Superannuation funds need to take a structured approach to developing an online strategy, starting with the basics of monitoring what conversations their members are having on the Internet.
"My advice to super funds has been: 'Get your house in order before you make an iPhone app,'" Key Message principal Tim Longhurst said.
"Nobody is asking you for a superannuation fund iPhone app; they are googling you, they are googling questions about their funds and they are discussing their experiences of funds online."
Longhurst spoke earlier this week to super fund executives at the invitation of Fund Executives Association Limited.
"Looking at the eyes of executives and the shaking of heads, I think many of them are not there yet," he said.
A number of super funds have tried to tap into social media to get a better engagement with their members.
But Longhurst rejected the idea members were disengaged in the first place.
"Every month, 2.3 million superannuation-related searches are made in this country," he said.
"So the members are out there taking an interest, but are the funds responding in such a way that they are part of that conversation?"
He suggested funds should have staff dedicated to monitoring conversations online and note what questions members were asking.
"Google prioritises information based on what is the best answer to a user's query, and often questions about superannuation aren't being answered by superannuation funds," he said.
"They are being answered by the customers of super funds on social networks, they are being answered by blogs or Choice magazine, and it may be that funds like to answer those questions themselves.
"There are some examples of funds that have gone through the effort of beginning to answer the questions in ways that people are asking them, but those super funds are in the minority."
