Content creation takes time and strategy, which can get lost in daily tasks. A marketing calendar can help you create and implement a winning content marketing strategy.
In this article, we’ll discuss why you need a marketing calendar and how to create one for the coming year. We’ll also share a free marketing calendar template for Excel and Google Sheets, as well as a US marketing calendar with the top 2025 holidays, events and social media days to know so you never miss an engagement opportunity.
What is a marketing calendar?
A marketing calendar is a visual framework for planning marketing activities weeks, months or years in advance.
It’s a planning tool that helps you strategize and draft. Marketing calendars can be single documents that align themes across channels (for example, digital marketing calendars or marketing events calendars) or channel-specific calendars for a blog or social media channel.
Marketing calendars can help with rolling out content strategies, remembering important dates (like seasonal campaigns) and planning distribution. They allow you to brainstorm and plan at a high level.
Beyond visual organization, marketing calendars help drive revenue. Marketing teams that document their strategies are 414% more likely to succeed, and 70% of teams set marketing goals for their marketing initiatives, projects and campaigns.
Marketing calendars answer three questions about content and marketing activities:
Who? Who handles each marketing task? Are there enough resources to complete all the tasks on your marketing plan calendar?
What? What upcoming tasks do we need to prioritize? What are the marketing plans for any seasonal deals, launches or sales?
When? When does each campaign start and finish? When will the campaign deliverables, such as articles or social media posts, need to be ready?
Why do you need a marketing calendar?
Once you answer the core questions of your marketing efforts, it’s easier to plan and execute strategic and cohesive marketing campaigns.
Creating a marketing calendar in advance lets you capitalize on holidays, themes and events important to your audience. Using timely hashtags and creating content around trending topics, you can join global conversations and earn impressions and followers.
For example, if you’re a coffee shop, you don’t want to miss out on International Coffee Day (Oct 1, 2025) as a chance to offer special promotions and drive online engagement and store traffic.
A marketing calendar is also valuable for managing workflows and internal marketing processes. It can help you determine how and when to develop and deliver content.
What are the key parts of an internal marketing calendar?
There are different tools and frameworks for marketing calendars depending on your needs (more on those later). No matter which you choose, though, there are some core components to all types of marketing calendars:
Component | Description |
Visibility | Everyone involved should be able to see your marketing calendar (but don’t all need permission to make changes). Transparency keeps everyone on the same page with deadlines, project timelines and publishing dates. |
Collaboration | Marketing calendars allow team members to comment on items so they can add updates or questions. Keep communication in one place so everyone is informed. |
Milestones | Marketing calendars allow you to break up projects into smaller goals. Milestones make processes and next steps clear and keep every contributor on track. |
Deadlines | Marketing calendars allow marketing managers to set deadlines and publishing dates to ensure campaigns launch on time. |
Functionality | The marketing calendar design should be simple enough for your team to see what tasks they’ve got coming up. If they need to wade through complicated blocks of information, there’s a greater chance they’ll miss something. |
Now that you know the ingredients to a successful internal marketing calendar, let’s examine how to implement one for your team.
5 steps for creating an internal marketing calendar
Omnichannel marketing campaigns should work together. If you’re running a Twitter campaign alongside an email marketing campaign about the same event, they should make sense together.
An internal marketing calendar can help you do this while giving you the resources to execute.
Here are five steps to create an internal marketing calendar from scratch.
Step 1: Start with your goals
Before you start adding campaigns to your calendar, you have to answer some simple questions, such as:
What are your goals (e.g., to drive brand awareness or introduce a new feature)?
How many campaigns can you realistically run with the resources you have?
What is the start-to-finish process of campaign creation?
Basic questions like these will keep your calendar under control as you develop and execute new ideas.
Step 2: Decide on a schedule based on your internal marketing needs
Decide how far in advance you’ll plan your marketing strategy (e.g., per quarter or year).
