What is an Editorial Calendar? [12 Free Templates]

Did you know that 65% of the most successful B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy, compared to only 14% of the least successful marketers? (Source – Marketing Insider Group Survey Report) That's the strength of a well-organized editorial calendar.

When it comes to blog editorial calendars, many find them overwhelming. Marketing teams handle numerous campaigns, deadlines, and channels. That is why knowing what an editorial calendar is and how to make one with the help of the appropriate editorial calendar templates can help turn the mess into a streamlined process.

In this article, learn the real meaning of an editorial calendar and its importance. Also, learn how to create editorial calendars step-by-step with handy tips and templates to achieve instant outcomes.

What is an Editorial Calendar?

An editorial calendar is a planning tool that assists marketing departments in planning, schedule, and monitoring content across multiple channels. It is a visual roadmap, indicating what content will be published, when, and where. No matter whether you work with a blog calendar or a social media calendar, it is all about adding order and consistency to the process of creating the content.

The editorial calendar templates make it easy to plan campaigns, set deadlines, and assign tasks. Teams can easily track which topics are in the pipeline, identify content gaps, and make sure each post contributes to broader marketing objectives. Having a satisfied editorial calendar system means no last-minute scrambles or missed publishing dates.

Editorial calendars normally include:

• Publishing dates (daily, weekly, or monthly)
• Dedicated authors and partners.
• Target platforms (blog, social media, email, etc.)
• status updates (planned, drafted, published)
• Relevant keywords and themes

A blog editorial calendar works well with brands that have content marketing campaigns or multiple contributors. Free or customized templates as those of Stackby, allow teams to start without spending money on costly software.

With a well‑built editorial calendar, marketing teams can:

Streamline their workflow

• Improve content quality and consistency
• Coordinate cross‑channel campaigns
• Measure performance against deadlines

In brief, when building a simple and effective editorial calendar, start with proven templates, such as Stackby's, and scale content programs.

What Are The Benefits of an Editorial Calendar?

An editorial calendar has numerous advantages that transform the way marketing teams plan and implement content. With templates, teams not only order articles and posts, but also build a decent foundation for smarter, more consistent marketing.

Why Should Marketing Teams Use Editorial Calendar Templates?

• Consistency: Frequent posting on blogs, social media, and other platforms generates confidence with the audience and enhances SEO. An editorial calendar prevents last-minute scrambling of teams and keeps the messaging on schedule.
• Improved Planning: Teams can plan campaigns months or weeks in advance, see gaps in their content, eliminate duplication, and coordinate releases with important events or product releases.
• Greater Efficiency: Having a central point to allocate tasks, impose deadlines, and monitor progress, marketing leaders keep the team focused and effective.
• Improved Collaboration: Calendars make the tasks of each person clear, facilitating teamwork and reducing bottlenecks. Openness encourages increased feedback, fewer mistakes, and creates better results.
• Responsibility: With clear deadlines and planned content, accountabilities are clear. Missed cutoffs are easily detected, which results in more reliable deliverables.
• Time Savings: Editorial calendars make workflow more efficient, allowing teams to stop searching for drafts or updates. Planning in advance simplifies multi-channel marketing.
• Informed Decisions: By monitoring publication results and examining previous content, it shows what works. Calendars also turn into a data source, which allows marketers to revise plans based on actual performance.
• Promote Data-Driven Approaches: A Calendar based on actual statistics, such as trends, keyword research, campaign metrics, etc., outperforms intuition. Identify hot topics quickly and customize content to audience interests.
• Stress Reduction: An editorial calendar reduces stress and promotes the mental well-being of marketers by eliminating last-minute confusion and clarifying timelines.
• Scalability: With brand growth, content volume increases. Free editorial calendar templates or premium tools will allow teams to scale gracefully.
• Combines All Channels: Be it a blog or email, or even social media, one centralized content editorial calendar keeps campaigns aligned and messages consistent across all platforms.

The editorial calendar templates also assist marketing teams to ensure content is always in line with business objectives, increase productivity, and produce better and more relevant work, every time.

How to Create An Editorial Calendar?

Creating an editorial calendar is not complicated. With correct templates, any team can bring order and predictability to content marketing. Here is a brief tutorial on how marketers can create an editorial calendar.

