Summary
A marketing calendar is a year-long plan of the retail, cultural and seasonal moments a brand builds its campaigns around. It covers federal holidays like the Fourth of July, gifting moments like Mother’s Day and retail events like Black Friday. As a rule, a campaign takes four to six weeks to prepare, and the biggest moments about ten weeks, with a teaser two weeks before the main send. In 2027, Black Friday falls on Friday, November 26.
It's February 9. You open your inbox and realize Valentine's Day is on Sunday, your campaign isn't built, and every brand you follow has been emailing about it for a week. Most marketers have lived some version of that morning. This marketing calendar is here so 2027 goes differently. Think of it as an email marketing calendar that also covers SMS, WhatsApp and web push: every key date of the year, month by month, with when to start, when to tease and which channel to lean on. If you're still setting up your program, start with our guide to what email marketing is and how it works.
Not every date deserves a campaign, though. Picking the right ones is the first decision, and the one that saves you the most time.
How to use this marketing calendar in 2027
A marketing calendar helps you pick your big moments in advance, then work backward from each date to know when to plan, when to tease, when to send and when to follow up. It's the backbone of your marketing strategy for the year, and the easiest way to keep your team, your offers and your inventory in sync. Your email calendar usually sits inside a broader content calendar that also covers social media and your blog, so plan all your marketing activities from the same important dates.
Start by sorting, with your business goals and your target audience in mind. St. Patrick's Day only makes sense if it fits your audience, while Mother's Day or Black Friday matter to almost every online store. Keep four to six major events a year for your seasonal promotions, and treat the rest as lighter content, for example on social media. Relevant campaigns beat a packed calendar every time. Then share the calendar in your team's project management tool so everyone sees the deadlines.
Your calendar also has dates that belong to each customer: their birthday, the anniversary of their first order, the end of their subscription. Those automated campaigns run all year in the background, often reach existing customers at their most meaningful moments, and take pressure off the big seasonal pushes.
Then build your campaign planning timeline:
- 6 to 4 weeks out: pick the offer, the message and the segments.
- 3 weeks out: build the emails, the text messages and the landing pages.
- 2 weeks out: test, proofread, schedule. This is also when you set up an A/B test on the subject line.
- 7 days to 1 day out: tease the offer to your best customers. For the biggest moments, start 14 days out.
- The day and the day after: main send, then a targeted follow-up to people who opened but didn't buy.
- A week later: review performance and write your notes straight into next year's calendar.
Tip: for the biggest moments (back to school, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the holiday season), start preparing four weeks earlier and send your teaser two weeks before the main send. Inboxes are packed in those weeks, and an offer announced on the day gets lost.
Which channel for which moment?
The right channel depends on how far you are from the date, how urgent the message is and what you need to show.
For most big moments, email sets things up, SMS or web push gets people to act, and email follows up. Each channel then does one job, so your marketing efforts stay consistent and you don't send the same promotional emails everywhere.
Orchestrate one big day across channels
A strong omnichannel campaign moves each contact from one channel to the next based on what they do, with a clear job for every channel.
Here's what a Black Friday looks like when you run it over three weeks:
- Three weeks out, on your site: a pop-up invites newsletter subscribers to add their phone number to get deals by text, and a second one invites your best customers to join a VIP list on WhatsApp. If texting is new for you, our SMS marketing guide covers the basics.
- Two weeks out, by email: a teaser announces the date and reminds people that sign-ups get early access.
- The day before, on WhatsApp: the VIP list gets the deals first.
- On the day: the launch email goes out in the morning, and a countdown shows on your category pages for the whole event.
- During the event: a shopper who abandons their cart gets an email reminder, or a WhatsApp conversation if that's the channel they chose. Someone who viewed a product without buying gets a follow-up about that product.
- Final hours: a web push notification reminds opted-in visitors that the deals are ending.
- After the purchase: a review request goes out a few days after delivery, and the loyalty card in their mobile wallet updates with the points they earned.
Tip: set a frequency cap per contact for the period. Someone who already bought doesn't need the rest of the day's reminders, and someone who only opted into email should never get a text. With a single customer profile, every channel knows what the others have already sent.
The same playbook works for most big moments of the year. Just adjust the lead time and the channels to what's at stake.
Marketing calendar: January 2027
January 2027 opens with New Year's emails and the post-holiday slowdown, a good month to win back attention before February picks up.
