What’s the key to a successful marketing calendar? Planning!

If you don’t have your 2022 marketing calendar set and ready to execute, there’s no time like the present to get it started. 

Not sure how? That’s okay. 

Today we’ll tell you all about creating a successful marketing calendar for the year, inclusive of holidays, special days, and events to remember. 

 

What is a marketing calendar? 

A marketing calendar, among other things, is any marketing strategy’s saving grace. It should cover all of your marketing plans for the year. They range in complexity depending on your needs. You can purchase marketing calendars, find tools to help you create one, or use a basic spreadsheet.

Whatever your format, you should always have included things like:

  • Advertising campaigns
  • Holidays and important dates
  • Company and industry events or trade shows 
  • Social media campaigns
  • Email campaigns or email blasts 
  • Product launches
  • Promotions
  • Blog posts
  • Lead magnets
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Social media ads
  • Other events

Basically, your marketing calendar will display your marketing strategy for the whole year.

Not only does it detail what your marketing activities are, but it should also provide:

  • Name of the project
  • Deadlines
  • Go-live date
  • Assignees or parties responsible for each step
  • Where your deliverables are in the production stream
  • All holidays, vacations, events, and financial quarters  
  • The results of each marketing effort upon completion

When you know that something will be relevant to your audience at a particular time of the year, you can plan accordingly.

Some examples include: 

  • Writing a blog post about a new product
  • Sending out an email about an event
  • Scheduling Facebook ads around a promo

Having the ability to look at a calendar and see exactly what’s going on in your company or industry or throughout the nation will alleviate missing out on golden opportunities. 

Not sure what’s going on each month? At the bottom of this post, we’ve included holidays and observations to help you plan out your calendar.

 

What to think about before you create your marketing calendar

Before you dive into the nitty-gritty, ask yourself a few questions about your audience to ensure you’re providing the best possible content for them, your brand, and the search engines.

Ask yourself:

  • What does my target audience (buyer persona) want, need, and like?
  • What are my target audience’s interests?
  • Where is my audience, and when are they there?
  • How do I want my audience to interact with my content?
  • What time of the year do I get the most engagement or replies to my CTA?

Understanding your audience is a key element to creating a successful marketing calendar. 

 

Kinds of marketing calendars

What kind of marketing calendar you utilize is just as important as what goes on it. If you’re new to this, you may want to consider trying the free calendars or making one on your own, then upgrade if needed. 

Here are a few to choose from:

  • PDFs or print outs – these are great to help you start brainstorming out ideas to get you going, but keeping a digital version is much easier to update and keep others in the loop on changes
  • Excel Spreadsheets 
  • Google Docs
  • Google Calendars
  • Outlook Calendars
  • Grab a copy of our Marketing Calendar with Holidays and Hashtags 

 

Creating your marketing calendar

Now that you have the bare bones, you can start filling it in with your company’s content schedule. 

If you write weekly blog posts, fill that information in. If you have a monthly newsletter, add it.

Maybe you have quarterly email blasts? Daily social media posts? That should all be delineated. You get the idea.

Next, think about your promotions. 

Do you run campaigns during the holidays? Perhaps you have VIP customers you promote to a few times a year.

Plan your strategy, and always be sure to provide enough time for proper management. No one wants to feel rushed through the marketing process. It’s stressful, and your audience may notice.

One of the best things about this process is that you’ll be able to see where gaps in your content are. This is such a great way to come up with opportunities for growth. Have a brainstorming session with your team and figure out how you can fill in those gaps with quality marketing campaigns. 

 

How a marketing calendar helps 

Yes, we’ve covered what it is and what you should have on it, but your marketing calendar does a lot for you.

Here are some of its benefits:

  • Keeps you organized
  • Saves you time
  • Helps you maintain consistency with posting
  • Keeps you on top of your deadlines
  • Provides time for proper review and editing
  • Keeps everybody informed of where the content is at any given time
  • Shows you what’s happening during that time so you can be relevant with your content 
  • Allows for think-tanks or brainstorming sessions that up your content game
  • Allows for better quality of content 
  • Allows easy access to how your content is relating to the audience or how the content performed

Depending on how you use your marketing calendar, the benefits are really limitless. 

 

Where to start when creating your own marketing calendar

If you’re into DIY, creating your own marketing calendar that caters to all your needs may be all you need.

You won’t have all the bells and whistles that some of the paid-for calendars provide, but if you don’t need those things, why pay for them? 

