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My social media feeds are made up of 90% memes.
They’re usually posted by people I follow but every once in a while, a brand will post a meme and add their own spin on it. When it’s done right, those are the brands whose content I engage with the most.

What was once considered a trend reserved for Millennials and Gen Z has now evolved into an effective way for brands to engage with their audience. 
Let’s talk about what meme marketing is, how you can leverage it, and see examples of brands getting it right.   
A quick background on memes – they’re concepts, behaviors, or ideas that spread on the internet. A meme can be any type of media format, including a GIF, video, text-post, or basic image.

The truly successful memes spread like wildfire. That’s exactly why marketers want to leverage these already viral pieces of creative for their own marketing.
Another benefit to meme marketing is that it’s low effort. Most of the work has already been done: It’s being shared all over social media and it has a clear concept. All you have to do is fit the meme to your brand and hit “post.”
Furthermore, memes help bring communities together. Not only are users tempted to like and comment on them, but they also want to share them.
Now that we know the benefits of using meme marketing, let’s get to a few examples of brand memes in the wild.
Meme Marketing Examples
1. Kai Collective

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Black wojak memes started spreading on the interwebs in the fall of 2020. It wasn’t until December of the same year that it went viral, with users creating their own version of the hilarious meme.
Kai Collective was one of them.
The concept behind this particular meme– I say particular because there are multiple variations of this meme – is simple: One Black girl meets another Black girl, they bond over something and become friends.
Kai Collective made its own version of this meme to highlight its product, a print top. Instead of simply adding the text, they took it one step further by adding their clothing and making it a truly custom meme.
2. The Living Potion

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When rapper Drake released the cover for his “Certified Lover Boy” album, it instantly went viral.
The artist had accomplished his goal of creating a meme-able cover and the public took no time to create their own versions.
This perfume brand not only included its product in the meme but also labeled each one for even better recall.
It’s a great example of how to use a meme that is fun but also ties back to your brand.
3. Netflix’s Strong Black Lead

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One thing Netflix’s social media team is great at? Creating their own memes.
The brand will often take the concept behind a popular meme and recreate it with their own image.
Netflix leverages its extensive media library to (re)create relevant, funny memes like the one above.
4. Ruka Hair

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A meme list wouldn’t be complete without Oprah Winfrey.
This one came from from the highly viewed special “Oprah with Meghan and Harry.”
In addition to the iconic line – and quite possibly best follow-up interview question of all time – “Were you silent or were you silenced?” this image quickly made its rounds on social media.
It shows Winfrey raising her hands up in disapproval and looking away.
Haircare brand Ruka Hair created its own version of the meme to point out a major pain point for gel users.
Memes are so popular because they’re relatable. If your brand is brainstorming meme ideas, think of your user persona. What are some challenges they deal with? How are they approaching those challenges?
You’ll probably find a humorous, meme-worthy answer.
5. Diamond Express Travels

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The rapper Drake has been the face of quite a few memes. That’s likely what inspired his latest album cover, as referenced above.
The original meme shows him avoiding or disliking something he’s presented, then agreeing with the new option he’s presented.
In actuality, this was taken from a music video the artist shot as he was dancing. But we’ll save the meme origin stories for another time.
Travel agency Diamond Express Travels uses the meme to highlight a pain point many travelers may have: The burden of planning and booking your own vacation.
Another thing to note is their logo addition.
Because of how shareable memes are, brands are encouraged to add their logo or name on a meme to ensure they remain top of mind when their post spreads.
6. Hydrop.io

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I’ve seen this meme die down and come back to life many times over the past few years.
One look at the picture and you understand exactly what’s going on: The man featured in the middle is distracted by someone who walks past him while he is with someone else.
Hydrop.io, a water company based in India, created this meme to depict how its target audience views various types of water. And, they dive further into this idea in the caption by highlighting the benefits of alkaline water.
Sometimes, the meme speaks for itself. In this case, you can use it to supplement a message you want to share to your audience.
7. Black Rooster Taqueria

