NAF stands for… Nomenclature d’Activités Française, the code developed by INSEE to classify companies by business sector and sub-sector.
This INSEE segmentation is now used by a great many companies in their sales prospecting and in their segmentation for marketing purposes.
Beware! Because the NAF code is far from a reliable criterion for segmenting companies and holds plenty of nasty surprises in store…
Once upon a time there were catch-all NAF codes…
First of all, there are a number of catch-all NAF codes that lump together companies with very heterogeneous activities.
Examples?
In the catch-all NAF category, the winning number is 6420Z for “Activities of holding companies”. Among the more than 100,000 companies listed under it, you’ll find companies such as Areva, Eau Ecarlate, LVMH, Axa Assistance, Vivendi and Sanofi Biotechnology… Quite some diversity in what is the 5th most populated NAF code!
Let’s also mention number 7010Z for “Head office activities”, which counts companies with activities as varied as Adecco, Accor, Monoprix, Alcatel Lucent, Atos International, Lafarge, Casino Services, Danone, Eurazeo and Faurecia…
The same goes for number 7022Z (Business and other management consultancy), which brings together more than 100,000 decidedly motley companies.
If you limit your prospecting to the “classic” NAF codes of the sector you’re targeting, you’ll therefore miss all the companies tucked away in these catch-all codes. Conversely, targeting a catch-all NAF code would mean a high waste rate… So these companies inevitably fall outside your prospecting scope if you reason by NAF code.
And then there are unreliable NAF codes…
Not to mention companies that are classified under the wrong NAF code because their original activity has drifted, or those that are so diversified that they could legitimately belong to more than 10 NAF codes!
…codes that don’t let you target cross-cutting activities or carry out more fine-grained segmentation
Which NAF code would you look under to find cloud companies? Or to find companies with a department of more than 10 sales reps? Or those that are powered by Prestashop? Or indeed those holding a specific certification (EN 9100 in aeronautics, for example)?
In cases like these, the limits of the NAF code are quickly reached…
Lacking scalability, lacking precision, the NAF code isn’t the right criterion for your client segmentation!
Then an alternative solution: semantic search
Thanks to Mixdata, you can now break free from the NAF code! No more hit-and-miss segmentation: you can now target your core prospects based on the keywords and criteria that matter.
Want some search examples? This way.
Already (almost) convinced and want to know how you could identify your target without going through NAF codes? You can request to be contacted by filling in our form.
