior, Web3 segmentation uncovers real-time user engagement trends through onchain and offchain data..

What is Web3 User Segment Analytics?

Web3 User Segment Analytics refers to the process of tracking, analyzing, and interpreting data from specific groups of Web3 users (wallet segments) to understand their behaviors, preferences, and value with onchain and offchain activity.

By leveraging Web3 user analytics, projects can:

  • Personalize user experiences with data-driven insights

  • Optimize marketing campaigns through precise audience segmentation

  • Improve user retention with tailored engagement strategies

  • Identify high-value users and enhance their platform experience

Use Cases & Benefits of Web3 User Segmentation

Segmenting Web3 users allows teams to go beyond vanity metrics such as acount follows, likes, personal information. Web3 segmentation helps answer questions like:

  • Who are our power users?

  • Which wallets are at risk of churning?

  • What behaviors define high-value users?

1. Personalized Experiences

Web3 user segmentation creates personalized experiences to strengthen loyalty and reduce drop-offs

Segmenting users into groups such as first-time users, repeat users, institutions, degens, or collectors enables more relevant engagement. For example:

  • Onboarding New Users: A DeFi platform can enhance user onboarding by displaying in-app dialog messages that guide first-time wallet users through the setup process and provide helpful tips.

  • Loyalty Programs: Reward active users with exclusive benefits, such as boosted APRs, access to new features, or gas subsidies for those engaged for more than six months.

  • Community Access: Grant token holders exclusive access to gated communities, strengthening engagement and retention.

2. Identifying High-Value Users

Customer Lifetime Value = Average Customer Lifespan x Customer Value

High-value users—those holding significant assets or frequently interacting with a platform—should be prioritized for engagement campaigns. Web3 analytics tools help research your users, track wallet activity, token usage, and staking behaviors. Use cases include:

  • Targeting High-Value Users: A crypto exchange leverages Engage’s "Target Whales" template to offer special promotions to users holding large amounts of a specific token.

  • Early Product Access: Provide VIP users with priority invitations to beta tests, governance proposals, or premium staking pools.

3. Optimizing Content and Campaigns

Understanding user preferences allows teams to tailor content and promotions. Examples:

Example of the best Web3 Marketing Campaigns

  • NFT Launch Promotion: An NFT platform can notify collectors who have interacted with similar content about a new collection, encouraging engagement.

  • DeFi Strategy Insights: Provide guides, real-time market trends, and yield-farming strategies for DeFi power users.

  • DAO Participation: Engage governance users with proposal updates, voting reminders, and rewards for active participation.

4. Reducing Friction & Improving User Experience

Proactive engagement helps address pain points and improve retention. Examples include:

  • Reducing Transaction Failures: A lending protocol can detect multiple failed transactions and display troubleshooting tips or gas refund offers in real-time.

  • Re-engagement Campaigns: Identify inactive users and provide incentives to bring them back, such as exclusive offers or content tailored to their past activity.

5. Enhanced Community Building

Segmented analytics enables stronger community engagement and support:

Discord is the most popular community platform in Web3

  • Exclusive Channels: Token holders access private discussion groups to discuss upcoming features or governance decisions.

  • Developer Support: Technical users can receive updates on SDKs, smart contract changes, and protocol improvements.

  • Live Event Engagement: During a DAO governance vote, Engage can send real-time reminders to increase participation before the deadline.

6. Collecting User Feedback

Post-launch updates and feature releases require user insights to effectively iterate. Engage can facilitate:

  • Feedback Collection: After a major update, dApps can display quick surveys to users who have tested the new features, gathering valuable input for improvements.

How to Effectively Target and Segment Your Web3 Audience

Effectively reaching the right users in Web3 starts with smart audience targeting and segmentation. Here's how to do it:

Define Your Audience

Capture real-time data on user behavior across both onchain and offchain touchpoints using Web3 analytics tools such as Formo. Track wallet activity, transactions, user traits, and behavioral patterns to build a unified user profile for a comprehensive user understanding.