Lay down your team’s plans for that period. Pull out each element of your marketing strategy to know how much content you expect to produce.
Your content: Decide on your publishing frequency, whether you publish internal blog posts, guest posts or ebooks.
Your social media marketing calendar: Decide how often to post on social media and marketing channels. Industry best practice varies by platform and field.
Your email marketing strategy: Set a newsletter frequency and include any other email campaigns you plan to run.
Any other content your team produces: Plan the time involved in other content types, such as videos, podcasts or Instagram Live posts.
After breaking down your goals, choose the best tool to help you stay organized.
Step 3: Choose a marketing calendar tool
Picking an internal marketing calendar is about ticking the boxes that suit your team’s needs. At a minimum, you want something that will let you compile simple information in a visual, chronological format accessible to all stakeholders.
More complex strategies may need more functionality, such as publishing tools, content optimization or project management. Overall, marketing tools fall into three categories.
1. Spreadsheets
Create a simple marketing calendar in Excel, Google Sheets or Google Calendar.
Add tabs to track tasks, projects and timelines. However, there can be limitations for complex marketing departments.
Customization is endless, but you won’t benefit from automation. If you’re creating one for a team, use a cloud-based solution so you can collaborate in real time and make comments.
The benefit of creating a calendar this way is that it’s cost-effective (often free) and easy to get started. They’re helpful for simple marketing strategies and companies with lower budgets.
2. Project management and CRM software
Some brands successfully use project management software or a customer relationship management (CRM) platform like Asana or Pipedrive to assign content to their team. This approach can help create content calendars for larger teams with complex workflows.
The benefit of creating a calendar with a project management tool is you can easily track tasks, contributors and deadlines across many marketing projects.
Managers can assign multiple tasks, deadlines and contributors simultaneously
The marketing calendar software can notify the team about upcoming projects
People can leave comments and updates and see project details in one place
Many tools have marketing campaign calendar templates for content or editorial calendars, making it easy to get started with even more complex strategies.
3. Social media and content management tools
Specialized tools designed for planning marketing content, such as a content marketing calendar template, can help you save time and optimize your content.
They let you input draft content with text and images, share it with a client or supervisor for approval and press publish to schedule your finalized content for the month.
Content planning tools go beyond workflows. They often have extra features to help you optimize your content and measure the success of your campaigns. These can include:
Headline analysis
Optimized publishing times
Image and video asset organization
Keyword discovery and research
Marketing analytics
Ads management
These features can help you save time or boost content performance.
Step 4: Plan out content
Once you’ve created a structure for your calendar, you’re ready to start brainstorming content. Consider which types of content you want to include, such as email or social media campaigns, articles and promotions.
This step determines when and how to engage with your audience. Here are some tips on how to decide what engagement opportunities are best for your brand:
Coordinate content with any promotions your brand has planned this quarter or year
Set any critical deadlines like registration for enrollment
Identify any industry awareness days or events you can live tweet
Brainstorm seasonal or holiday tie-ins (e.g., running a Black Friday email campaign or interviewing team members or customers for International Women’s Day)
Repurpose content (e.g., turn podcast interviews into blog posts or research into infographics )
Create a campaign or hashtag around a topic when you see a gap
Consult the US holidays list below and consider which are most important to your target audience
Decide which content you want to tackle and populate your calendar accordingly. Remember to leave room for flexibility. You’ll inevitably encounter unexpected engagement opportunities and want to capitalize on them.
Step 5: Set up workflows
Your final step is to break projects into tasks on your calendar. Add landmarks for each event, product launch or seasonal activity and establish a timeline for each moving piece.
For instance, if you know you have a product launch at the end of the first quarter, work backward from the delivery date, adding tasks, due dates and milestones (e.g., sign-off meetings). Attach documents or checklists to projects or tasks as needed.
Create task lists for each project stage and assign tasks to team members to ensure consistency in your processes so everyone knows what they’re doing.
