CRM startup Appboy has launched a customer segmentation product that hopes to find an audience with developers currently focused on building "engagement strategy" applications with a particular emphasis on mobile marketing and analytics.

The youthful development team behind this new launch says that people use mobile apps very differently, yet (they suggest) the actual "in-app experience" is exactly (or almost exactly) the same. As such, the new software aims to provide monetization and segmentation tools based upon how users exhibit in-app behavior. It also incorporates user demographics, social profile data, app sessions, and in app-purchases.

Appboy suggests that its segmentation platform is distanced from pure analytics tools like Mixpanel and pure messaging platforms like Urban Airship. "Rather than giving marketers and app developers more data, Appboy lets them act on data in a targeted manner using tools like push notifications as well as in-app messaging, targeted emails, content recommendations, and general customer support," says the team.

Appboy's cofounder and CEO Mark Ghermezian said that his firm's software is already tracking millions of app customers for major apps like College Humor and Frametastic.

Ghermezian points out that Appboy's clients are using the new segmentation tool to create viral growth among people with large social media followings, re-engaging lapsed users who have not opened an app recently, and identifying high-value behaviors to create the best opportunity for an upsell.