Free Marketing Calendar Templates in Google, Excel, and Word Formats

By Joe Weller | June 7, 2016

In this article, we’ve compiled an expert-tested list of free, customizable marketing calendar templates to help you plan, schedule, and execute your marketing strategy.

Included on this page, you’ll find a simple marketing calendar template, digital marketing calendar template, content marketing calendar template, and more.

Marketing Calendar Template

 

 

Marketing Calendar Template

Download Marketing Calendar Template

Excel | Google Sheets | Smartsheet

This pre-built marketing calendar template is designed to help the marketing manager get organized and effectively implement each component of the marketing strategy. Use this template to plan and track each marketing campaign, including supporting tasks, role assignment, activity timelines, and marketing milestones on a daily, monthly, and quarterly basis. Plus, compare sales goals and actual sales to help pinpoint which campaigns are effective, and which ones need adjusting. 

Simple Marketing Calendar Template

2024 Monthly Marketing Calendar Template

Download 2024 Simple Marketing Calendar Template

This simple template provides a monthly calendar view with extra space to highlight important events, tasks, and deadlines. There is a section for planning ahead to the next month as well as for writing notes. The format of this marketing calendar template allows you to easily view your weekly schedule at a glance. The visual layout of this template makes it a good choice for printing and sharing.

Annual Marketing Calendar Template

 

Download Annual Marketing Calendar Template

This detailed marketing calendar template is designed for annual planning and also includes a snapshot of a single month. Goals can be clearly defined at the top of the template, while data on marketing effectiveness can be listed at the bottom. This template includes sections for sales, press releases, social media, email, online content, advertising, and more. Customize these fields as appropriate for your business, and track your progress weekly and monthly.

Marketing Editorial Calendar Template

 

Download Marketing Editorial Calendar Template

Highlights of this marketing editorial calendar include a yearly overview, plus detailed worksheets for each month; space for coordinating content with business quarters and budget, holidays, product launches, and company goals; and space for essential editorial information, such as type of content, author, target audience, distribution channels, SEO factors, and deadlines. This editorial template can help you schedule content far in advance, assign ownership for each item, measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, and adjust your content plan based on key metrics.

Social Media Marketing Calendar Template

 

Download Social Media Marketing Calendar Template

Social media is a vital tool for promoting content, and this calendar template makes planning easy. Use social media to collect information about how customers are responding to your content and which sites are sending you the most referrals. Then use your social media marketing calendar to ensure that you’re posting on the most effective outlets or have an equal presence across platforms. Social media planning also ensures that you won’t miss important dates or end up with holes in your content schedule.

Blogging Editorial Calendar Template

 

Download Blogging Editorial Calendar Template

This editorial calendar template is designed specifically for blogging. The template provides an overview with important dates and a weekly schedule of blog posts. It also shows more detailed information, including author, status, a call to action, keywords, and tags. Another worksheet provides space for brainstorming ideas and future planning. Manage your blog and create more consistent, effective content with an editorial template.

Email Marketing Calendar Template

 

Download Email Marketing Calendar Template

Email marketing can be effective and profitable, or it can be the definition of SPAM. This email marketing calendar template can help you plan and keep track of your contact with newsletter subscribers or other customers in order to build lasting relationships. Track the type of email, when it was sent, and which product or service was pitched. If you use an automated system to implement your email marketing strategy, use this template to schedule your plan

Marketing Campaign Calendar Template

 

Download Marketing Campaign Calendar Template

This template is designed to help you organize content around multiple marketing campaigns. Enter the name, description, date, and status for each campaign and track the associated content or other marketing strategies. This marketing campaign calendar template provides an overview of all media and distribution channels, and which items have been published or completed for each campaign.

Weekly Marketing Calendar Template

Weekly Marketing Calendar Template

Download Weekly Marketing Calendar Template

Excel | Word | Google Docs

This marketing calendar template enables you to home in on and track key marketing activities at a weekly view. Clearly define tasks for a variety of marketing channels, including content marketing, social media, your business website, and more, to keep you focused on your short-term campaign objectives. 

Monthly Marketing Metrics Calendar Template

 

Download Monthly Marketing Metrics Calendar Template

Track your progress and build on your successes (or learn from your failures) with this monthly marketing metrics calendar. Collecting metrics will make it easy to create a monthly report and identify which channels are producing the best results. Especially for small business owners, this template is a handy tool for tracking goals and monthly performance.

Marketing Plan Calendar with Budget Tracker

 

Download Marketing Plan Calendar with Budget Tracker Template

Use this marketing plan calendar template to outline your marketing strategies and action steps while keeping close track of your budget. This template shows the budget amount allocated for specific marketing tactics, the actual amount spent, and the budget variance. It also breaks down marketing strategies by category, including advertising, branding, public relations, social media, and more.