Key dates: January 1, New Year's Day · January 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day · January 28, Data Privacy Day.
January 1: New Year's Day
New Year's emails are one of the few campaigns where you have nothing to sell, and that's exactly why they work. A short email signed by someone on the team, with a look back at what you built with your customers in 2026, is enough. Schedule it for January 2 or 3, because inboxes are packed on the 1st. New Year's resolutions also give fitness, food and wellness brands a natural angle.
January 18: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
MLK Day calls for sincere content with no promotion attached. If your company takes part in a day of service or supports a cause, share what you're actually doing. Otherwise, a simple note is better than a sale.
January 28: Data Privacy Day
Use it to tell your contacts what you do with their data: why you collect it, how long you keep it and how to unsubscribe in one click. It's also a good moment to check that each contact's preferences are in sync across email, SMS and WhatsApp, which is what subscription management is for.
Marketing calendar: February 2027
February 2027 puts Valentine's Day and the Super Bowl on the same Sunday, followed by the Presidents' Day sales.
Key dates: Black History Month · February 2, Groundhog Day · February 9, National Pizza Day · February 14, Valentine's Day and Super Bowl Sunday · February 15, Presidents' Day.
February 14: Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday in 2027. Your shipping window closes around Thursday the 11th, so your main campaign should go out by Monday, February 1. Gift guides by budget work well, and so does an "anti-Valentine's" angle if it fits your voice. On your site, a scratch card pop-up that reveals a discount adds some fun, and visitors who browsed gift ideas without buying can get an email reminder, then a text a few days before the deadline.
February 14: Super Bowl Sunday
For food, drinks, home and electronics brands, game day is a moment of its own. In 2027, Super Bowl LXI is played on Valentine's Day, so pick one angle per segment instead of cramming both into one email.
February 15: Presidents' Day
Presidents' Day weekend is a classic winter sale moment, especially for home, furniture and appliances. A price drop alert sent to customers who have already bought from you works particularly well, and a discount code widget on a specific category keeps the sale going without getting in the way of browsing.
Marketing calendar: March 2027
In March 2027, Easter comes early, on Sunday the 28th, and kicks off spring campaigns.
Key dates: Women's History Month · March 8, International Women's Day · March 14, daylight saving time begins · March 17, St. Patrick's Day · March 28, Easter.
March 8: International Women's Day
This day calls for committed, sincere content with no promotion attached. Highlight concrete actions your company takes, or skip it.
March 17: St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's Day works for food, drinks and apparel brands with a playful voice. It falls on a Wednesday, so a short email a few days before is enough.
March 28: Easter
Easter comes early in 2027. Compared with the 2026 calendar, candy, decor and family activity campaigns need to start about a week earlier, around mid-March.
Marketing calendar: April 2027
April 2027 is a quieter month for retail, a good time for content and list-building ahead of Mother's Day.
Key dates: April 1, April Fools' Day · April 11, National Pet Day · April 15, Tax Day · April 22, Earth Day.
April 1: April Fools' Day
A fake product or a fake announcement only works if the joke is obvious from the subject line or the first lines. Avoid anything that could read as real news about a price or an order.
April 11: National Pet Day and other fun days
National Pet Day, Star Wars Day in May, World Chocolate Day and National Ice Cream Day in July, or International Coffee Day in October won't carry a sales campaign. They do make easy social media posts and a fun subject line for brands whose products fit, so pick the ones that match your catalog and skip the rest.
April 15: Tax Day
For finance, software and services brands, Tax Day is a natural reminder campaign. For everyone else, a "treat yourself after taxes" angle can work with the right audience.
April 22: Earth Day
Only talk about the environment if you have concrete actions to show.
Marketing calendar: May 2027
May 2027 is built around Mother's Day on Sunday the 9th and ends with Memorial Day weekend.
Key dates: May 4, Star Wars Day · May 5, Cinco de Mayo · May 9, Mother's Day · May 31, Memorial Day.
May 9: Mother's Day
Mother's Day falls on Sunday, May 9, in 2027, and it's a major gifting moment for online retail. Launch your campaign three weeks ahead, around April 18, with your shipping cutoffs in mind, then send a "last day to get it in time" reminder by text. For customers who viewed a product without ordering, a multichannel follow-up (email first, then SMS or web push) wins back some of the hesitant buyers.
