Finance brands have a tough job on social media. The topic itself isn’t particularly exciting for most people. There’s a long list of compliance and regulatory boxes to tick before anything goes live, and the industry’s default tone is formal, careful, and corporate. None of that translates well to platforms built for personality and connection.

So how do you make banking feel more human without it feeling forced?

NatWest is one of the brands trying to figure out just that. There’s been a clear shift in content style across all their channels. They’re using more faces, more education and more attempts to speak to different audiences on different platforms. Let’s take a look at how their new strategy is performing and how a Human-First Marketing approach could push their success even further.

Who is NatWest?

NatWest (National Westminster Bank) is one of the UK’s largest retail and commercial banks, and part of NatWest Group. It serves millions of individuals, small businesses, and large organisations across personal banking, business and commercial banking, and financial guidance.

NatWest’s brand identity is built around financial confidence, accessibility and supporting businesses, all of which are themes that consistently appear in their social media content as well as their core product messaging.

What’s Working?

NatWest are clearly making a conscious effort to put humans in front of the camera, particularly across Instagram and TikTok. They’re creating educational videos on topics such as saving up for home improvements and how to spot investment scams with face-to-camera videos. They’ve partnered with influencers like Harriet Fisher to build audience trust and authenticity. There is a clear effort to move away from the faceless corporate feed that many bank brands fall into.

It’s also evident that NatWest understands that not all content works across all platforms. Their LinkedIn content has a very different feel from their more informal presence across TikTok and Instagram. On LinkedIn, they lean into education and thought-leadership in their posts, as this platform caters to a more professional audience. In contrast, on TikTok there is a more lo-fi, informal tone with the content that feels more native to the style of video people expect to see here.

Where It’s Falling Short

Despite their efforts to bring the brand in line with social media expectations, engagement across NatWest’s content is often pretty low. A lot of the content still feels very promotional and surface-level, causing audiences to scroll past even if the information could be genuinely useful to them! The content isn’t giving people a reason to stop, save or comment. There’s no emotional hook or personality to the content, with a lot of videos following the same format and tone, delivering only surface-level takeaways for the audience.

Series content tends to be posted in long, back-to-back runs, with one series finishing before the next begins. Without other content breaking up the pattern, each series becomes a glut rather than something audiences can look forward to or recognise.

There is also a distinct lack of static and carousel posts on their Instagram feed. They are some of the most effective formats for educational content, as they’re easy to save, easy to revisit, and well-suited to step-by-step breakdowns. For a brand that is so focused on education and accessibility, this is a huge missed opportunity.

How We’d Approach It

Reframing The Messaging:

The first thing we think should be addressed with NatWest’s social strategy is the messaging. We would start with centring content around a specific audience and problem. This is Human-First Marketing in practice – talking to someone about a problem they have the way a real person would, rather than broadcasting generic advice at everyone.

Let’s take first-time buyers as an example. Instead of content that states “here’s some tips for buying your first home”, a more useful approach addresses a specific issue. The common issue isn’t necessarily being able to afford the home, it’s understanding the process of buying the home. “This is the first person you need to speak to when buying your first home” turns generic advice into something that an audience feels is speaking directly to them. The same logic can be applied to small business owners. Instead of “tips for managing your cashflow”, we’d lead with addressing the common pain point: “the real reason most businesses fail is poor management of cashflow. Here’s how to prevent your business falling into the same trap”

Changing The Pace and Formats:

The second area we’d look at is pacing and format. Right now, series content runs in long, uninterrupted blocks – one series finishes, then the next begins, with little else in between. This makes the feed feel repetitive and gives audiences no sense of consistency.

Instead, we would space out the series content more methodically, with other posts in between that give the series content a chance to breathe. This gives the audience something consistent to recognise and look forward to, building trust and familiarity, which is a crucial part of the Human-First approach.

The series content and pacing could also vary by channel. Although we would maintain campaign themes across platforms, we would keep the deeper, more in-depth content for LinkedIn longer-form posts, and use shorter, native-feeling video clips across TikTok and Instagram. This would allow the same campaign and idea to reach NatWest’s different audiences in formats that suit them best.

We also feel it would be important to bring carousels and static posts into the content mix for Instagram. Education-led content should be created in a format that encourages saves and revisiting, which is what carousels are perfect for.

Reveal The Humans Behind The Brand:

The third area we’d look at is what happens after content is published. Right now, NatWest’s posts often come across as a one-way broadcast. Posts are going out, but there’s little engagement from the real humans behind them.

Replying to comments or engaging with relevant conversations on other profiles are some of the easiest ways to prove a brand is run by people. A few genuine replies often do more to build trust than another polished video, because they show the audience there’s a real person behind the account.

This ties directly back to the influencer and education work covered earlier. Partnering with people like Harriet Fisher or putting staff in front of the camera only goes so far if the brand still feels distant and unresponsive once the content is out in the world. Human-First is about how the brand behaves across the whole platform as much as it is about the content being published.

Ready for More?

These human-first marketing deep dives are part of our LinkedIn series where we explore established brands, what they’re doing right, and how they could make changes.

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