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Sometimes, one Oprah meme isn’t enough.
Here’s another example of how the interview that attracted 17.1 million viewers resulted in multiple memes for our enjoyment.
In this case, Mexican restaurant Black Rooster Taqueria took a simple approach to share its value proposition: Why deal with bland, cold flour tortillas when you could get fresh, authentic corn tortillas?
If you’re just discovering this brand, this meme tells us a little bit about them while garnering a quick laugh.
8. Mypsomagen

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The Met Gala is the unofficial meme generator.
Every year, you can expect to see dozens of memes created from celebrity looks at this star-studded event.
This one features sisters Kendall Jenner and Kim Kardashian and works in multiple contexts, before-and-afters, light and darkness, positives and negatives.
Biotech company Mypsomagen cleverly promoted its product kit Gutbiome+ with this meme.
When done right, a meme should get your audience laughing and interested in engaging with your brand.
9. Clean Skin Club

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Another popular figure in memes is none other than politician Bernie Sanders.
When he’s not floating around the internet for seeming completely unenthused at the 2020 presidential inauguration,
I’m not quite sure what caused this meme to go viral, but once it did, everyone was changing the end of this sentence to match their own demands.
For brands, it works as a fun way to speak directly to your audience and ask them to take a particular action.
10. Purity Coffee

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Memes can emerge from just about any image, no matter how old or high-quality it is. If one social media user creates something funny from it, it has the potential to spread and be used worldwide.
This meme came from the 2002 Star Wars film, “Episode II – Attack of the Clones.”
It shows a conversation between two people as one says something that brings happiness and excitement to the other. That is until they realize it may not be so great after all.
Coffee brand Purity Coffee not only educates its audience on an issue they may not be aware of but also boosts its own value in the process.
As shown in this example, memes offer a great opportunity to highlight issues that your brand helps resolve or address.
11. Yappy

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This meme is an oldie but a goodie.
From solving cliffhangers from TV dramas to developing conspiracy theories, this meme works in many different contexts.
In this example, pet store brand Yappy pokes fun at its core audience, likely animal lovers who have a constant desire to adopt pets.
When you know and understand your user persona, you can create memes that really resonate with your audience, leading to higher engagement rates.
12. Telfar

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If you can’t find a meme that fits your brand, make one. That’s exactly what luxury purse brand Telfar did.
They took two still frames from the 2004 movie, “White Chicks,” and replaced part of the original line with its own.
It fits perfectly in this case and is a great example of how to leverage existing media for your own use.
13. Anima Iris

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The phrase, “How It Started…How It’s Going” took over Twitter for the better part of 2020.
The great thing about it is that it ages pretty well, unlike most memes which have a short shelf life. It’s a trend that brands can take part in to share their origin story.
Luxury purse brand Anima Iris shared pictures of its CEO in the early stages of the brand to where it is today.
This type of trend allows your brand to connect with your audience and invite users to learn more about you.
Meme marketing is a surefire way to build community and potentially grow your brand awareness. With this in mind, you want to make sure you’re doing it right.
1. Stay on brand.
As with any marketing strategy, you want to make sure your meme feels authentic to your brand. The thing with trends is that everyone wants to jump on and make sure they don’t miss the train.
The thing is, not every viral meme will be a good fit for your brand. Be selective about which memes you create and which ones you let go of.
2. Don’t be offensive.
On that same note, make sure your meme isn’t offensive.
Brands can get themselves in hot water when they join in on the meme fun without thinking through the implications. Here are a few questions to ask before you join in. Does the meme:

Make fun of a particular group or community?
Include insults, slurs, or charged words?
Rely on the use of suggestive imagery or language?

If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, you may want to reconsider its use.
3. Follow the unofficial meme rules.
There’s nothing worse than a meme done wrong.
It’s like when parents use teenage slang in the wrong context, it’s cringy and makes you stand out like a sore thumb.
Here are the guidelines to keep in mind:

Keep it short and sweet.
Use easy-to-read, large text.
Make sure your meme is still recognizable after customizing it.
Don’t try to change the meaning of the meme, that may confuse users.
Avoid including CTAs in your meme.

4. Strike while the iron is hot.
Ideally, you want to share your meme as it peaks, not when it’s already made its rounds.
Because once interest has died down, you may not get the traction you want from your audience.
Whenever it makes sense for your brand, use meme marketing. It’s a simple but creative way to share your brand narrative while engaging your audience.

