The five trends reshaping financial services comms 

The communications landscape facing financial services firms is shifting fast. What’s clear is that those who can adapt to and navigate this changing environment have the potential to achieve significant results.  

But what is changing? Looking across the industry right now, five trends are standing out as the forces reshaping how financial services firms build trust, earn attention, and create real competitive advantage. 

1. Influencers and creators have moved from peripheral to central 

For years, influencers were seen as a ‘nice-to-have’ for financial services – helpful for amplifying a campaign, but never core to the comms strategy. That time has gone. Social creators now sit at the centre of how people discover, understand, and judge financial products and services.

Why? Because audiences want clarity, relatability, and straight-talking guidance. They want to hear from people they trust. And increasingly, they trust creators more than corporate channels or even, in some cases, mainstream media.  

The firms doing this well aren’t simply paying someone to recite key messages. They are partnering with creators who align with their values, understand their audience, and bring genuine credibility. The result isn’t reach for reach’s sake; it’s reach that actually converts understanding into action. 

This shift also demands a mindset change: financial brands must now think like publishers, not just PR teams. They need to collaborate, co-create, and allow others to interpret their message – not simply repeat it. 

2. Traditional media still matters and is evolving 

Traditional media has faced tough times over the past decade, but its authority hasn’t disappeared. In fact, in a world facing a trust deficit, high-quality journalism still enjoys significant heft.  

For regulated industries especially, earned media continues to be a critical source of legitimacy. When a respected outlet covers your story, it signals trustworthiness in a way no owned channel can replicate. In many ways a hit in Bloomberg, The Financial Times and The Times has never been more important.  

The bigger shift is that traditional and digital media are no longer competing – they are overlapping and reinforcing each other. Traditional media are often now placing significant investment into their ‘new media’ channels – with podcasts and TikTok channels rapidly gaining a status equivalent to the traditional website. 

There is also the reality for financial services organisation that good coverage drives social engagement; strong social presence makes stories more appealing to editors. The comms strategies that succeed in 2026 will be the ones that treat every channel as interconnected, not isolated. 

3. Storytelling fundamentals haven’t changed – but delivery has 

Every financial brand wants to tell a story, but only the ones with genuine narrative discipline cut through. The fundamentals – clarity, tension, purpose, and human impact – are the same as ever. What’s changed is how stories need to be delivered. 

Audiences skim. Stakeholders multitask. Decision-makers want insight in seconds, not minutes. So the craft now lies in keeping the story intact while reducing the time demanded of your audience. That means: 

• Distilling complex themes into simple, memorable messages 

• Developing assets that travel well across platforms 

• Maintaining consistency even as formats multiply 

The brands that succeed are those that stay anchored in a clear narrative while adapting their delivery to the reality of how people consume information today. 

4. Cut-through requires cultural insight and ruthless focus 

Financial services organisations often try to speak to everyone. The consequence is they speak to no one. 

Cut-through now requires knowing exactly who you are talking to and what cultural and commercial context they are operating in. Whether it’s shifts in consumer behaviour, the economic outlook, or emerging social norms, your messaging needs to reflect the world your audience is living in – not the world you wish they were in. 

Ruthless focus is the differentiator: focus on the themes you can truly own, the audiences you can genuinely serve, and the value you can credibly deliver. When you do that, the noise falls away. 

5. AI is transforming workflows – but not the message 

AI is rapidly reshaping the day-to-day work of financial services comms teams. Briefing, drafting, monitoring, analysis, and even creative ideation are all being accelerated by new tools. Productivity gains are real and only growing. 

But the core message – the thing that ultimately shapes reputation – cannot be outsourced to AI. Strategy, judgment, creativity, and cultural awareness remain human strengths. AI is at its best when used as an enhancer, not a driver. 

The firms that will thrive are those that adopt AI to free their teams to think, not to replace that thinking. 

Financial services comms is becoming more complex, more fragmented, and more competitive. But within that complexity lies enormous opportunity for brands willing to communicate with clarity, confidence, and intent. These five trends aren’t just shaping the landscape; they’re defining the difference between firms that simply speak and those that are actually heard. 

Jack Storry
Head of Corporate