Identify potential users based on:

  • Onchain activity (transactions, token holdings, activity)

  • Demographics (wallet age, country, device)

  • Communities & interests (DAO members, NFT holders, DeFi users)

  • Pain points & goals (security, yield, identity, UX)

Segment Your Audience

Segment users based on the following properties:

  • Wallet net worth (high-value vs. casual users)

  • Crypto interests (NFTs, DeFi, DAOs)

  • Transaction frequency (daily vs. occasional users)

  • Device (desktop vs mobile)

  • Wallet type

  • Referrers and UTM parameters

  • Demographics (country and language)

Leverage real-time data and user behavior insights to refine targeting. Use wallet profiles to find users who resemble your existing audience, improving conversion and retention. Automate campaigns based on actions such as failed/rejected transactions to enhance engagement.

For example, high-value users can receive exclusive offers, while casual users get onboarding support. Monitor segment growth and engagement to optimize campaigns.

Analyze and Visualize Data

Use platforms such as Formo to visualize engagement trends, monitor key metrics, and refine strategies in real-time. 

Example: A chart displaying DeFi users who also participate in governance could highlight cross-promotional opportunities.

Apply Personalization Techniques

Adapt UX, content, and offers to each segment. Tailor your marketing efforts based on the specific behaviors and preferences. 

  • Tailored onboarding: Guide first-time users with educational content, dynamic product recommendations, customized CTAs and messaging

  • Retention: Reward high-value users with exclusive incentives.

  • Re-engagement: Offer personalized incentives to inactive wallets.

For instance, re-engage passive users with personalized rewards or educational content.

Monitor and Optimize Campaigns

Continuously monitor engagement trends, campaign performance, and audience insights using Formo to refine segmentation and improve targeting. A/B test messaging and offers to maximize conversion rates. Continuously test, iterate, and refine based on data.

Example: If a segment shows low engagement with a campaign, test different messaging or offers to refine your approach.

Source:  Do you really know your web3 users? | Devcon SEA

Segmenting Web3 Audiences Examples

Let’s say you’re launching a Dapp. You could segment your Web3 audience to:

Active vs. Passive Users

Active Users: Regularly engage with your platform, such as daily traders, active liquidity providers in DeFi, or regular dApp users. Example: A user who frequently trades tokens on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap.

Engagement Tip: Keep users engaged with personalized offers, loyalty rewards, VIP access, exclusive features, subscription incentives, and a seamless payment experience.

Passive Users: Have wallets but rarely engage with the platform. Example: A user who created a wallet but hasn’t interacted in months.

Engagement Tip: Re-engage passive users with targeted campaigns—tutorials, contextual messages, new feature highlights, surveys, and self-serve support. Boost upsells with timely prompts and A/B testing.

Token Holders

Users who hold your project’s native token but may not engage deeply in other activities. Example: A user who holds Ethereum (ETH) primarily for staking.

Engagement Tip: Offer token holders exclusive benefits, such as governance privileges (voting on key project decisions), staking rewards, or early access to new features or products.

NFT Collectors

Users who actively collect, trade, or engage with NFTs within your platform. Example: A user who collects limited-edition digital art.

Engagement Tip: Launch exclusive NFT drops or provide early access to new NFT collections. Host virtual events or community meetups where collectors can interact with creators or other collectors, creating a sense of belonging.

Governance Participants

Users are involved in the decision-making process of DAOs, voting on proposals or submitting ideas. Example: A user voting on protocol changes in MakerDAO.

Engagement Tip: Recognize their contributions with badges, unique tokens, or enhanced voting rights. Offering additional rewards for active participation encourages further engagement in governance.

Common Metrics in Web3 Segment Analytics

Once you've segmented your users by wallet data, the next step is to measure their performance. Here are the most important metrics to track:

1. Active Users (Daily / Weekly / Monthly)

Track how many wallets in a specific segment are active over different time frames (DAU, WAU, MAU). "Active" could mean:

  • Signed a transaction

  • Interacted with a dApp or smart contract

  • Claimed a token or an airdrop

Active users help you understand user engagement and seasonal behavior across different wallet segments (e.g. NFT holders vs. DeFi users).

