An email marketing calendar is a simple plan that shows which email goes to which customers on which date, and why. For a Kansas City small business, one spreadsheet can do it. You need a 12-month view of holidays and busy seasons, plus a weekly sheet where each send gets one main idea, a subject line, an approve-by date and a status. Below I give you both. The 2027 dates come from linked public sources, and I include suggested lead times and a Google Sheets setup.
Key takeaways
- Use two views: a 12-month view for seasons and holidays, and a weekly view for the actual sends. The yearly view tells you what is coming. The weekly view helps make sure an email actually goes out.
- Give each email one main idea and one ask. If you can't say the idea in one sentence, split it into two sends.
- Plan holiday sends about six weeks ahead and have regular sends drafted about two weeks ahead. Last-minute emails are often the ones that never go out.
- Several 2027 holidays fall on weekends and are observed on a different weekday, including July 4 and Christmas. Check observed dates before you write "we're closed Monday."
- Put the legal checks on the calendar too. Under CAN-SPAM, every commercial email needs an honest subject line, accurate sender information, a postal address and a way to opt out.
What an email marketing calendar is (and what it is not)
An email marketing calendar is a dated list of the emails you plan to send. Each row answers a few plain questions. When does it go out? Who gets it? What is the one thing it says? What do you want the reader to do? Who approves it, and by when?
For a local shop, it is a working document, not a strategy deck. You open it on Monday, see what goes out this week, and see what needs writing for the weeks after. It also stops two common problems: long stretches of silence, and three promotions landing in the same week because nobody looked at the whole month.
Here is what it is not:
- It is not a list of every "national day." National Hat Day doesn't help a flooring contractor in Lee's Summit. Only put dates on the calendar that change what your customers buy or when they buy it.
- It is not your automations. Welcome series and receipts run on their own. The calendar is for the emails a person decides to send. (If you're building a welcome series, see my welcome email examples.)
- It is not a promise of results. It is a plan. The emails still have to be worth opening.
- It is not a social media calendar. Keep it focused on email so it stays short enough to use.
If you'd rather have someone else draft the first 90 days, my email review looks at your list and your email tool, rewrites your last eight subject lines, and includes a 90-day send calendar.
The 12-month email marketing calendar for a Kansas City business (2027)
This table covers the dates that matter to most local service and retail businesses. Federal holiday dates follow this 2027 federal holiday schedule. Mother's Day comes from the Farmers' Almanac 2027 listing, and Father's Day is the third Sunday in June. Small Business Saturday is the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is November 27, 2027. The email ideas are my suggestions. Change them to fit your business.
| Month | Dated moments in 2027 | Email idea for a local business | Start writing by |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | New Year's Day, Fri Jan 1. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mon Jan 18 (federal schedule) | Booking calendar for the year. Winter service reminders. Note holiday hours. | Late November |
| February | Washington's Birthday (Presidents' Day), Mon Feb 15 (federal schedule) | Spring project planning: "book now to get on the schedule." | Early January |
| March | No federal holidays | Spring prep: inspections, tune-ups, outdoor work. A good month for a plain owner letter. | Early February |
| April | No federal holidays | Follow up on quotes from the winter. Ask happy customers for reviews. | Early March |
| May | Mother's Day, Sun May 9 (Farmers' Almanac). Memorial Day, Mon May 31 (federal schedule) | Gift or appointment offer before Mother's Day. Memorial Day weekend hours and summer scheduling. | Late March |
| June | Juneteenth, Sat June 19, observed Fri June 18 (holiday list). Father's Day, Sun June 20 (third Sunday in June) | Father's Day gift or service offer. Summer maintenance reminders. | Early May |
| July | Independence Day, Sun July 4, observed Mon July 5 (holiday list) | Holiday weekend hours. A midsummer check-in with past customers. | Early June |
| August | No federal holidays | Back-to-school timing for families. Fall booking opens. | Early July |
| September | Labor Day, Mon Sept 6 (federal schedule) | Fall project push. Last call for work you want finished before the holidays. | Late July |
| October | Columbus Day, Mon Oct 11 (federal schedule) | Holiday-season planning email. Book before November. | Late August |
| November | Veterans Day, Thu Nov 11. Thanksgiving, Thu Nov 25 (federal schedule). Black Friday, Nov 26. Small Business Saturday, Nov 27 (date reference) | A thank-you letter to past customers. Your Small Business Saturday offer. Gift cards. | Mid September |
| December | Christmas, Sat Dec 25, observed Fri Dec 24. New Year's Day 2028 observed Fri Dec 31, 2027 (holiday list) | Holiday hours. Year-end thank-you. January booking reminder. | Late October |
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, so it falls on Friday, November 26, 2027.
