Content Calendar Template for Excel and Google Sheets: Plan Posts, Emails and Blogs on One Schedule
Build a content calendar template in Excel or Google Sheets: a content log with channels, pillars and status, overdue and due-soon flags, an automatic month grid with SEQUENCE and FILTER, and a worked Black Friday week example.
A content calendar template is a spreadsheet where each row is one piece of content — publish date, channel, content pillar, format, title, owner and status — plus a month view that places every piece on the right day automatically. It lets a small team see at a glance what goes out this week, what is late, and whether the month leans too heavily on promotion. Excel or Google Sheets is plenty for this; you only need dedicated software once several people are publishing across many accounts every day.
This guide is part of Marketing Plans & Trackers. Track the money behind boosted posts and ads in the marketing budget template.
Sheet 1: the content log
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| A – Date | Planned publish date |
| B – Day | =TEXT(A2,"ddd") |
| C – Channel | Instagram, email, blog, TikTok, LinkedIn… (dropdown) |
| D – Pillar | Educational, Promotion, Community (dropdown) |
| E – Format | Reel, carousel, article, newsletter… |
| F – Title / hook | The specific idea |
| G – Goal | Reach, traffic, sales, retention |
| H – Owner | Who produces it |
| I – Status | Idea, Drafting, In review, Scheduled, Published |
| J – Flag | Formula below |
| K – Link | URL once live |
| L – Result | Main metric (clicks, saves, sales) |
Dropdowns (Data → Data Validation → List) keep labels consistent — otherwise “IG”, “Insta” and “Instagram” become three different channels in every summary.
Overdue and due-soon flags
=IF(I2="Published","",IF(A2<TODAY(),"OVERDUE",IF(A2-TODAY()<=2,"Due soon","")))
Color OVERDUE red and Due soon yellow with conditional formatting. A piece scheduled for today that is still in review shows up as Due soon — exactly the one to chase.
Sheet 2: an automatic month grid
A calendar view is easier to read than a long list. In Excel 365 or Google Sheets, put the first day of the month in B1 and generate a Monday-start grid with one formula:
=SEQUENCE(6,7,B1-WEEKDAY(B1,2)+1)
Format the cells as d to show only the day number. For November 2026 (which starts on a Sunday), the grid begins on Monday, October 26. Under each date cell, list what is scheduled that day:
=TEXTJOIN(CHAR(10),TRUE,FILTER(Log!$C$2:$C$500&": "&Log!$F$2:$F$500,Log!$A$2:$A$500=A3,""))
Turn on Wrap Text and each day shows “Email: Early access list” and so on. Grey out dates outside the month with a conditional rule such as =MONTH(A3)<>MONTH($B$1).
Plan the mix before the dates
- Frequency per channel: pick a cadence you can sustain — for example Instagram three times a week, one email a week and two blog posts a month.
- Pillar targets: a common starting point is mostly helpful or entertaining content with a smaller share of direct promotion; set your own split and check it with
=COUNTIF(D:D,"Promotion")/COUNTA(D2:D500). - Key dates: add holidays and sales events first, then fill the gaps.
- Repurpose: one blog article can feed a carousel, a short video and an email section.
Worked example: Black Friday week 2026
In 2026, Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, so Black Friday is November 27, Small Business Saturday November 28 and Cyber Monday November 30. A small online shop could plan the week like this:
| Date | Channel | Pillar | Content | Status on 11/6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 11/23 | Promotion | Early-access list for subscribers | Drafting | |
| Tue 11/24 | Promotion | Teaser reel: what’s on sale | Idea | |
| Wed 11/25 | Blog | Educational | Gift guide under $50 | Drafting |
| Thu 11/26 | Community | Thank-you post to customers | Idea | |
| Fri 11/27 | Promotion | Black Friday sale is live | Idea | |
| Fri 11/27 | Promotion | Launch carousel with best sellers | Idea | |
| Sat 11/28 | Community | Small Business Saturday behind-the-scenes | Idea | |
| Mon 11/30 | Promotion | Cyber Monday last call | Idea |
Eight pieces: five promotional, two community and one educational. A promotion-heavy week is normal during a sale, which is why the pillar check should run on the whole month: if November’s other three weeks carry mostly educational and community content, the month stays balanced. With three weeks to go, the useful move now is to finish the gift guide early — it feeds both the blog and the Black Friday email.
Views that save time
- This week only:
=FILTER(Log!A2:I500,(Log!A2:A500>=TODAY()-WEEKDAY(TODAY(),2)+1)*(Log!A2:A500<=TODAY()-WEEKDAY(TODAY(),2)+7)) - By owner: a PivotTable with Owner in rows and Status in columns shows who is overloaded.
- What worked: after the month ends,
=AVERAGEIFS(L:L,C:C,"Email",D:D,"Educational")compares results by channel and pillar.
Habits that keep the calendar alive
- Idea bank: keep a tab of rows in “Idea” status so planning never starts from a blank page.
- Internal deadlines: add a “Ready for review” date two or three days before publishing.
- One weekly check-in to move statuses and reschedule anything flagged.
- Loose tasks — order product photos, check discount codes — go on the to-do list template.
- Measure against sales: compare campaign weeks with the sales tracker.
FAQ
Excel or a social media scheduling tool?
They do different jobs. The spreadsheet plans and coordinates; a scheduling tool or the platform’s own scheduler publishes. Many small teams plan in the sheet and then schedule from it.
How far ahead should I plan?
Many small businesses plan one month in detail and sketch the next two around known dates such as product launches and holidays.
Does the month grid work in older Excel versions?
SEQUENCE, FILTER and TEXTJOIN need Excel 2021 or Microsoft 365. In older versions, type the first date and use =A3+1 across the grid; the content log and flags work in any version.
Next step: choose your channels and cadence, enter next month’s key dates, then fill the log until every day in the grid has a plan. More templates in Online Selling & Inventory.