2. Revenue per Wallet (RPW)

RPW = Total revenue generated by a segment/number of wallets in that segment

You can customize this based on what revenue means to your project: fees paid, NFT purchases, token swaps, etc.

Revenue per wallet is a Web3-native version of ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), helping you identify your most valuable user segments.

3. Wallet Lifetime Value

Estimates the total value a wallet will bring over its lifetime, including repeat transactions, token holdings, and referrals.

Formula: RPW × average retention duration × margin rate (if applicable)

Wallet lifetime value guides budgeting for acquisition and retention. Helps you calculate payback periods and ROI on growth efforts.

4. Retention & Churn

Retention = % of wallets that return or stay active over time
Churn = % of wallets that become inactive (no txs, no holdings)

Track retention and churn by segment to see who sticks around (e.g., early DAO members vs. newcomers). Retention and churn let you identify weak touchpoints in the user journey and tailor retention strategies by cohort.

5. Campaign ROI (Per Segment)

Tracks how well a specific segment performs after exposure to a campaign. For example:

  • Cost to reach 100 NFT collectors → resulting onchain actions → ROI

  • Token incentive cost → volume of engagement generated

ROI helps you double down on segments that convert best and reduce waste in low-performing groups.

Web3 User Segment Analytics unlocks deeper user engagement, personalized marketing, and sustainable growth. Whether you're running a dApp, DAO, or NFT project, segment analytics helps accelerate growth and drive meaningful interactions.

Formo’s Web3 Analytics empowers you to analyze onchain interactions, delivering actionable insights into user behavior. Gain a deeper understanding of wallet activity to refine user segments, optimize engagement strategies, and build dynamic dashboards for real-time monitoring. With powerful analytics, Formo helps you uncover user patterns, capture key insights, and make data-driven decisions with confidence.

Further sources: 

Follow us on LinkedIn and X to learn how Formo turbocharges growth for leading teams across web3!

FAQs About Web3 User Segmentation and Blockchain Analytics

What is Web3 user segmentation?

Web3 user segmentation is the practice of grouping wallet addresses into distinct audiences based on onchain behavior, token holdings, NFT ownership, and other Web3 activity. Unlike traditional segmentation that relies on demographics or past purchase history, Web3 segmentation uses real-time onchain and offchain data to reveal who your actual users are, what they do, and how their behavior differs across cohorts. Common segments include NFT collectors, DeFi power users, governance participants, token holders, and inactive wallets at risk of churn.

What onchain signals can be used to segment Web3 users by wallet behavior?

Wallet addresses carry a rich set of behavioral signals for segmentation. These include wallet age, transaction frequency, token and NFT holdings, total gas paid, chain preferences, interactions with specific smart contracts, staking behavior, governance votes, liquidity provision activity, and referral source. Combining multiple signals lets teams build specific cohorts such as active DeFi users, passive token holders, or high-value whales, each requiring a different engagement approach.

What does a digital asset engagement dashboard by wallet segment show?

A wallet segment dashboard visualizes engagement trends, key metrics, and behavioral patterns broken down by cohort. For example, it can display how DeFi users who also participate in governance differ in retention from users who only hold tokens, or surface which segments are showing early churn signals. Formo enables teams to build real-time dashboards that monitor segment growth, campaign performance, and wallet activity across these cohorts, supporting faster decisions on targeting and retention.

How do I use crypto segmentation software to target users in marketing campaigns?

Start by defining your audience using onchain activity, token holdings, wallet age, community membership, and offchain signals like UTM parameters and referral sources. Segment users into cohorts such as high-value wallets, passive users, NFT collectors, or governance participants. Then run targeted campaigns for each cohort: onboarding content for first-time users, exclusive offers for high-value wallets, re-engagement incentives for inactive wallets, and governance reminders for DAO participants. Monitor campaign ROI per segment and A/B test messaging to refine which offers convert each cohort best.