When I talk with most marketers about how they generate leads and fill the top of their sales funnel, most say outbound marketing.
However, a lot of innovative and successful businesses are actually embracing the art of inbound marketing.
So, what’s the difference between inbound and outbound? This post will walk you through it along with the benefits and drawbacks of each strategy.

From email blasts to outsourced telemarketing, I call these methods “outbound marketing” because marketers push their messages out far and wide hoping that it resonates with that needle in the haystack.

I think outbound marketing techniques are getting less and less effective over time for two reasons.
First, your average human today is inundated with at least 2,000 outbound marketing interruptions per day and is figuring out more and more creative ways to block them out, including ad blocker browser extensions, caller ID, email spam filtering, and more.
Second, the cost of learning something new or shopping online using search engines, blogs, and social media is now much lower than going to a seminar at the Marriott or flying to a trade show in Las Vegas.
Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is a strategy where you create content or social media tactics that spread brand awareness so people learn about you, might go to your website for information, show interest in your product, and potentially make a purchase.
While some outbound strategies take lots of time and effort and may yield no leads, inbound strategies allow you to engage an audience of people that you can more easily qualify as a prospect of lead.
The best analogy I can come up with is that traditional marketers looking to garner interest from new potential customers are like lions hunting in the jungle for elephants.
The elephants used to be in the jungle in the ’80s and ’90s when they learned their trade, but they don’t seem to be there anymore. They have all migrated to the watering holes on the savannah – the internet in our case.
So, rather than continuing to hunt in the jungle, I recommend setting up shop at the watering hole or turning your website into its own watering hole.
Transforming Your Marketing from Outbound to Inbound
Rather than doing outbound marketing to the masses of people who are trying to block you out, I advocate for inbound marketing, where you help yourself be visible to people already interested in your industry.
To do this, you need to set your website up like a “hub” for your industry. One that attracts visitors naturally through search engines, blogging, and social media.
I believe most marketers today spend 90% of their efforts on outbound marketing and 10% on inbound marketing, and I advocate that those ratios flip.
To do so, follow the “Attract, Engage, Delight” model.

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To attract your audience, develop a strong content strategy.
You want to have content for every stage in the marketing funnel. For consumers in the awareness stage, social media and ads will work great to introduce users to your brand and product.
Blogging will position you as a credible and trustworthy source within your industry and allow your target audience to find you.
During this process, it’s also important to develop an SEO strategy to ensure your website is optimized for search.
Once visitors turn into leads, you can nurture them through email marketing, conversational chatbots, and automated workflows.
In the “Delight” stage, your goal is to ensure your audience can easily connect with your sales and service teams, and resolve their issues quickly.
Inbound marketing is all about meeting your audience where they’re at. You’ll quickly find that your marketing efforts are performing better and helping your brand grow.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in 2010 but has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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A quick roundup of Mailchimp alternatives for those who are looking for an ESP, or looking to make a switch.
When it comes to growing your business, there’s perhaps no medium more important than email. With an ROI that can reach $44 for every $1 spent, email is an incredibly effective medium when it comes to customer acquisition.
But, starting and growing a business is a lot of work, and often, email marketing can be buried at the bottom of a too-full plate. And priority #1 for an email service provider (ESP) is something powerful, but easy to get started with.
Mailchimp can be a great option for some businesses. With a suite of online marketing tools, they can be a great one-stop-shop for businesses, it can also be overwhelming. And marketers who need a powerful, but easy-to-use email marketing tool may find that getting started with Mailchimp is a bit too much work.
Here are a few Mailchimp alternatives to help you make your decision.
Top 10 best Mailchimp alternatives

Campaign Monitor
GetResponse
Constant Contact
Emma
Aweber
ActiveCampaign
MailerLite
Klaviyo
Drip
SendGrid

How we sourced our data
To get an accurate picture of the tools covered in this article, we visited unbiased review sites like G2 and Capterra to get a good first-hand look at how users were experiencing each platform, not just how they were talking about themselves on their websites.
We visited each competitor’s site as well, but only for up-to-date information on features and pricing.
1. Mailchimp vs. Campaign Monitor
We acknowledge that we could be a bit biased here, but we feel that Campaign Monitor is a top solution for those looking for a Mailchimp alternative.
Campaign Monitor is an internationally trusted email provider with over a decade of experience giving customers the tools and support they need to feel confident in their email marketing strategy.
Customers get the most out of our responsive template library, as well as our drag-and-drop email builder. These tools make it easy to start sending beautiful, engaging emails to your audience quickly.

