Download the template

A spreadsheet with eleven columns and a filled-in example month. Both files contain the grid and the example month; the Excel file also has a how-to sheet.

  • Excel file (.xlsx) - opens in Excel, Numbers and LibreOffice, formatted, with two sheets.
  • CSV file (.csv) - for Google Sheets, Notion and anything that imports. Semicolon separated.

You need no account and no email address. The files sit behind an ordinary link, and we do not count who takes them. Free to use, commercially too, with no attribution required.

How to build an editorial calendar you will actually use

Most editorial calendars fail not because of the tool but because they start out too full.

Start with the dates that already exist

A product launch, a trade fair, a year-end, a client project wrapping up. These dates give you content without you having to invent it. Enter them first - the rest fills in around them.

Two or three posts a week is enough

For one person doing marketing on the side, two or three posts a week is realistic. Anyone planning ten manages ten for three weeks and then none for six. Regularity beats volume, by a wide margin.

One key message per post, in a single sentence

The most important column in the template is key message. If you cannot fill it in one sentence, the post is not thought through - and the calendar shows you that before you spend an hour on the text.

Four states, no more

Idea, In progress, Scheduled, Published. More stages cost more upkeep than they return. A plan whose upkeep is work does not get kept up.

Common questions about editorial calendars

What is an editorial calendar anyway?

A table stating what should appear when and on which channel. That is all. Its value is not in the table but in not having to think from scratch every time about what to write.

How far ahead should I plan?

Four weeks is a good start. A quarterly plan looks tidy and is out of date after three weeks because something in the business changed. Plan one month, and put ideas for later in the same file, just without a date.

Is a spreadsheet enough, or do I need a tool?

As long as you work alone on one channel, the spreadsheet is enough. The moment two people work on it, more channels join, or someone needs to approve, the spreadsheet starts costing - you end up with three versions and no idea which one applies. That is exactly where a tool earns its place, and kontiqo is one of them.

Can I use the template in Google Sheets?

Yes. Take the CSV file and import it - Google Sheets will ask for the separator, and that is a semicolon. The Excel file can be uploaded and converted as well; some formatting is lost in the process, the content is not.

Why is the template free, not even costing an email address?

Because a template in exchange for an email address is a trade where both sides get something they did not want: you a newsletter, us an address with no interest behind it. If the template helps you, you might remember us when the spreadsheet stops being enough.