Free marketing calendar template
A spreadsheet template built the way DTC and eCommerce teams actually plan — one row per campaign, with the fields that prevent double-discounting, missed asset deadlines, and surprise overlaps between promotions and product launches.
Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers. No email required.
What's in the template
| Column | What to put in it |
|---|---|
| Campaign name | Human-readable name, e.g. "Labor Day Sitewide 20%". |
| Type | Promotion, Product launch, Content, Email/SMS, Paid, Event. |
| Start date | First day the offer or launch is live (YYYY-MM-DD). |
| End date | Last day live. Leave blank for evergreen. |
| Channel | Site, Email, SMS, Paid social, Search, Retail, Marketplace. |
| Offer | 20% sitewide, BOGO, gift with purchase, free shipping, none. |
| Owner | One accountable person per row. |
| Status | Draft, Approved, Live, Complete. |
| Assets due | Date creative must be final — usually 10 days before launch. |
| Notes | Inventory caps, exclusions, legal review, dependencies. |
How to fill it in
- Block the immovable dates first. Retail holidays, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, your own anniversary sale, and any confirmed product launch. Use the 2026 retail calendar as your base.
- Add product launches before promotions. Launches depend on inventory and production dates you cannot move; discounts are flexible around them.
- Work backwards for assets. Set the assets-due date 10–14 days before launch so paid, email, and site creative ship together.
- Check discount overlap. No SKU should sit inside two concurrent offers — that is where margin quietly disappears.
- Review monthly. Compare planned versus actual and keep the finished rows; last year's calendar is the fastest input for next year's.
When a spreadsheet stops working
A spreadsheet is the right tool for one brand and one planner. It breaks down once you have an agency in the file, several brands, or reminders that nobody owns. At that point you want a shared calendar with roles, change notifications, and competitor promotions on the same timeline — which is what DTC Calendar does.
Turn this into your team's plan
DTC Calendar turns these moments into one shared promotional and product-launch calendar across brand, agency, and paid teams — with owners, statuses, reminders, and competitor tracking. Sign up free and import the 1970 calendar in one click.
Start planning 1970 free