• Set Clear Objectives: Determine what the calendar should accomplish. Focus on blogs, social media, or both. Well-defined objectives keep the calendar in line with the business requirements.
• List Content Types: Determine what you will be publishing—Blog posts, newsletters, social media posts, videos. Adding all formats creates an all-inclusive calendar.
• Choose Your Tool: Choose a tool that works best with your team, whether it is a spreadsheet, shared calendar, or a free template. The majority of options are customizable.
• Plan Topics and Frequency: Brainstorm topics and make a realistic schedule. Regularity is important; even a weekly post will help.
• Assign Responsibilities: Writing, editing, approvals, and publishing tasks should be assigned clearly. Calendars work effectively when people are aware of their role.
• Add Key Details: Each entry should include deadlines, owners, status, distribution channel, and target keywords.
• Review and Adjust: Share the calendar with the team. Refresh it frequently when new campaigns or feedback are available. Monitor outputs and improve your strategy as you go.

These steps will help the teams develop a calendar that is more consistent, time-saving, and strategic goals-aligned.

Types of Editorial Calendar

There are various types of editorial calendars designed to meet particular marketing requirements. By choosing the appropriate format and templates, teams can develop a calendar that responds to their goals and workflows.

1. Blog Editorial Calendar

Best suited to brands that produce articles or long-form content. A blog calendar tracks:

• Blog titles and topics
• Assigned authors
• Deadlines and publishing dates
• Target keywords and calls to action  

This assists teams in maintaining a full content pipeline, deadlines, and in identifying gaps early.

2. Content Editorial Calendar

Covers all content types, not just blogs. This template can include:

• Videos, infographics, podcasts, eBooks
• Status of each piece
• Distribution platforms (website, email, print, etc.)
• Ownership and production stages  

It coordinates multi-channel campaigns and provides coherent message delivery at all brand touchpoints.

3. Social Media Editorial Calendar

Focuses on posts for LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), etc. Typical fields:

• Post copy and visuals
• Publishing schedule (days and times)
• Platform‑specific requirements
• Hashtags, links, and engagement metrics  

Social media free templates promote participation and align posts with the bigger campaigns.

4. Free Editorial Calendar Templates

Available in Excel, Google Sheets, or project‑management tools. They provide flexible layouts to:

• Task assignments
• Calendar views
• Campaign planning  

The first step to an effective, impactful, and well-organized editorial calendar is to select the right template.

12 Editorial Calendar Templates (Stackby)

Editorial calendar templates are not universal. Each marketing team has its own needs, channels and objectives. Stackby has a list of free editorial calendar templates that cover all your content-planning bases. Each of the templates provides a convenient, easy method of remaining organized, boosting collaboration, and simplifying content creation.

The 12 best templates for fast-paced marketing teams are listed below. Here’s what every workflow will need.

1. Social Media Calendar

A social media calendar helps to organize all posts and plan them in advance. With this template, teams can:

• Plan content for all platforms: Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Schedule by date and time.
• Track hashtags, visuals, and campaign tags.
• Monitor posting frequency and engagement.
• Assign ownership and status for each post.

A dedicated social media calendar makes it easier to manage a team or grow presence across channels. Consistency is what matters for online brands.

2. Content Calendar

Digital marketing is all about a content calendar. Use this template to:

• Plan blog articles, newsletters, videos, and others.
• Map deadlines for drafts, reviews, and publishing.
• Note SEO targets and CTAs for each piece.
• Allocate writing, editing, and updating work to different owners.

You can also add campaign filters or target audience filters. It’s a master plan for your everything content.

3. AI Content Calendar

AI content calendar templates combine planning and automation. With this template, it is easy to:

• Generate topic ideas with AI suggestions.
• Automate scheduling for posts and reminders.
• Monitor trends and change content plans in real-time.
• Get performance analytics for data‑driven tweaks.

Automate your work and eliminate content gaps with just few clicks.

4. Print Editorial Calendar

Don’t forget about print! A print editorial calendar is effective when teams handle:

• Magazines
• Brochures and flyers
• Print ads or special supplements

It keeps all print deadlines, distribution dates and contributor information in a single location. It also connects print campaigns with digital pushes to ensure that all channels are synchronized.