Heads-up: Mother's Day can be painful for some of your contacts. Offer them a way to opt out of these emails in advance.
May 31: Memorial Day
Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer and is a classic sale weekend. Send the announcement on Thursday, May 27, then a reminder on Monday morning.
Marketing calendar: June 2027
June 2027 brings Juneteenth, Father's Day and the run-up to summer sales.
Key dates: Pride Month · June 19, Juneteenth · June 20, Father's Day.
June 19: Juneteenth
Juneteenth is a federal holiday that calls for sincere content. If your company marks the day, explain how. It falls on a Saturday in 2027, and the federal holiday is observed on Friday, June 18.
June 20: Father's Day
Same timeline as Mother's Day, with a campaign around May 30. Gift picks by interest (sports, cooking, tools) work better than a generic list. On your site, a widget showing a discount code on a specific category backs up the email campaign.
Marketing calendar: July 2027
July 2027 starts with the Fourth of July weekend and slows down into summer.
Key dates: July 4, Independence Day · July 7, World Chocolate Day · July 17, World Emoji Day · July 18, National Ice Cream Day · Prime Day, dates not announced yet.
July 4: Independence Day
The Fourth falls on a Sunday in 2027, and the federal holiday is observed on Monday, July 5, which makes for a long weekend of holiday celebrations and sales. If your customers use a loyalty card in their mobile wallet, update it with the sale offer, and it will show up on their phone without them opening a single email.
July 17: World Emoji Day
It's the perfect day to test emojis in your subject lines. A few examples:
- "☀️ Our 10 summer essentials"
- "🎉 20% off to celebrate World Emoji Day"
- "📦 Your order ships today"
Tip: one emoji per subject line, at the start or the end, and always relevant to the message. Check how it renders on mobile before you send.
Marketing calendar: August 2027
August 2027 is back-to-school season in most of the country, and the month to lock in your fall plans.
Key dates: back to school, from early August to early September depending on the state · August 19, World Photography Day · August 26, Women's Equality Day.
Back to school
For school supplies, apparel and electronics, back to school is one of the biggest retail seasons of the year, and it gets the same treatment as Black Friday: start preparing in late May and send your teaser in mid-July. For many other businesses, it's the real start of the year. Share what's new, what your team is working on and what's coming this fall. It's also the time to launch a multichannel win-back sequence for customers who haven't ordered in 30, 60 or 90 days: personalized recommendations first, then a discount that grows at each step, by email, web push or SMS depending on the channels each customer opted into.
Tip: if you only do one thing this month, block your Black Friday and holiday campaign dates now.
Marketing calendar: September 2027
September 2027 opens with Labor Day weekend, the last big sale weekend of the summer, and the start of Q4 prep.
Key dates: September 6, Labor Day.
September 6: Labor Day
Labor Day sales work well for apparel, home and outdoor brands clearing summer inventory. Announce the sale on Thursday, September 2, then send a reminder on Monday morning.
Mid-September: start your Q4 prep
Black Friday is about ten weeks away, which is when prep for the biggest moments starts. Lock in your segments, offers and inventory now, have your creative ready in early October and your testing wrapped up by mid-October, so the teaser can go out on November 12. It's also the time to collect phone numbers and WhatsApp opt-ins, because a contact who hasn't agreed to texts in October won't get your texts in November.
Marketing calendar: October 2027
October 2027 is split between fall festivities, Halloween and the final stretch of Black Friday prep.
Key dates: Breast Cancer Awareness Month · October 1, International Coffee Day · October 10, World Mental Health Day · October 11, Indigenous Peoples' Day and Columbus Day · October 31, Halloween.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month deserves more than a pink logo. If your brand gets involved, make that commitment concrete, with a donation, a partnership or useful information.
October 31: Halloween
Halloween falls on a Sunday in 2027. For decor, candy and costume brands, the main campaign goes out around October 18.
Marketing calendar: November 2027
November 2027 is all about Thanksgiving weekend: Black Friday on the 26th, Cyber Monday on the 29th.
Key dates: November 7, daylight saving time ends · November 11, Veterans Day · November 25, Thanksgiving · November 26, Black Friday · November 27, Small Business Saturday · November 29, Cyber Monday · November 30, Giving Tuesday.