Grab yourself your free marketing calendar, grab your team, and do this:

  1. Identify your audience, and where and when to meet them with content they’ll respond to the way you intend (this may take some trial and error, as all SEO does, learning what works and what doesn’t is an ongoing process)
  2. Invite all parts of your marketing team to give advice, ask them what they want to see on your calendar
  3. We suggest leaving a space for keywords, making it a no-brainer when your team starts to create the content
  4. Think about repurposing content and creating evergreen content, and create a home for those items on your calendar 
  5. Prepare to put some time and thought into this in the beginning, but know that it will pay off in the end

Planning for a year of marketing may sound intimidating at first, and we’re not here to minimize that, but once you do it, every year will get easier. 

Don’t over-complicate things. 

Bend the calendar to your goals, and you’ll be on top of your content all year long. 

Before we part, check out the 2022 list below for all the dates you definitely want on your calendar and their hashtags.

 

marketing calendar for 2022

 

2022 National & Global Holiday Calendar Dates with #Hashtags

 

January 2022

1. New Year’s Day #NewYearsDay

2. Science Fiction Day #ScienceFictionDay

4. National Trivia Day #NationalTriviaDay

5. National Bird Day #NationalBirdDay

13. Clean Off Your Desk Day #CleanOffYourDeskDay

18. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day #MLKDay

20. Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay

20. Cheese Lovers Day #CheeseLoversDay

21. National Hugging Day #NationalHuggingDay

24. National Compliment Day #NationalComplimentDay

25. Opposite Day #OppositeDay

 

February 2022

1. Chinese New Year #ChineseNewYear

2. Groundhog Day #GroundhogDay4. World Cancer Day #WorldCancerDay

9. National Pizza Day #NationalPizzaDay

13. Super Bowl LVI #SBLVI #SuperBowlSunday #SuperBowl

14. Valentine’s Day #ValentinesDay

17. Random Acts of Kindness Day #RandomActsOfKindnessDay

20. National Love Your Pet Day #LoveYourPetDay

21. Presidents’ Day (Third Monday in February) #PresidentsDay

 

March 2022

1. Mardi Gras #MardiGras

2. National Read Across America Day #ReadAcrossAmericaDay #DrSeussDay

3. World Wildlife Day #WorldWildlifeDay4. National Employee Appreciation Day (First Friday in March) #EmployeeAppreciationDay

4. National Day of Unplugging (First Friday in March) #NationalDayOfUnplugging

7. National Cereal Day #NationalCerealDay

8. International Women’s Day #InternationalWomensDay

8. National Proofreading Day #NationalProofreadingDay

12. National Girl Scout Day #GirlScoutDay

13. Daylight Savings (Date changes annually) #DaylightSavings #DaylightSavingsTime

14. Pi Day #PiDay #InternationalDayofMathematics

17. St. Patrick’s Day #StPatricksDay

18. Red Nose Day #RedNoseDay

20. International Day of Happiness #InternationalDayofHappiness #DayofHappiness

20. First Day of Spring #FirstDayofSpring #SpringBegins #DayofNowruz

23. National Puppy Day #NationalPuppyDay

30. Doctor’s Day #NationalDoctorsDay

 

April 2022

1. April Fools’ Day #AprilFools #AprilFoolsDay

6. National Walking Day (First Wednesday in April) #NationalWalkingDay

7. World Health Day #LetsTalk

11. National Pet Day #NationalPetDay

15. Good Friday #GoodFriday

16. National Stress Awareness Day #StressAwarenessDay

17. Easter Sunday #Easter #EasterBunny

21. Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay

22. Earth Day #EarthDay

23. World Book Day #WorldBookDay

26. Arbor Day #ArborDay

29. International Dance Day #InternationalDanceDay

30. National Honesty Day #NationalHonestyDay

 

May 2022

1. May Day #MayDay

4. Star Wars Day #StarWarsDay #Maythe4thBeWithYou

5. Cinco de Mayo #CincoDeMayo

6. Space Day #SpaceDay

8. Mother’s Day #MothersDay

12. International Nurses Day #NursesDay

24. National Scavenger Hunt Day #NationalScavengerHuntDay

28. National Hamburger Day #NationalHamburgerDay

29. National Paperclip Day #PaperclipDay

30. Memorial Day #MemorialDay #MDW

 