Plus, our visual journey builder makes advanced automations much more approachable, giving time-strapped marketers the ability to create sophisticated campaigns they might not be able to do otherwise.

And with offices around the globe, customers in any timezone are able to connect with our support team — a frequent complaint among Mailchimp users — and resolve their issues.
If you need an ESP to serve as an all-in-one marketing platform, Campaign Monitor might not be the best fit for you or your email strategy. Similarly, if you have intricate and complex automation and personalization needs for a wide and varied audience, one of our partner enterprise solutions might be a better tool to help you reach your email marketing goals.
But if you want to get the most out of your email strategy, receiving features and support from teams focused on and dedicated to email first and foremost, Campaign Monitor is your way to go.
Curious what it would take to migrate from Mailchimp to Campaign Monitor? Here’s everything you need to know.
Reviews from Campaign Monitor customers
Comprehensive Email Marketing Platform. I’ve tried a lot of different email marketing platforms over my 15 years in marketing and Campaign Monitor is hands-down the best option out there. I would waste hours of my time fiddling around on other platforms to get things to display properly. In other platforms, everything would look great until I send out the email and then the HTML would be all jumbled and things wouldn’t display properly. This is not the case with Campaign Monitor. When I send emails they look exactly the same as they do in the preview. Finally, I can get hours of my life back!
— Jessi N, Director of Marketing & Business Development
The best email marketing software. Campaign Monitor is so far the easiest to use in its field. Creating beautiful emails and managing campaigns cannot be easier, even if you have never done it before.
— Luca M, CEO and founder
Great User Support and an Accessible Platform. Campaign Monitor is easy to use and accessible for every employee regardless of their skillset. The client service team responds quickly when there are issues to be resolved.
— Administrator in Public Relations and Communications
2. Mailchimp vs. GetResponse

A screenshot of GetResponse’s website in 2021.

 
While GetResponse offers services for both small and enterprise businesses, they thrive when providing email marketing solutions to small businesses.
They boast over 500 responsive email templates and have a drag-and-drop email editor that’s both easy to use and appreciated by their customers. Though it’s important to mention: The ability to create emails through the drag-and-drop email builder isn’t as robust as when customers edit emails through the code.
While they supply many great CRM and eCommerce integrations, GetResponse limits many of its advanced features to lists of a certain size. These limits might make it difficult for small business email marketers to grow their email strategy over time.
Reviews from GetResponse customers
One of the best programs to send emails. Getresponse is an incredible tool to do email marketing, in our company we use it to manage our entire list of clients and distribute in an organized way all our informative and promotional emails, usually the emails arrive or inbox or promotions which is very good and shows great quality in this tool, the percentage of reading and opening emails, Getresponse has a very intuitive and advanced email editor with good templates to create our emails, we usually use it to create promotional emails, you can also manage your contact lists and possible customers, I have imported them from any other data collection tool, on the other hand, regarding the price Getresponse is very kind because their plans in quality and price are excellent and they offer us a large amount of monthly emails for a really accessible price.
— Maria S, Marketing Specialist
It is a very reliable tool for email marketing. GetResponse is a very powerful tool, one of the things that I like the most are its reporting and statistics functions since they are very detailed, easy to understand and provide enough data to understand what works best for our landing pages and which campaigns need a readjustment in the strategies to generate more conversions. On the other hand the templates offered have good designs and allow me to create very fast campaigns and easily readjust them.
— David B, Web Designer
Mailchimp vs. Constant Contact

A screenshot of Constant Contact’s website in 2021.