Content Marketing Calendar Template

Content Marketing Calendar Template

Download Content Marketing Calendar Template

Excel | Google Sheets | Smartsheet

Use this customizable content marketing calendar template to develop your content strategy. Plan and organize your content efforts according to content type and buyer lifecycle stage, and then assign writers and set deadlines. This template also tracks the status of each piece of content, the category it falls under, marketing goals, and more. Find additional resources to map out your content marketing strategy by checking out “The 61 Best Free Content Marketing Templates to Drive Performance.”

Real Estate Marketing Calendar Template

Real Estate Marketing Calendar Template

Download Real Estate Marketing Calendar Template

Word | Google Docs

This real estate marketing calendar template enables you to organize and easily visualize key marketing activities at a glance. Assign a color for each channel you will utilize during the month, and then plan out marketing initiatives for each category using the designated color.

Marketing Project Calendar Template

Marketing Project Calendar Template

Download Marketing Project Calendar Template

Excel | Google SheetSmartsheet

This marketing project calendar template breaks down each phase of a project into essential marketing tasks. Track the status of each initiative, assign task ownership, set deadlines, and utilize the color-coded task bars to easily visualize all stages of the project timeline, including marketing milestones.

Ecommerce Marketing Calendar Template

Ecommerce Marketing Calendar Template

Download Ecommerce Marketing Calendar Template 

Excel | Smartsheet

This customizable ecommerce marketing calendar template contains a separate tab for each month, and includes space to add monthly themes at the top. Mark your monthly calendar with specific holidays and events that align with your overall business objectives, and then develop your marketing strategy accordingly. This template has room to add marketing activities, descriptions, ownership, targeted channels, and more.

Restaurant Marketing Calendar Template

Restaurant Marketing Calendar Template

 

Download Restaurant Marketing Calendar Template

Excel | Smartsheet

This pre-built restaurant marketing calendar template enables you to plan and schedule marketing activities based on themes and events being held at a food establishment. This marketing calendar has room to add tasks and descriptions, task ownership, and deadlines, with task bars that adjust according to the start and end dates you enter. 

Digital Marketing Calendar Template

Digital Marketing Calendar Template

Download Digital Marketing Calendar Template

Excel | Smartsheet

Use this digital marketing calendar to develop your online marketing strategy. Develop a plan of action by detailing marketing initiatives according to campaign type, add project goals, assign task ownership, and track performance on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis. This template has room to compare goals and results month-over-month, so you can adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.

How to Plan a Marketing Calendar

 

Creating a marketing calendar may seem overwhelming, especially if you are planning content and other marketing efforts a year in advance. But the whole point of using a marketing calendar is to get organized, save time in the long run, and actually reduce stress. To help you with this process, here are a few things to keep in mind as you plan your calendar.

  • Identify your target audience and adjust your marketing strategies to meet its changing needs. Developing a marketing strategy can provide some direction, but it’s all guesswork until a plan is actually implemented. Be prepared to adjust your tactics as you collect data from your customers.
  • Use your content as a way of getting feedback from customers. What content is your audience responding to? Which channels are leading to sales? Use your publishing successes and failures to drive your marketing plan.
  • Plan your calendar with your editorial team. Identify who is responsible for what content and how much content you can realistically produce. This is important even if you run a small business and generate all your own marketing content. There is no point in planning more than you can actually handle. If you are working with others, use your team to brainstorm topics and themes.
  • Choose themes for your content based on customer questions or interest. Identifying themes can help you categorize topics and ensure that you’re producing a variety of content aimed at achieving specific goals, whether it’s generating leads, showcasing your expertise, or selling products. Prioritize your content based on the intended result, and rotate your publishing schedule for different themes to make sure you are addressing a range of customer needs.
  • Find keywords to optimize your content. Following best practices for search engine optimization (SEO) can help bring a wider audience to your content. Use a keyword research tool to look up what phrases people are searching for that relate to your topics. Include this information on your calendar along with meta-titles and other SEO tactics.
  • Plan your calendar for up to 12 months out. Create a master calendar to work from and adjust it as needed. You may want to plan a more detailed calendar for each week or month, but having an overview for the year makes it easier to coordinate your marketing efforts, plan for holidays and important events, and ensure that your content aligns with your marketing goals.

To find resources to help you develop and track every component of your marketing strategy, check out these “Free Content Strategy Templates.”

Using Excel Marketing Spreadsheet Templates

All of the templates shown here are free to download and available in Microsoft Excel format. Look through the marketing calendar samples to find the best template for you, and customize it if needed. For a marketing calendar with greater functionality and collaboration, try Smartsheet, a real-time work execution platform that allows you to better manage and track marketing calendars, hit deadlines, and stay consistent across many marketing campaigns.

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The best marketing teams know the importance of effective campaign management, consistent creative operations, and powerful event logistics -- and Smartsheet helps you deliver on all three so you can be more effective and achieve more. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.

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