2027 holidays that move to a different weekday
None of the top search results I compared mention this, and it catches people out. When a federal holiday lands on a weekend, the observed day moves. In 2027, Juneteenth falls on Saturday June 19 and is observed Friday June 18. July 4 is a Sunday and is observed Monday July 5. Christmas is a Saturday and is observed Friday December 24. New Year's Day 2028 is a Saturday, so it is observed on Friday, December 31, 2027.
Here's why it matters for email. Your customers' banks and offices may close on the observed day, and many families take that day off. If your business closes on the observed day, the "holiday hours" email has to name the right date. And if you normally send on Friday, a Friday holiday like Christmas Eve is probably a bad day for a promotion. Move that send a day or two earlier.
Kansas City moments you can verify
Local events only belong on your calendar when the organizer has posted the dates. The American Royal is the clearest example. Its 2026 World Series of Barbecue ran September 30 to October 4, and it was limited to invited guests because the new campus was still under construction. The American Royal has moved to a new campus in Kansas City, Kansas, and its 2026 Livestock Show runs October 9 to 25. For 2027, check the organizer's site for posted dates. Until they appear, pencil in early fall and confirm before you plan an email around it.
The same rule applies to game days, neighborhood festivals and First Fridays. If the official schedule isn't out yet, the row stays blank.
Weekly planning template
The yearly table tells you what's coming. This weekly sheet is where the work actually gets done. Each row is one send. The rows below are made-up examples to show how to fill it in.
| Send date | Audience | One main idea | Subject line | Offer or ask | Tracking code | Approve by | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, May 4 | Past customers | Mother's Day is Sunday. Here is one easy gift. | a gift she'll actually use | Gift card, order by Friday | MOM27 | Wed, Apr 28 | Drafted |
| Tue, May 11 | Open quotes from April | Your quote is still good through May. | still holding your quote | Reply to book a date | QUOTE511 | Wed, May 5 | Idea |
| Tue, May 18 | Past customers, last 2 years | Summer schedule is filling. Here is what is open. | June dates | Call to book | JUNE27 | Wed, May 12 | Idea |
| Tue, May 25 | Everyone | Our Memorial Day hours | closed Monday the 31st | None (service note) | None | Wed, May 19 | Idea |
Keep the columns to what you'll actually fill in. If you split your list by customer type, the audience column is where that shows up. My email segmentation guide covers how to split a local list without overdoing it.
How to fill your calendar: one main idea per send
A calendar full of blank rows doesn't help. Fill it in this order:
- Block the fixed dates first. Copy the holidays and confirmed local events from the yearly table into the weeks they affect.
- Add your own seasons. A roofer's busy season isn't a florist's. Mark when people start calling you and when they go quiet.
- Write one sentence per send. "Your quote is still good through May" is an idea. "Spring update, new hires, a sale and a tip" is four ideas, and it should be four emails.
- Attach one ask. Reply, call, book or use a code. Pick one.
- Fill the gaps with real stories. A job you just finished, a question a customer asked, a mistake you see homeowners make. My guide to owner-voice emails has more on this.
- Read the month from the customer's side. If three sales land in one week, spread them out or cut one.
Lead times: how far ahead to plan
These are suggested lead times, not industry rules. How quickly you approve drafts matters more than anything else here.
| Type of send | Start planning | Draft ready | Approved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular newsletter or owner letter | 3 to 4 weeks out | 2 weeks out | 1 week out |
| Holiday or seasonal offer | About 6 weeks out | 3 weeks out | 2 weeks out |
| Holiday hours or closure notice | When you set the hours | 1 week out | A few days out |
| Quote follow-up | When a quote has sat for a week or two | Same week | Same week |
Small Business Saturday on November 27 means your offer should be decided by early October and written in October. Leave November for approvals and the send.
How often to send
Frequency should depend on how much you really have to say, not on a template. Monthly works when the work is seasonal and the list already knows you. Weekly works when you have steady news, higher-priced jobs and quotes that need follow-up. I go through the trade-offs in how often to email and in monthly vs weekly.
Whatever you choose, pick a regular send day and keep to it. Then build the calendar around that slot. For send times, see the best time to send an email newsletter. For length, see how long a newsletter should be.
For reference, my published plans line up with those two rhythms. Monthly emails cost $1,850 a month for one email and one offer. Weekly emails cost $3,900 a month for one email a week plus follow-up on quotes that sat.
How to keep your calendar in Google Sheets
You don't need special software. A shared sheet works fine for a business with one or two people.
- Create three tabs: "Year" (the 12-month table), "Weekly" (the planning template) and "Lists" (the options for your dropdowns).
- On the Lists tab, type your status values one per cell: Idea, Drafted, Approved, Scheduled, Sent.
- Add a status dropdown. Select the Status column, open Data validation and choose a dropdown. Google's help page explains how to create an in-cell dropdown list and choose "Reject input" so only list values are accepted.