 
Constant Contact is a good option for nonprofits that need an all-in-one solution. The ability to create a website or landing page and add a donate block to emails can be a big help in fundraising efforts. But they can be a good choice for small businesses, too, with educational offerings like webinars and training, as well as a website builder for small businesses seeking out a one-stop-shop.
However, customers say it’s hard to customize their templates, and advanced features are lacking. While customers are happiest with this ESP when they’re sending basic batch-and-blast newsletters, if you’re looking for more advanced capabilities and more design control, this ESP might not be the email marketing solution for you.
Reviews from Constant Contact customers
Effective and easy to figure out. As the title of this review suggests, I think Constant Contact is a really straightforward software suite that even the most tech-averse clients will be able to figure out and use to its fullest extent. There are many organizations who are simply looking to keep in regular contact with clients or potential donors (as in our case), and Constant Contact is a simple, clean interface that allows us to communicate with volunteers and donors on a regular basis.
— Stephanie H, Foreign Language Teacher
Easy to use email tool with a good email editor. The email editor makes building emails very easy compared to many other email marketing tools. For the most part, emails you build in the editor will look exactly the same sent. Reporting is good as well.
— Alyssa F, Content Marketing Manager
4. Mailchimp vs. Emma

A screenshot of Emma’s website in 2021.

 
Emma offers specific solutions to multi-location businesses and franchises like gyms, universities, restaurants, etc. Emma HQ was designed in partnership with Orange Theory, one of their customers. They found themselves spending too much time approving (or not approving) emails from some of their franchises, so Emma streamlined the entire process.
Emma HQ allows you to save time by simplifying the approval process and even locking templates so your hundreds—or even thousands—of locations can only use the fonts, images, or colors that you’ve approved in advance.
However, Emma doesn’t send transactional emails out of the box or include a survey tool. If getting quick feedback or transactional emails are top priorities in your email marketing strategy, Emma might not be the tool you need to reach your goals as efficiently as possible.
Reviews from Emma customers
Easy tool with massive impact. Emma’s easy-to-edit templates are a breeze to use and are a great way to start a mass mailing. Plus, their ability to test multiple subject lines (and see the results for which ones lead to the most clicks) makes it certain that your email will get the greatest engagement possible.
— Dakota R, Resident Director
Reaching our client base with Emma. I love the ease of use. The ready-to-go templates save me time and brain power. Our clients get a beautiful, professional-looking communication from us. I can integrate and customize the look of my Eventbrite events into my emails with no trouble.
— Trista B, Marketing Manager & Maxwell Health Champion
5. Mailchimp vs. Aweber

A screenshot of AWeber’s website in 2021.

 
Aweber serves small businesses by providing a simple email marketing tool with great support. More advanced features include an API for Google’s AMP email. They also offer many live demos of their product to help customers get the most out of the technology, in addition to a library of help articles. So if support and educational resources are your top priority, this could be the best ESP for your needs.
On the other hand, users report they often have difficulty with the email editor and would like more (and better) email templates to get their email designs started. Similarly, customers report that the provider feels outdated when compared to the features offered by newer ESPs.
Reviews from Aweber customers
High quality service for a premium price. The service that Aweber provides is top notch. All the tools that it gives, the deliverability of the emails, reporting and analytics all is perfect.
— Liudas B, Owner
The best platform for email marketing is incredible. I like how it provides our company with a means to automate the response to personalized emails, I like how it is integrated into each ecosystem of programs, it integrates with other platforms without problem, the delivery capacity is impressive fast, besides it is extremely easy to use and your customer support is effective.
— Maiker L, General Manager
6. Mailchimp vs. ActiveCampaign

A screenshot of ActiveCampaign’s website in 2021.

 
If you’re a small business looking for an affordable product with plenty of features, ActiveCampaign is worth investigating. They offer an all-in-one platform for customers and enable multi-channel messaging through email and SMS that some marketers will find powerful and effective for their audience. Plus they have a solid automation feature—like Campaign Monitor, they offer an automation builder that many other ESPs lack.
If price is the most important factor in your search, this provider could be a good fit for you. However, if support and ease of use are equally important, you might be better off with a different ESP.
Reviews from ActiveCampaign customers
ActiveCampaign – Great for Solopreneurs & Small Biz Too. I am a fan of MailChimp – but switched to Active Campaign because it merges the capacity for email newsletters and mass mailings with the need for one–to-one messaging and automation. Usually solutions for larger businesses are overkill for micro-businesses, but AC is a great solution for both.
— Mary M, Principal
Affordable and functional software for Marketing Automation. The Automation Builder is simple and clear to use, and the storage of previous campaigns for use as templates is incredibly helpful! The help guides available online from Active Campaign are also clear and concise.
— Gemma P, Director
7. Mailchimp vs. MailerLite

A screenshot of MailerLite’s website in 2021.

