I don’t know about you, but October really snuck up on me this year. October brings a new quarter upon us, and for a many of us, it also means the last quarter of the year. For me, the 4th quarter means a combination of ending the year on a high note while also starting my 2012 planning. I also use this time to evaluate what I am doing with regards to marketing, so I can make adjustments heading into the new year.

I figured I would share with you some of the things that I evaluate for myself and for my clients when I look at overall marketing strategy and more specifically social media strategy. The hardest part of this process is being objective, which is why I often perform this service for companies so they get an honest look at their activity, but if you take a step  back and view it from your audience’s point of view, you’ll be fine.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. Are we engaging our target audience or our peers?

2. Are we seeing more engagement than we did a year ago across all of our marketing tools?

3. Is it harder to come up with content ideas than a year ago?

4. Are you meeting your measurement goals?

Don’t worry if you don’t like your answers. Like anything else, as you are “doing” social media on a daily basis, you can be susceptible to losing sight of the big picture. That’s what the check-up or social media audit is for, take a pulse and make improvements where necessary. Over the next 4 weeks, let’s dig a little deeper into each of these four questions and get ready for 2012. Sound good?