Expat parents compare schools from another country, often well before a relocation. They search in English, ask AI assistants and read parent forums, long before they contact you.
Industry Expertise ยท International K12 Schools
Digital Marketing for International Schools
SEO, Google Ads, GEO and social media strategy that helps international schools be found, understood and chosen by expat families, and by Chinese families with foreign-passport children.
Your Team at Jademond
International School Marketing, Built on Real School Projects
We work with international schools in China on both sides of the search world: Google SEO and Google Ads for expat families researching from abroad and Baidu, WeChat and Chinese digital PR for Chinese families whose children hold a foreign passport. Marcus Pentzek is the lead contact for most of our school projects. He is a parent at an international school himself, active in its parent-teacher organisation (PTO) and a regular chaperone on school trips. Before moving into digital marketing more than 20 years ago, he trained in Germany as a state-recognised educator (Staatlich anerkannter Erzieher). Peiwen Peng runs social media for all of our education clients.
Parents choose a school with their heart, but they start their research on a search engine or an AI assistant.
Our team knows how schools work from the inside: how admissions teams plan their year, what parents ask on a campus tour and which stories a school can share safely. Because we plan English and Chinese channels together, your school tells one consistent story to every family, whether they ask Google, Baidu, ChatGPT or DeepSeek. The same approach works for international schools anywhere in the world.
- 15+
- Years in China
- 3
- International schools in China among our clients
- 2
- Languages: English and Chinese campaigns
- Google + Baidu
- Search engines covered
The Challenges
Why Marketing an International School Is Different
Choosing a school is one of the biggest decisions a family makes. Parents research for months, compare many schools and trust search results, reviews and AI answers before they ever book a campus tour.
International communities change every year. Your marketing has to keep refilling the pipeline, not just run a single campaign.
Curriculum, fees and facilities look alike on paper. Visibility, reputation and clear differentiation decide who gets the enquiry.
Parents ask ChatGPT, Gemini or DeepSeek which schools to consider. If your school is described wrongly or not at all, you miss the shortlist.
Reference entries, directories and third-party sites shape what search engines and AI systems say about your school. Mistakes are hard to correct without the right approach.
Photos, videos and stories must come from the school and respect student privacy and local rules. We plan content around what you can safely share.
What We Do for Schools
Full-Funnel Marketing for International Schools
From the first search to the enrolment conversation, we cover the channels families actually use, and we make sure they support each other.
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SEO for international schools
Technical audits, keyword research, programme and admissions pages that answer parents' questions, and local SEO for your campus. We work on Google and, for Chinese audiences, on Baidu.
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Google Ads and Baidu Ads (SEA)
Campaigns for admissions seasons, open days and campus tours, with landing pages that make it easy to enquire or book a visit.
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GEO in English and Chinese
We analyse how AI assistants describe your school, then improve the sources and content they rely on, in English and in Chinese.
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Website relaunch and migration SEO
SEO consulting before, during and after a new website, so that rankings, enquiry forms and tracking survive the change.
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Chinese digital PR and reference entries
Source research and source building for Baidu Baike entries, plus coverage in relevant Chinese media, so Chinese families with foreign-passport children find reliable information.
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Social media strategy and team training
WeChat, Rednote and Douyin, plus on-campus workshops that train your marketing team. Photos and video come from your school, while we plan topics, formats and calendars.
Expat Families: Reached Through Google and AI Search
Expat families usually start online, in English, and often before they move. We make your school easy to find on Google, accurate in AI answers and convincing on the pages that matter: admissions, tuition, curriculum, student life and campus visits. Google Ads support peaks in the admissions calendar, and clear tracking shows which channels deliver qualified enquiries.
Chinese Families with Foreign-Passport Children
- Many international schools in China can only admit children who hold a foreign passport
- Chinese families whose children hold one search in Chinese, mainly on Baidu, WeChat and Rednote
- A Chinese website and Chinese content build trust with parents and grandparents
- Digital PR and accurate Baidu Baike entries support the school's reputation
- We check the admission rules of your school and the advertising rules of each platform first
Who We Help
Schools We Work With
Every school has its own curriculum, community and admissions calendar. We adapt strategy, keywords and content to your school type.
American, Canadian, British, Australian and other national-curriculum schools that serve global communities.
Schools with PYP, MYP and Diploma programmes that need clear explanations of their curriculum.
Schools that recruit nationally and internationally and need campus-visit and open-day campaigns.
Campaigns tailored to preschool, primary, middle and high school parents.