 
MailerLite offers both a drag-and-drop editor as well as a custom HTML editor for their customers, many of whom are authors. In fact, they have specific integrations to help authors make the most of their email marketing, so if this is you, this ESP could work for your needs.
While many customers appreciate the affordable pricing, others report the low price came with strict limitations that prohibited them from executing their email marketing strategy. Many online reviews say the limits were too small for their list and caused them problems.
If price is your main consideration, give this ESP a look, but be sure you understand the limits imposed by the low price so you don’t wind up unable to send to your full list.
Reviews from MailerLite customers
Mailerlite is an amazing application for email marketing which makes marketing easy. With MailerLite I have the chance to arrange everything related to email marketing in moments. Their templates are rather versatile, together I will completely personalize my campaigns, they are rather striking and favorable. It’s good integration with third-party tools which produce perfect comments together with the tool. And to complete they maintain continuously innovating so, there’s an inclination to improve.
— Mamta B, Social Media Manager
Amazing tool for email marketing. With MailerLite I have the opportunity to organize everything related to email marketing in seconds. Their templates are quite versatile, with them I can completely customize my campaigns, they are quite striking and friendly. Your A / B tests are satisfactory, we use them a lot. It has good integration with third-party tools that make a perfect feedback with the tool. I can compare the results that I get with regards to email marketing campaigns. And to finish they keep constantly innovating so, there is a tendency to improve.
— Ken C, Ingeniero de software
8. Mailchimp vs. Klaviyo

A screenshot of Klaviyo’s website in 2021.

 
If you’re an eCommerce store, Klaviyo could have just the integrations you need. In fact, Klaviyo does a good job of helping new customers set up their integrations upon first logging into the product. If you need a little bit of guidance when choosing integrations and connecting your store to your email platform, this can be helpful.
However, if eCommerce isn’t your very specific area, the tailored focus is probably unhelpful. Similarly, if you’re sending a large volume of emails, like newsletters, this provider might not be the best tool for you.
Reviews from Klaviyo customers
Blown Away. The simplicity of the system and its ability to track performance. The pitch was 30mins long but within about 5 mins we already knew we wanted to use this system for our email. We love the ease of using an A/B test and how easy it is to set up flows. Excellent product.
— Andrew J, Digital Marketing Manager
With Klaviyo I can categorize my clients and send them strategic emails. One of the aspects I love about Klaviyo is being able to segment my customers. I can distinguish them based on the interests they have shown on my website. For example those who interacted with my product and bought it and those who decided not to buy it. In this way I can create specific and strategic emails for the corresponding customers. I like the templates that the platform offers me and I can also create my own to give more identity to my email marketing campaign. Klaviyo’s automated tools such as responses, thank yous, and welcome messages work correctly and help me save work time.
— Bonnie P, Sales Manager
9. Mailchimp vs. Drip

A screenshot of Drip’s website in 2021.