November 26 and 29: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Black Friday 2027 falls on Friday, November 26, and Cyber Monday on Monday, November 29. It's the time of year when inboxes are at their most crowded. To stand out:
- Segment: your loyal customers, recent buyers and inactive subscribers aren't waiting for the same thing.
- Open an early-access list at the start of November to collect sign-ups, then send your teaser on November 12.
- Stagger your channels: email for the announcement, SMS or WhatsApp for the launch, web push for the final hours.
- Plan the Monday follow-up for Cyber Monday.
- Bring your site to life: a countdown on category pages and a browser tab that flashes when the visitor switches to another site remind shoppers the offer is ending.
- Spread out your big sends: sending an unusual volume all at once can hurt your sender reputation, so send your main campaign in waves, starting with your most engaged contacts.
The full playbook, from the sign-up pop-up three weeks out to the review request after delivery, is laid out above in the section on orchestrating across channels.
November 30: Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is about generosity. Brands that donate a share of sales or match customer donations should say so clearly, with the organization named.
Marketing calendar: December 2027
December 2027 is the peak of the holiday season, with shipping cutoffs driving every send.
Key dates: December 13, Green Monday · December 24 to January 1, Hanukkah · December 24, Christmas Eve · December 25, Christmas · December 26 to January 1, Kwanzaa · December 31, New Year's Eve.
December 13: Green Monday
Green Monday, the second Monday of December, is your last big push before shipping deadlines start to bite.
December 24 and 25: Christmas Eve and Christmas
Holiday campaigns are announced from mid-November, start with gift guides in early December, move on to shipping cutoff reminders mid-month, and wrap up with gift cards and in-store pickup for last-minute shoppers. Check your carriers' cutoff dates and put them in every email. An email advent calendar, with one surprise a day, is still a safe bet if you build it in November. In January, a review request about the gifts people received keeps the relationship going after the holidays.
December 24 to January 1: Hanukkah
Hanukkah begins at sundown on Christmas Eve in 2027 and runs through January 1. With both holidays starting the same evening, a single holiday campaign with inclusive wording can cover them, while customers who celebrate Hanukkah can get their own message if you know their preferences.
December 31: New Year's Eve
Close the year with a thank-you email and no offer. Then open your 2028 calendar.
Plan your email marketing campaigns for the year with Positive User
Positive User lets you prepare your big moments in advance and run them across channels from one platform.
- Scheduling: your email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns are built weeks ahead and go out on the date and time you choose.
- Segmentation: with the segmentation engine, each moment reaches the right audience based on your contacts' purchase history and engagement.
- Marketing automation: follow-ups, cart reminders and post-purchase messages trigger on their own around every event.
- Omnichannel: email, SMS, WhatsApp and web push share the same customer profile and the same consent status.
- On-site experience: pop-ups, scratch cards, countdowns and discount code widgets keep the campaign going while people browse.
- Loyalty: loyalty cards in the mobile wallet update in real time with the offer of each moment.
To go further on automating your seasonal campaigns, see Positive User's marketing automation.
FAQ
When is Black Friday 2027?
Black Friday 2027 is on Friday, November 26, the day after Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday follows on Monday, November 29. Most brands open their deals earlier in the week, and some run them through the whole month.
When should I start planning a seasonal email campaign?
Plan four to six weeks ahead for most moments: offer, segments, creative, testing and scheduling. For back to school, Black Friday and the holidays, give yourself about ten weeks, with a teaser two weeks before the main send, because competition in the inbox is much heavier.
How many key dates should an ecommerce marketing calendar include?
Four to six major moments are enough for most businesses, chosen based on your industry and your customers, along with the cultural moments that matter to them. The other dates can carry lighter content with no offer attached.
What should an email marketing calendar include?
An email marketing calendar lists the key dates you'll build campaigns around, the send date for each email, the segment it targets and the offer. Adding the teaser date, the channels you'll use on the day (SMS, web push, WhatsApp) and the shipping cutoffs turns it into a full campaign plan.
How do I coordinate email, SMS and WhatsApp on the same day?
Give each channel its own job: email announces and shows the offer, WhatsApp serves early access for your most engaged customers, and SMS and web push signal the launch and the final hours. To keep it consistent, each contact only gets the channels they opted into, with a cap on sends for the period. A single customer profile lets you stop the reminders as soon as someone buys.