How does offchain data improve Web3 user segmentation?

Offchain data adds context that onchain data alone cannot provide. Connecting UTM parameters and referral sources to wallet activity shows which marketing channels drive high-value users. Combining onchain behavior with email engagement, CRM data, or community platform activity maps the full user journey from social discovery through onchain conversion. This hybrid approach lets teams attribute campaign spend to onchain outcomes and build segments that reflect both what users do on-chain and how they arrived.

What metrics should I track for Web3 user segment analytics?

The core metrics are daily, weekly, and monthly active wallets by segment to track engagement trends; revenue per wallet, which is the Web3 equivalent of average revenue per user; wallet lifetime value calculated from revenue per wallet multiplied by average retention duration; retention and churn rates by cohort to identify which segments are growing or dropping off; and campaign ROI per segment to measure which cohorts respond best to specific offers. These metrics together reveal where to invest in acquisition and where to intervene on retention.

How does Formo support Web3 user segmentation?

Formo enables teams to capture real-time onchain and offchain data, build unified wallet profiles, and visualize segmentation data through dashboards. It supports tracking of wallet activity, transaction patterns, token usage, and behavioral signals, then lets teams group users into cohorts and automate campaign targeting based on those segments. Teams use Formo to analyze onchain interactions, refine user segments, and monitor engagement in real time without requiring SQL expertise.

What analytics work best for user segmentation in blockchain games?

Blockchain game segmentation shares the same foundation as DeFi segmentation but prioritizes different signals: player retention rates, in-game asset transaction frequency, NFT ownership and trading patterns, and engagement depth with specific game features. Active vs passive player segmentation is particularly valuable, distinguishing daily traders and active participants from wallets that hold assets but rarely engage. Re-engagement campaigns tailored to lapsed players, and loyalty rewards for high-frequency users, are the core use cases these segments enable.

What are the privacy considerations for Web3 user segmentation?

Onchain data is publicly available, but combining it with personal information such as email addresses or real-world identities can trigger GDPR and CCPA compliance obligations. Best practices include getting user consent when combining onchain and offchain data, practicing data minimization by collecting only what is needed for the segment, setting clear data retention policies, and avoiding linking wallet addresses to real-world identities unless essential. Privacy-first segmentation uses onchain behavioral signals as the primary data source and minimizes reliance on personal identifiers.

Is Web3 audience targeting worth it for marketing campaigns?

For projects with a Web3 native user base, wallet-based audience targeting delivers precision unavailable in traditional marketing. Segments built on actual transaction behavior, token holdings, and protocol usage reflect genuine user intent rather than estimated demographics. This enables campaigns that reach verified token holders, active DeFi users, or governance participants directly, reducing wasted spend on users unlikely to convert. Campaign ROI per segment is the key metric for validating whether targeting a specific cohort is generating measurable returns.

About the Author

About the Author
About the Author
Yos Riady

Founder

Founder

Yos Riady is the founder and CTO of Formo, where he helps DeFi teams make analytics and attribution simple. He has been a builder in crypto since 2018 across smart contract development, protocol design, and security. Before Formo, he was a staff software engineer and tech lead at Chainlink Labs. He helped scale Chainlink into the industry-standard oracle for DeFi protocols like Aave, Morpho, and Spark.

Yos Riady is the founder and CTO of Formo, where he helps DeFi teams make analytics and attribution simple. He has been a builder in crypto since 2018 across smart contract development, protocol design, and security. Before Formo, he was a staff software engineer and tech lead at Chainlink Labs. He helped scale Chainlink into the industry-standard oracle for DeFi protocols like Aave, Morpho, and Spark.

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Measure what matters onchain

Formo makes analytics and attribution simple for DeFi apps.

Measure what matters onchain

Formo makes analytics and attribution simple for DeFi apps.

Measure what matters onchain

Formo makes analytics and attribution simple for DeFi apps.