 
Drip is another ESP that focuses on eCommerce CRM functionality, as opposed to devoting itself solely to email marketing. While these broader capabilities might help you optimize your customer’s journey across channels, it could also mean your email marketing options aren’t as robust as they would be with another ESP.
Drip could be the platform to help you understand your buyers’ behaviors from “inbox to Instagram” as they say on their site. However, customers report the analytics for the email marketing campaigns aren’t intuitive or simple to understand.
In fact, some customers report having problems with their automation workflows, saying their contacts get stuck and the automation doesn’t send emails when it’s supposed to. If email capabilities are the most important factor when you choose an ESP, another platform might serve your goals better.
Reviews from Drip customers
Wonderful customer support. Drip is an extremely well thought out, intuitive email tool. It has advanced features that have allowed us to build triggered onboarding campaigns based on actions taken in our customer dashboard, and now that Drip has rolled out split testing we have the added bonus of being able to launch A/B tests easily to improve our open rates. I have nothing but glowing things to say about the support I have received as a Drip customer. Whether it’s through chat, email, or scheduled video calls, I’ve always had prompt, friendly, helpful interactions with the Drip customer success team and walked away with great feedback and new ideas to try.
— Juliana C, Head of Marketing
Super robust and user friendly. Drip is the only platform that could handle the complex automated workflows I wanted to build. The UI is easy, fast, and functional. The variety of options for sorting contacts, setting up rules and triggers, and performing bulk operations is exceptional. The visual builder is better than any other that’s integrated into an ESP, that I’ve seen, and supports conditional formatting and dynamic content. Last but not least, support from our account manager is easy to access and always extremely helpful!
— Rose H, Email Marketing Director
10. Mailchimp vs. SendGrid

A screenshot of SendGrid’s website in 2021.

SendGrid allows designers, developers, and marketers to come together in-app to design and send transactional emails. Traditionally built more specifically for developers, they’ve recently launched drag-and-drop tools to allow non-technical email marketers to send basic newsletters and create simple automations like welcomes.
They offer a free plan that allows customers to send 12,000 emails a month, which might be a good replacement for Mailchimp’s free plan, depending on your needs and sophistication.
Reviews from SendGrid customers
A great email platform that helps maintain a professional image. I like that SendGrid can help us create and deliver sharp and professional marketing emails for weekly or monthly promotional campaigns. We can load new contacts easily or connect them to our website database to add and remove contacts more seamlessly. I like that we can use SendGrid to view metrics and analytics that help us refine our promotions and offers to our existing contact base or new leads. The email design tools are mostly easy to use with drag and drop features. We can also fill in content in preset fields.
— Hanna Y, Senior Producer
Distribute your marketing emails on a large scale with SendGrid. I like how SendGrid is easy to manage and configure, it allows me to give a more organized look to my client directory and classify them into different types. Thanks to this tool my online marketing campaigns are much more effective since it guarantees me that increasing the opening rate of my sent emails, when you get your message to the inbox you will get an impact due to its delivery technology and the defense of the Service provider will help you get there. It really is an intuitive, fast and more important software that is easy to master in order to take advantage of the need to meet any need.
— Sean C, Computer Engineer
Find success by switching from Mailchimp to Campaign Monitor
Started by email marketers for email marketers, Campaign Monitor lives and breathes email. And we won’t leave you behind in a quest to grow our own business.
It’s free to create an account and import your list, so you can test out the features and capabilities before you start paying. 
And we’ve made it easy to migrate your audiences from Mailchimp. For step-by-step instructions, check out our guide on migrating from Mailchimp to Campaign Monitor.
You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to choose a mobile-ready template and customize it in the drag-and-drop email builder, and you’ll be surprised at the time you’ll save creating an automated series in the visual journey designer.
Find success with Campaign Monitor.
So try it out for free, and see how efficient and powerful your email marketing can become.
Migration from one ESP to another can seem intimidating, but our team is eager to walk you through it. Not sure where you should even begin? Check out this detailed guide on how to migrate your audience from Mailchimp to get an idea of what you can expect from the process.
Editor’s note: This post was updated for accuracy and freshness in 2021.
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Find out how you can get started with online marketing, and which GetResponse plan is right for you. This article features some of the digital tools that come standard within each plan!

What do cross-country road trips, wedding speeches, and social media marketing have in common? Planning.
You could improvise all three, but it’s better to have a plan for what direction you’re heading — especially when developing your social media content strategy.
By now, most marketers recognize that social media plays an integral role in an effective inbound marketing strategy. And with so many social networks available to us, it’s important to stay organized and have a plan for when and what you’re going to share on these platforms.

Let’s dive into our list of top tools to stay organized and on top of your game.

