There is a persistent assumption in financial services that complexity must be matched with complexity in communication. For Ellisha Jade, Social Media & PR Manager at Twenty7tec, that mindset is exactly what holds the industry back.
“The industry often assumes people won’t understand it, so it speaks in a way that actually makes it harder to engage with,” she told Financial Promoter. “But people aren’t disengaged because it’s finance. They’re disengaged because it’s not explained in a human way.”
Jade’s route into fintech is anything but traditional. With a background in fashion PR, digital styling and small business marketing, she has moved across industries while maintaining a consistent focus on storytelling, audience psychology and content-led engagement.
That shift into financial services, she says, was less of a leap than many assume.
“I look at things very holistically. Whether it’s fashion or fintech, the principles are the same. You’re still trying to understand people, what they care about, and how they behave online.”
From fashion storytelling to financial services
Before joining Twenty7tec, Jade spent years working across small business marketing and content creation, including running her own digital styling agency. That experience, she argues, shaped how she now approaches B2B fintech communication.
“Fashion taught me a lot about attention and emotion. Financial services is often seen as quite rigid, but the audiences are still people. The way they engage with content hasn’t fundamentally changed.”
The challenge, she says, was not adapting to fintech itself, but to the industry’s default tone.
“Fintech felt a lot more cautious in how it communicated. I wanted to bring more personality into it without losing clarity or compliance.”
“Businesses are just people”
A core theme in Jade’s approach is rejecting the idea that B2B audiences behave differently from consumers.
“You’re not talking to a business. A business is just people inside it making decisions,” she says. “Those people still respond emotionally. They still want clarity, reassurance and relevance.”
For her, storytelling is what bridges that gap between product and audience understanding.
“Sometimes people are making decisions based on cost, sometimes on time, sometimes on emotion. Good marketing has to reflect all of those states, not just one message pushed at everyone.”
Social media in financial services: balancing fun and regulation
At Twenty7tec, Jade oversees social media and PR strategy across multiple channels, each serving a distinct purpose.
“We separate content into pillars. Some is education-led, some is product and sales-focused, and some is just more fun and human content,” she explainedexplains.
Platforms are treated differently depending on intent.
“On TikTok and Instagram, people aren’t looking for financial services adverts. They’re there for entertainment. So, we meet them there on their terms.”
That approach, she argues, is not about diluting financial messaging, but about building familiarity before conversion.
“If someone has already seen your brand in a more human way, they’re more likely to trust you when they eventually need your product.”
The shift towards accessibility
Jade believes one of the most significant changes in financial services marketing is the demand for accessibility over authority.
“People don’t want to be spoken down to anymore. They want to understand things, even if it takes humour or analogy to get there.”
That shift is particularly visible in younger, digitally native audiences, but she notes it cuts across demographics.
“There’s a misconception that only younger audiences want simpler content. In reality, everyone does. No one wants unnecessary complexity.”
AI, automation and the future of marketing
As artificial intelligence continues to reshape both financial services and marketing workflows, Jade sees its role as supportive rather than disruptive.
“AI might change how we produce content, but it doesn’t replace the need for human understanding,” she says. “Especially in financial services, where decisions are high-value and personal.”
She is also clear that automation cannot replace trust.
“Someone making a significant financial decision still wants reassurance, context and human input. That doesn’t disappear because technology evolves.”
Stop looking inward for ideas
If there is one consistent message in Jade’s thinking, it is that financial services marketers need to broaden their perspective.
“One of the biggest mistakes is only looking at other financial brands for inspiration,” she says. “If you do that, you just recycle the same ideas.”
Instead, she encourages cross-industry thinking.
“Look at fashion, sport, automotive, entertainment, anywhere people are doing interesting storytelling. That’s where you’ll find better ideas.”
The future: more human, not less
For Jade, the direction of financial services marketing is not towards greater technical sophistication in messaging, but greater clarity.
“The future isn’t about sounding smarter. It’s about sounding more human,” she says. “If people can’t understand what you do quickly, the problem isn’t their attention span. It’s your communication.”
In an industry defined by regulation, data and complexity, she argues that the most effective marketing will remain the simplest: the kind that feels like it was written by a person, not a process.