Note anything that may disrupt your timelines, such as team members on vacation or scheduled away days, and factor those in as you plan.
Free marketing calendar template
Download your free content marketing calendar template – which can also be used as a social media or email marketing calendar template – below.
Ensure you don’t miss an opportunity to engage contacts by filling out this calendar template with key events.
Get your free internal marketing calendar template
US marketing calendar dates for 2025
We’ve compiled a list of US holidays you should know to spur your creativity and help you create a robust marketing calendar. The key dates include everything from federal holidays to health awareness months, from religious and cultural holidays to less formal commemorations and awareness days.
We’ve also included suggested monthly themes to help you keep your content cohesive.
January
New Year’s Day – January 1
Golden Globe Awards – January 5
National Human Trafficking Awareness Day – January 11
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – January 20
College Football Playoff National Championship – January 20
National Cheese Lovers Day – January 20
Winter X Games – January 23-25
Australia Day – January 26
Lunar/Chinese New Year – January 29
Monthly Themes: New Year’s Resolutions, Wellness, National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, National Mentoring Month, National Hot Tea Month, National Hobby Month
February
Groundhog Day – February 2
Wear Red Day – February 2
Grammy Awards – February 2
World Cancer Day – February 4
Super Bowl – February 9
National Pizza Day – February 9
International Day of Women and Girls in Science – February 11
Valentine’s Day – February 14
President’s Day – February 17
Family Day (Canada) – February 17
Random Act of Kindness Day – February 17
National Engineers Week – February 16–22
National Walk Your Dog Day – February 22
National Margarita Day – February 22
Start of Ramadan – February 28
Monthly Themes: Love, American Heart Month, Black History Month
March
Academy Awards – March 2
Read Across America Week – March 2–6
World Wildlife Day – March 3
Mardi Gras – March 4
Ash Wednesday – March 5
Employee Appreciation Day – March 7
International Women’s Day – March 8
Daylight Savings Time Begins – March 9
Holi Festival – March 14
Pi Day – March 14
World Sleep Day – March 14
March Madness NCAA Tournament – March 16 – April 7
St. Patrick’s Day – March 17
Spring Equinox (First Day of Spring) – March 20
International Day of Happiness – March 20
World Down Syndrome Day – March 21
World Water Day – March 22
Eid Al Fitr – March 29–30
Mother’s Day (UK) – March 30
Monthly Themes: Spring, Basketball, Women’s History Month
April
April Fool’s Day – April 1
National Walk to Work Day – April 4
National Siblings Day – April 10
National Pet Day – April 11
Passover – April 12–20
Tax Day – April 15
Good Friday – April 18
Easter Sunday – April 20
National Volunteer Week – April 20–26
Earth Day – April 22
World Book Day – April 23
Administrative Professionals Day – April 23
Take Your Child to Work Day – April 24
Arbor Day – April 25
Monthly Themes: Sustainability, National Poetry Month, National Volunteer Month
May
Kentucky Derby – May 3
Star Wars Day – May 4
National Firefighters Day – May 4
Cinco de Mayo – May 5
Teacher Appreciation Week – May 5–9
National Nurses Day – May 6
World Fair Trade Day – May 10
Mother’s Day – May 11
National Bike to Work Day – May 16
Indianapolis 500 Race – May 25
Memorial Day – May 26
Monthly Themes: Teacher Appreciation Month, National Nurses Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, Small Business Month, National Military Appreciation Month
June
World Environment Day – June 5
National Donut Day – June 6
National Best Friends Day – June 8
International Children’s Day – June 8
US Open (Golf) – June 12–15
CONCACAF Gold Cup – June 14 – July 6
Father’s Day – June 16
Juneteenth – June 19
Summer Solstice (First Day of Summer) – June 20
National Work from Home Day – June 26
Monthly Themes: Summer, Pride Month, National Safety Month, Men’s Health Month, National Camping Month
July
National Postal Workers Day – July 1
Independence Day – July 4
World Chocolate Day – July 7
