What marketing strategy involves dividing a market into segments with common needs?

Market segmentation is the process of dividing a broader market into smaller, identifiable segments based on shared characteristics or common needs. This strategy allows businesses to tailor their marketing efforts to specific groups, ensuring that the products or services offered resonate with the targeted audience. By understanding the unique preferences, behaviors, and needs of each segment, companies can create more effective marketing strategies that appeal directly to those groups, leading to improved customer satisfaction and engagement.

This approach is fundamental in identifying and reaching potential customers more efficiently, as it helps marketers allocate resources effectively and craft messages that are relevant to specific segments. The result is not only an enhanced customer experience but also improved sales and market effectiveness.

Other options, while related to marketing, do not focus specifically on the division of the market based on common needs. Target marketing, for instance, comes into play after segmentation and involves selecting specific segments to focus on, making it a follow-up action. Vertical integration refers to a company's strategy related to control over supply chains or distribution channels, and brand positioning pertains to how a company wants its brand to be perceived in the marketplace. Thus, they do not capture the essence of segmenting the market directly based on common attributes.