Although brands should be actively monitoring forums for conversations regarding their brands, as well as competing brands, diving straight into the conversation when your name pops up is not always the way to go, says Crosby Noricks, social media strategist for Red Door Interactive. Forums are micro-communities, and each has its own protocol, culture, and influencers (often moderators or those with the most posts). As such, brands need to understand the community first by spending time monitoring before engaging. In addition, she advises, make sure to check the site's terms of service to see if there is any policy regarding brands operating in the forum.

"You may want to send an email to the powers that be at the forum to ask permission to post -- explain in what capacity and what kind of information you want to share," Noricks says. "Commit to becoming an engaged member of the community and not operating as a sales machine."

And if you get the "all clear" from the needed authorities, create an account that is fully transparent -- with your name and a signature that includes your company name and title. If you find a conversation occurring around your product that would benefit from product information, launch dates, or clarification of use or functionality, introduce yourself as a representative of Brand X and provide the information requested.

"This is not the time for sales-speak; this is the time to become a trusted advisor, partner, and friend," Noricks adds. "Do not jump into conversations that tout the benefits of your product or bash competitor products. Most often, forum members will be glad to have an official representative available to answer questions."

Gaetan Fraikin, founder of ad strategy firm Audacity, agrees that brand participation on online product and service review sites can be a tricky issue. In that sense, he notes, there are only two ways to go about it: openly or disguised.

"Transparency with honest disclosure and identification of who a brand is when joining the conversation on a forum is critical," Fraikin says. "Although everyone knows that their input will be somewhat biased, the art is in the control of the tone and content. Any input should be informative, objective, and accurate."