June 2022

2. National Leave the Office Early Day #LeaveTheOfficeEarlyDay

4. National Doughnut Day #NationalDoughnutDay

6. National Cancer Survivors Day #NCSD

8. World Oceans Day #WorldOceansDay

8. National Best Friends Day #BestFriendsDa

14. World Blood Donor Day #GiveBlood

14. National Flag Day #FlagDay

19. Father’s Day #FathersDay
21. First Day of Summer #FirstDayOfSummer

24. National Take Your Dog to Work Day #TakeYourDogToWorkDay

30. Social Media Day #SMDay

 

July 2022

1. International Joke Day #InternationalJokeDay

4. Independence Day #July4th

7. World Chocolate Day #WorldChocolateDay

11. National Cheer Up the Lonely Day #CheerUpTheLonelyDay

17. World Emoji Day #WorldEmojiDay

30. International Day of Friendship #DayOfFriendship

 

August 2022

5. International Beer Day #InternationalBeerDay

8. International Cat Day #InternationalCatDay

9. National Book Lovers Day #NationalBookLoversDay

10. National Lazy Day #LazyDay

11. National Sons and Daughters Day #SonsAndDaughtersDay

15. National Relaxation Day #NationalRelaxationDay

16. National Tell a Joke Day #NationalTellAJokeDay

19. World Photography Day #WorldPhotoDay

19. World Humanitarian Day #WorldHumanitarianDay

21. World Entrepreneurs Day #EntrepreneursDay

26. International Dog Day #InternationalDogDay

26. Women’s Equality Day #WomensEqualityDay

 

September 2022

4. World Beard Day #WorldBeardDay

5. International Day of Charity #CharityDay

5. Labor Day (First Monday in September) #LaborDay

6. National Read a Book Day #ReadABookDay

8. International Literacy Day #LiteracyDay

9. Stand Up to Cancer Day #KissCancerGoodbye #SU2C

10. World Suicide Prevention Day #WorldSuicidePreventionDay

10. National Grandparents Day #NationalGrandparentsDay

11. National Day of Service and Remembrance #911Day

12. National Day of Encouragement #DayOfEncouragement

19. Talk Like a Pirate Day #TalkLikeAPirateDay

21. International Day of Peace #PeaceDay

22. First Day of Fall #FirstDayOfFall

27. World Tourism Day #WorldTourismDay

28. National Women’s Health and Fitness Day #WomensHealthFitnessDay

30. International Podcast Day #InternationalPodcastDay

 

October 2022

1. International Coffee Day #InternationalCoffeeDay

3. National Techies Day #TechiesDay

4. National Taco Day #NationalTacoDay #TacoDay

5. World Teacher’s Day #WorldTeachersDay

7. World Smile Day #WorldSmileDay

10. World Mental Health Day #WorldMentalHeathDay

11. World Sight Day #WorldSightDay

14. National Dessert Day #DessertDay

16. World Food Day #FoodDay

30. National Checklist Day #ChecklistDay

31. Halloween #Halloween

 

November 2022

1. World Vegan Day #WorldVeganDay

4. National Candy Day #NationalCandyDay

6. Daylight Saving Time Ends #DaylightSavings #DaylightSavingsTime

8. National STEM Day #STEMDay

11. Veterans Day #VeteransDay

11. Remembrance Day #PoppyDay #RemembranceDay

13. World Kindness Day #WKD

14. World Diabetes Day #WDD

15. America Recycles Day #BeRecycled

24. Thanksgiving #Thanksgiving

25. Black Friday #BlackFriday #BlackFridayDeals

26. Small Business Saturday #ShopSmall

28. Cyber Monday #CyberMonday #CyberMondayDeals

 

December 2022

3. International Day of Persons with Disabilities #IDPWD

4. National Cookie Day #NationalCookieDay

10. International Animal Rights Day #AnimalRightsDay

19. Hanukkah Begins #Hanukkah #Chanukah

21. First Day of Winter #WinterSolstice

23. Festivus #Festivus #AiringOfGrievances

24. Christmas Eve #ChristmasEve #MerryChristmas

25. Christmas #Christmas #MerryChristmas

30. No Interruptions Day #NoInterruptionsDay

31. New Year’s Eve #NYE #NewYearsEve

 

 

The marketing calendar takeaway

Starting this organizational habit for your marketing efforts is a huge win. It gives you information that will serve you throughout the year. It does take some time to create and that can be deterring. Don’t let it be! Once you get one or two under your belt, the sky’s the limit for your marketing strategy.

Check out Propel’s 2022 Marketing Calendar so you can make this year your company’s best marketing year to date.