World Emoji Day – July 17
National Ice Cream Day – July 20
World Hepatitis Day – July 28
Monthly Themes: Independence
August
National Girlfriend Day – August 1
International Day of Friendship – August 3
International Cat Day – August 8
Book Lovers Day – August 9
International Left–Handers Day – August 13
National Senior Citizens Day – August 21
US Open (Tennis) – August 25 – Sept. 7
National Women’s Equality Day – August 26
National Dog Day – August 26
Monthly Themes: Black Business Month, Back to School, Football, National Breastfeeding Month
September
Labor Day – September 1
Grandparents Day – September 7
World Suicide Prevention Day – September 10
9/11 Remembrance – September 11
Constitution Day – September 17
Oktoberfest – September 20–October 5
International Day of Peace – September 21
Autumn Equinox (First Day of Fall) – September 22
Rosh Hashanah – September 22–24
National Daughters Day – September 25
World Tourism Day – September 27
National Sons Day – September 28
National Coffee Day – September 29
World Heart Day – September 29
Monthly Themes: Fall, Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15), National Preparedness Month
October
Yom Kippur – October 1–2
International Coffee Day – October 1
World Teachers Day – October 5
World Mental Health Day – October 10
National Farmers Day – October 12
Columbus Day – October 13
Indigenous People’s Day – October 13
Canadian Thanksgiving – October 13
National Bosses Day – October 16
Diwali – October 20
National Business Women’s Week – October 20–26
United Nations Day – October 24
Halloween – October 31
Monthly Themes: Spooky/Scary, LGBTQ History Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Animal Safety and Protection Month, National Women’s Small Business Month, Bullying Prevention Month
November
World Vegan Day – November 1
Day of the Dead – November 1–2
Daylight Savings Time Ends – November 2
Veterans Day – November 11
Remembrance Day – November 11
World Kindness Day – November 13
World Diabetes Day – November 14
National Entrepreneurs Day – November 18
Thanksgiving – November 27
Black Friday – November 28
Small Business Saturday – November 29
Monthly Themes: Gratitude, Holiday Sales, National Entrepreneurship Month, Movember, National Adoption Month, American Diabetes Month
December
World AIDS Day – December 1
Cyber Monday – December 1
Giving Tuesday – December 2
St. Nicholas Day – December 6
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day – December 7
Nobel Prize Day – December 10
Hanukkah – December 14–22
Winter Solstice (First Day of Winter) – December 21
Christmas Eve – December 24
Christmas Day – December 25
Boxing Day – December 26
Kwanzaa – December 26
New Year’s Eve – December 31
Monthly Themes: Holiday Season, National Write a Business Plan Month
Best practices for holiday marketing in 2025
As you integrate holidays and seasonal tie-ins, use best practices and common sense to avoid costly content or email marketing mistakes. Keep your content varied. For example, don’t create too many posts around “National ____ Day”; that will turn your audience off.
Use caution when creating content for holidays or cultural celebrations like Black History Month or Diwali. Ensure someone from that culture or represented group collaborates on the content. Double-check your messaging and imagery to ensure you aren’t stereotyping.
Finally, make sure your planned content doesn’t clash with holidays and events. For instance, somber days like 9/11 or Veteran’s Day aren’t the best timing for funny, irreverent posts. Labor Day probably isn’t the best day to launch an email marketing campaign since many people are off work and may not be checking their email.
Final thoughts
Remember that a marketing calendar is a living document: revise its structure and themes at any time during the year to meet changing business priorities or timely topics.
You may tweak your content based on learning as you analyze your marketing campaigns and see what’s performing best. The calendar is there to support you, not the other way around.
A marketing calendar helps you set a vision, organize your thoughts and create content your audience will love. Using these tips will help you succeed in 2025.