5. Communications Editorial Calendar

This template is built to serve PR, media, or internal communication teams. Using this template, you can easily track:

• Press releases and announcements
• Pitch schedules to journalists
• Media event timelines
• Internal briefing materials

Streamline communication and make sure that all updates are delivered timely.

6. Podcast Editorial Calendar

Running a podcast? This template will take care of you. It helps with:

• Planning of episodes and guest appearances.
• Assigning host/guest roles.
• Monitoring recording, editing, and publish dates.
• Arranging show notes and advertising material.

Stay on schedule and continue episodes frequently.

7. Content Strategy Calendar

A content strategy calendar charts out your overall content marketing strategy. Use it to:

• Align big‑picture strategy with daily content tasks
• Visualize long‑term campaigns or series
• Track KPIs and key themes across the quarter

Make strategy tangible, not just theoretical.

8. Marketing Calendar

A marketing calendar unites your larger campaigns. This template features:

• Launch dates for products and services
• Sales promos and events
• Major holidays and industry happenings
• Task assignments and reminders

Give yourself a bird’s-eye perspective of all major company initiatives.

9. Event Planning Calendar

This template is essential when it comes to webinars, conferences, or meetups. It simplifies planning by:

• Providing a list of session topics, speakers and formats.
• Arranging recruitment, invitations and promotion.
• Monitoring logistics, ticketing, and follow-up deadlines.

Things work better when all the details are plotted in advance.

10. Campus Editorial Calendar

The Campus Editorial Calendar template is ideal for universities, schools, and colleges.

Benefits:

• Schedule news, bulletins, and academic events
• Align department communications
• Coordinate updates for students, staff, and alumni

Never miss an important academic date or announcement.

11. Internal Communications Editorial Calendar

This template keep teams linked and updated.

Use it for:

• Company‑wide memos and HR policy updates
• Leadership communications
• Monthly or weekly staff newsletters

All your internal communications are in a single, searchable calendar.

12. Content Programming & Promotions Tracker

It controls all sponsored and promotional material. With this tool you can:

• Schedule influencer partnerships or paid campaigns.
• Track deliverables, deadlines, and assets
• Monitor campaign results in real time

You have all the tools to make your brands famous, with just a click.

Using Stackby’s editorial calendar templates, marketing teams can combine, match and customize each template for any channel or project. It does not necessarily require a complex process to learn how to build editorial calendars, and these free templates can serve as a solid base for high-quality content every time.

Stackby: Best Editorial Calendar

Stackby provides an adaptable, user-friendly editorial calendar template, which can be used by both marketing teams as well as individual marketers. Create a calendar that suits your blog, content marketing, or social media schedule without the hassle.

Here's why Stackby is the best editorial calendar:

• Highly Customizable: Customize columns, add checklists, automate status updates, or connect third-party tools so the calendar fits your workflow, not the other way around.
• All‑in‑One Platform: Combine blog, content, and social media calendars in a single dashboard. Plan cross-channel campaigns without balancing spreadsheets or tools.
• Free Templates: Get started quickly with built-in templates, including the standard calendar as well as specific tracking of emails and communications.
• Collaboration-Friendly: Assign tasks, place comments, and share access with teammates or clients to minimize email threads and status meetings.
• Data-Driven Features: Visualize content in Kanban, calendar, or table formats. Automatically pull in analytics, campaign performance data, and schedule reminders.
• Scalable: Expand and customize the calendar as your business grows.

With editorial calendar templates of Stackby, marketing teams have a clean, stress-free workflow to plan, create, and publish high-quality content. They experience the flexibility to expand and transform as the business requirements keep changing.

Conclusion

The editorial calendar templates assist marketing teams in being consistent and reaching business objectives. Knowing what an editorial calendar is and how to create one allows marketers to maintain well-structured and stress-free campaigns.

Stackby goes beyond the fundamentals. Its templates are customizable, collaborative, and flexible to any campaign, whether it is a blog, content, or social media. Its strong tracking and automation make the workflow easier for expanding teams.

Ready to streamline content planning? Begin with the editorial calendar templates provided by Stackby and watch your marketing strategy transform. Organize, manage, and make each campaign count with the power of Stackby's powerful features.