- Do the same for Audience so people don't spell segments five different ways.
- Sort the Weekly tab by send date and look at it every Monday.
- Add a results column after each send: replies, calls and code uses.
If your list lives in Mailchimp or Klaviyo, the sheet is still where you plan. The tool is only where you send. I cover how that split works in Mailchimp management and Klaviyo management.
Put the legal checks on the calendar too
The FTC's CAN-SPAM compliance guide says the law covers all commercial email, whether or not it is sent in bulk. Its own example is a message to former customers announcing a new product line. The guide lists the requirements, including accurate header information, honest subject lines, clear disclosure that the message is an ad, and a valid physical postal address.
Add a "pre-send check" column to the Weekly tab with four boxes:
- Does the subject line match what the email says?
- Are the from name and reply-to really you?
- Is the postal address in the footer?
- Does the unsubscribe link work?
This isn't legal advice. Read the FTC page or ask your attorney if you're unsure.
What to track after each send
The results column is what turns a calendar into a plan you can improve. Opens are a weak signal now because some mail apps report opens that never happened. My open rates guide explains why. I care more about replies, calls and orders.
A unique code in each email makes those easier to count, even when the sale happens over the phone or at the counter. See unique-code tracking for how it works. After each send, log the code uses next to the row. After a few months you'll see which kinds of ideas bring in work and which don't.
How we put this together
I read the top three Google US results for "email marketing calendar" on October 18, 2026, then built this guide to cover what they cover, correct what they get wrong, and add what they leave out. Every outside fact links to its source.
On October 18, 2026, I read the pages Google showed first for "email marketing calendar." That included a CRM vendor's guide, a month-by-month holiday list and an email platform's blog post. I noted what each one covered and what it left out. None of them gave dated plans for a local business, lead times or compliance checks.
Every date and rule here comes from the sources linked inline: the 2027 federal holiday schedule, holiday date references, the American Royal's event pages, the FTC's CAN-SPAM guide and Google's help page for Sheets. I did not run tests, and there are no client results here. The lead times and email ideas are suggestions, labeled that way.
Related guides
- Email Marketing for Real Estate: What to Send, to Whom, and How Often
- Welcome Email Examples for Local Small Businesses, Plus a Simple Welcome Series
- Email Segmentation for Small Business Lists: What to Split and How
- Review Request Email Guide: Templates, Timing and Rules for Local Businesses
- How Long Should a Newsletter Be? Word Counts, Reading Time, and Proof
FAQ
What should an email marketing calendar include?
At minimum, it needs the send date, the audience, one main idea, the subject line, the offer or ask, an approve-by date and a status. If you track results with a unique code, give that a column too. More columns than that usually go unfilled.
How far ahead should a small business plan its email calendar?
Keep a rough 12-month view of holidays and busy seasons, and a detailed plan for the next four to eight weeks. Start holiday sends about six weeks out, and aim to have regular sends drafted about two weeks before they go out.
How often should a small business send marketing emails?
It depends on how many real things you have to say and how big your average job is. Monthly suits seasonal work and warm lists. Weekly suits businesses with steady news and quotes that need follow-up. The how-often guide on this site goes into more detail.
What dates matter most for a 2027 email marketing calendar?
For most local businesses, the big ones are Mother's Day on May 9, Memorial Day on May 31, Labor Day on September 6, Thanksgiving on November 25, Black Friday on November 26 and Small Business Saturday on November 27. Also watch the weekend holidays in 2027. July 4 and December 25 both fall on weekends, so the observed weekday off moves.
How do I build an email marketing calendar in Google Sheets?
Make one tab for the year, one tab for the weekly plan and one tab for your dropdown lists. Add a dropdown for status using Data validation, and set it to reject input so nobody can type a value that isn't on the list. Sort by send date and check it every week.
What does CAN-SPAM mean for my email calendar?
The FTC says CAN-SPAM covers all commercial email, including messages to former customers. Every send needs an honest subject line, accurate sender information, a valid physical postal address and a way to opt out. Add a pre-send check column to the calendar so nothing goes out without these.
Should I put Kansas City events on my email calendar?
Only when they fit what you sell and the dates are confirmed. The American Royal, for example, posts its event dates on its own site. Check them before you plan a send around one.
Get a second pair of eyes on your emails
A calendar only helps if the emails on it are worth reading. If you aren't sure yours are, I can look. The email review covers your list, your email tool and your last eight subject lines, and I rewrite those subjects. You get a 90-day send calendar and a 45-minute call, but the review doesn't include writing or sending the emails, and it can't promise any particular result. You can request the $747 email review, compare the ongoing plans on the pricing page, or call (816) 300-1791.
Fit check: if a standard marketing investment is a line item for your business, the pilot makes sense. If you are still running a smaller operation, wait until it is.