How International Briefs Are Defining My Freelance Digital Marketing Journey

2026 has barely had time to settle, and already it has been one of the most varied and rewarding starts to a year I can remember. Across international schools, German-market apps, rural tourism, financial technology, cybersecurity, AI consultancy, and ecommerce, the past few months have brought a genuinely eclectic, but awesome and exciting mix of projects; and a reminder of why working across sectors, rather than within a single niche, consistently produces sharper thinking. One of the reasons I decided to go freelance – variety being the spice of life!

Here is a look at what has been keeping me busy, and the kinds of briefs I am increasingly being trusted to take on.

International Education: British School of Brussels and ISSH

One of the most significant developments this year has been returning to work with the British School of Brussels (BSB) – this time as a freelance consultant following a restructure of their marketing department; and following some proactive outreach to touch base again. Having worked with BSB for over a decade previously in an agency capacity, stepping back in with fresh eyes and a more direct relationship has been a genuinely satisfying experience. There is real value in institutional knowledge built over a long period, and that relationship continuing in a new form says something about the trust built across those years.

Running alongside this is ongoing work with the International School of Schaffhausen (ISSH) in Switzerland, where the focus is on attracting both boarding students and international day pupils. International school marketing is a distinctive discipline – the audiences are global, decision-making cycles are long, and messaging has to work across cultures. Getting that right demands careful audience segmentation and a clear understanding of what genuinely differentiates a school in a competitive international landscape.

German-Market Digital Marketing: Movein24 and Family Activities

A genuinely exciting pivot this year has been into the German market, working with two Stuttgart-based businesses on app-focused digital marketing.

Movein24 (movein24.com) is a platform designed to support people emigrating to Germany – initially targeting those arriving from Turkey and other countries navigating the significant practical and bureaucratic challenges of relocation. The marketing brief here is rooted in empathy and utility: reaching people at a moment of real need and positioning the app as a trusted resource, not just a product. It has been a compelling brief to work on.

Building on progress there, I have also started working with Family Activities (familyactivities.de) to increase visibility for things to do across the Stuttgart area and the wider Baden-Wurttemberg state – another app-based product aimed at a highly local audience. It has also been a welcome excuse to dust off my German, having had lessons outside of school as a child. Revisiting a language in a professional context adds a different kind of motivation.

Suffolk: Cottage Tourism and a Car Workshop

Closer to home, I have been supporting Suffolk Cottage Collection and their sister business The Vault – a car workshop in the same corner of Suffolk. For the cottage business, the focus spans driving new bookings, improving organic visibility, and contributing to the development of an AI trip planner feature designed to improve on-site user experience. For The Vault, the priority is more local – building awareness and attracting new customers for vehicle servicing. Two very different conversion goals sitting alongside each other, which makes for interesting planning.

Financial Technology: Iress and XPlan Mortgage

Working with Iress in Cheltenham has brought a different kind of challenge: supporting awareness and adoption of their XPlan Mortgage product following a rebrand and the migration away from the Trigold platform. Platform transitions in financial services carry real customer sensitivity, and the marketing work here has to navigate that carefully – balancing PPC performance with an organic strategy that builds longer-term credibility. It is the kind of project that rewards patience and precision over quick wins.

High-Growth Ecommerce and Training: NetXL and TrainFitness

NetXL, an ecommerce network distributor, has been achieving record revenue in recent months, with paid performance playing a significant role in driving margins on the brands they represent. A genuinely satisfying account when the numbers are moving in the right direction.

TrainFitness, one of the largest operators of personal trainer courses in the UK, continues to be a core part of the workload – using paid advertising to drive course bookings in a competitive and seasonally sensitive market.

AI Consultancy and Agency Subcontracting: Elsewhen and Hallo Digital

A couple of trips to London this year to support Elsewhen, a large AI consultancy, on attracting enterprise-level enquiries for AI consultancy and implementation services. Working as a subcontractor through an agency brought a slightly different dynamic, but the project went well and sits in an area – enterprise AI adoption – that is only going to grow in strategic importance.

Separately, subcontracting for Hallo Digital, an agency whose founder used to DJ in my Leamington Spa nightlife days – he was on the decks at Moo playing funky house vinyls in the 00’s; and our paths have crossed again years later. A small world, and a good reminder that professional networks grow in directions you would never have predicted.

Cybersecurity: Secure Flag

On a project basis, providing SEO insights for a leading cybersecurity firm Secure Flag, – an area where content strategy and search visibility are increasingly critical as the sector grows in both complexity and competition. It is a specialism I am looking forward to understanding better.

Pembrokeshire: Tenby Health

Last but genuinely not least – Tenby Health in Pembrokeshire. This one carries a personal resonance: much of my childhood was spent visiting grandparents in the area and walking the Pembrokeshire coastline, and I have returned regularly as an adult. Working with a business in a place that means something to you is a different kind of privilege.

Tenby Health provides ultrasound services and is one of the only providers of this service in West Wales, which is a real and demonstrable USP in an area where access to diagnostic services is not always straightforward. The brief is about building awareness for something that genuinely serves the community, and that is a brief worth getting right.