Audience analysis is an important issue to which all writers should pay a lot of attention.
Why?
Because if your writing (whether it’s an article, a report, a book, or a technical document) is not appropriate for its intended audience, then it’ll turn into a waste of time, energy, and resources.
So, in theory, you have to make sure what you are writing fits the intended audience well.
A Big Problem
But here is a problem, a BIG problem: most of the time a writer is not 100% sure who his or her audience is.
Especially if you are working for a corporation or are a part of a writing team, you’d have an approximate idea about the nature of your audience but not a perfect one.
So what do you do?
Approximation Methods
My answer: you apply approximation methods to increase the chances that your writing would be appropriate for your audience. It’s a matter of degrees.
You may never create something that is 100% appropriate for your audience but by applying the time-tested approximation methods you will hopefully get close to that lofty goal.