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But with rewards come risks.

Reaching out to millions of consumers who thrive online around the clock requires an investment, a different type of thinking and some courage, says Petouhoff. She spent six months on a just-released report on monetization of social-media tools at 20 companies, including Lenovo and Intuit.

Many companies — reflecting the general public's sentiment toward social media — fall into two camps: Those who embrace it and those who eschew it. "Those that don't know how to get their arms around it seem to be held back by worrying about the legal implications of customers helping customers, and about being too honest with customers," Petouhoff says.