More and more, businesses are using social media for more than just marketing. It’s quickly becoming a way of life for online businesses. But is that good or bad?

Personally, I think it’s good.

While branding and reputation management are certainly important, maintaining strong relationships with your customers, partners, and suppliers is equally important. And social media can help you with that too.

Many companies are now using social media to maintain those lines of communication between partners and suppliers, not just customers. This is a use for social media that I want to encourage.

It can be done by manufacturers as well as service businesses. If you have a major supplier that is important to you, why not communicate through LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter where your mutual customers hang out. Let your customers see you interact. That public relationships can help to keep long-term business for both of your companies. Keep it positive and take care of challenging topics in private.

Social media is a business tool. It’s not just a marketing tool. Use it to grow your relationships with customers, partners, and suppliers. It will make your business more efficient. And it could also make it more profitable.

Tags: business tools, small business, Social Media

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 14th, 2012 at 6:47 am and is filed under Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.