Schools with Chinese and international stakeholders that need bilingual positioning.
Multi-campus groups that need consistent branding, tracking and search visibility across locations.
Results from Practice
Case Study: Canadian International School, SEO and Ads in English and Chinese
A Canadian international school in China wanted to reach two audiences: expat families searching in English and Chinese families with foreign-passport children searching in Chinese. We took over SEO and search advertising (SEA) in both languages. We improved the structure and content of the English site for Google, built Chinese-language visibility for Baidu and aligned Google Ads and Baidu Ads with the school's admissions calendar. The school now runs one coordinated search strategy for both audiences, instead of two disconnected ones.
Case Study: American International School, Website Relaunch and Team Training
An American international school was relaunching its website and did not want to lose search visibility. We advised on SEO during the relaunch and supported the project team through the migration. Afterwards we ran a full-day SEO and GEO workshop on campus for the school's marketing team, and we help shape the school's social media strategy. The photos, videos and stories come from the school itself, while we plan topics, formats and priorities.
What the School Gained
- A relaunch planned with SEO requirements from the start
- A marketing team that understands SEO and GEO and can apply it day to day
- A social media strategy built around the school's own content
- A trusted partner for ongoing search and AI visibility questions
Results from Practice
Case Study: American International School, Baidu Baike, Digital PR and GEO
Another American international school struggled to keep its Baidu Baike entry up to date, because its edits were repeatedly reversed by the platform's administrators. We researched which sources already existed on the Chinese internet for each fact and claim the school wanted in its entry. Where a claim had no supporting source, we helped create the necessary sources. With that evidence in place, the entry was successfully updated and the changes stayed. We then extended the project with Chinese digital PR to reach more Chinese families whose children hold a foreign passport and are therefore eligible to enrol. Today we are building and carrying out the school's GEO strategies in Chinese and in English, so that AI assistants describe the school correctly in both languages.
How We Compare
Why International Schools Choose Jademond
International school marketing sits between two worlds: international search and the Chinese internet. Few agencies cover both. This is how the usual options compare.
| Education marketing agency | China-only agency | Jademond Digital | In-house team | |
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| Google SEO and Google Ads | โ | โ | โ | โ |
| Baidu SEO and Baidu Baike | โ | โ | โ | โ |
| GEO in English and Chinese | โ | โ | โ | โ |
| Experience with international schools in China | โ | โ | โ | โ |
| Team workshops and training | โ | โ | โ | โ |
| Social media strategy using school-owned content | โ | โ | โ | โ |
FAQ
International School Marketing: Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the questions school leaders and admissions teams ask us most often about SEO, ads, GEO and social media.
How do international schools get more enquiries from expat families?
Most expat families research online in English before they contact a school, so you need strong Google visibility, clear admissions and tuition pages, and accurate information in AI answers. Google Ads can add reach around admissions deadlines and open days.
Does an international school in China need Baidu SEO?
If your school can admit Chinese families whose children hold a foreign passport, yes. Those parents search in Chinese, mostly on Baidu, WeChat and Rednote, and a Chinese website and Chinese content help them trust your school.
Who can enrol at international schools in China?
It depends on the school type. Schools for the children of foreign nationals generally require a foreign passport, and Chinese nationals can usually attend them only if at least one parent holds one. We check your school's admission rules before planning any Chinese-language campaign.
What is GEO for schools?
GEO (generative engine optimization) is the work of making sure AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek and Doubao find, describe and recommend your school correctly. It focuses on accurate, consistent information in the sources these assistants rely on.
Can you work with photos and videos supplied by our school?
Yes, and that is how we prefer to work. Student photos, videos and stories must come from the school and respect privacy and local rules, while we advise on topics, formats, captions and posting plans.
Are there advertising rules we should know about in China?
Yes. Education advertising in China is regulated, and platforms may limit how children appear in ads or what claims you can make. We check the current rules for each platform before a campaign is planned.
Our school's Baidu Baike entry is wrong or keeps being changed. Can you help?
Yes, we have solved exactly this problem for an international school. Baidu Baike editors expect verifiable sources, so we check which sources already support each claim, help create sources for the claims that have none and then update the entry.
Do you only work with international schools in China?
No. Our case studies come from international schools in China, but the same SEO, Google Ads and GEO approach works for international schools anywhere that want to reach expat families and globally mobile parents.
Every school tells a different story, and families want to hear it before they visit. Tell us about your school, your admissions goals and your community, and we will show you how your school appears in search and in AI answers today.
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