Social Media Content Calendar Tools to Plan Your Messaging
1. HubSpot’s Downloadable Template for Excel

Content Calendar
Price: Free

Download This Template
Marketers might already use Excel for different types of reports and data analysis in their roles, but this multifaceted tool is perfect for social media content calendar organization, too. Excel can be customized according to the priorities and metrics your team is focused on, so it’s a great option for planning ahead.
The good news? We’ve already done the heavy lifting for you by creating a free, downloadable social media content calendar template using Microsoft Excel. Marketers can use this template to easily plan out individual social media posts — monthly or annually — while keeping an eye on bigger picture events, holidays, publications, and partnerships.

Use the Monthly Planning Calendar Tab above to get a bird’s-eye view of what’s coming down the content pipeline in a given month.
In the Content Repository tab, you can add the content you’ll be publishing on this tab to keep track of which pieces have been promoted already and to easily recall older content that can be re-promoted.
On the Social Network Update tabs, you can draft and plan out social media posts in advance. These tabs are for organizational purposes, then you’ll manually upload the content of the posts to a social media publisher.

For more on how to use the templates, check out this in-depth guide from my colleague Lindsay Kolowich.
This free resource can be used to draft social media posts, or it can be bulk-uploaded into a publishing app to maximize efficiency. (HubSpot customers: You can use this spreadsheet to organize content and upload it directly into Social Inbox. For instructions on how to do this, check out the template’s cover sheet here.)
Why we like this social media tool:
Marketers with small teams and heavy workloads will love this intuitive template. It acts as a social media content planner, tracker, and archive. This makes it perfect for sharing your social plan with stakeholders and referring back to it when you need to repurpose old content.
2. Google Drive

Content Calendar and Asset Organization

Price: Free for personal use. Google Workspace plans for businesses start at $6 per month.
Google Drive has several helpful features that make it easy for social media marketers to build out an effective content calendar.
Here’s an example of how a team might use Google Calendar to track both their editorial and social media calendars to make sure they’re aligning posts with new blog content. These calendars can be easily shared with multiple teams to avoid scheduling conflicts and ensure that campaigns are aligned.

Marketers can also use shared Google Sheets to schedule posts on social media, track the status of different pieces of content, and assign tasks to team members — all on the same platform as their calendar.

With the help of Google Docs, users can keep comments all in one place and collaborate on different projects without emailing back-and-forth or having to schedule a meeting. This is a particularly useful feature when editing content for social media, which may need to be drafted and approved quickly.

Why we like this social media tool:
Google has several products that can be used together to create quick, seamless workflows. Whether you’re publishing dozens of posts per day across multiple platforms, or ramping up one channel for your freelance business, you’ll find value in the Google Drive system. The best part is that HubSpot customers can link their Google Drive accounts to the HubSpot portal to easily upload files from Drive into the HubSpot software.
3. Loomly

Content Planning, Creation, Publishing, and Calendar

Price: 15-day free trial. The Base plan is $25 per month for 2 users and 10 accounts when you choose the annual agreement.

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If you want more mileage out of your content calendar, you can turn to an all-in-one content planning and publishing platform such as Loomly.
Loomly offers tools beyond content scheduling and management. This tool goes further, providing inspiration and direction to help you create content. It also allows you to manage your content assets, schedule posts, view them as a list or a calendar, and analyze what posts are working vs which ones need work.
Loomly’s most robust feature set includes a collaboration and approval environment so that teams can submit mockups, provide comments, see version logs, and flag for approval. This can help you streamline processes for efficiency when there are “too many cooks in the kitchen” on a particular project.
Why we like this social media tool:
If your team is responsible for organic and paid social, this tool can do both. And for your team who wants to avoid using their personal account for social media duties, they can respond to comments and replies directly in Loomly — that means they won’t need to login to each native platform to engage with followers.
4. Trello

Task Management and Content Calendar

Price: Free for individual use. The Standard plan starts at $5 per user per month, billed annually.

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Looking for an organizational tool that’s highly effective for team collaboration? Try Trello. This platform offers a full calendar view which makes it easy to visualize what content is going out, and when. More specifically, social media managers can use Trello’s flexible assignment “cards” and customizable “boards” and “lists” to map out to-do lists, manage a content calendar, plan a campaign, and store brainstorm ideas.
You’re not limited to just one structure, though. Users can customize boards according to their needs. For example, a team could create a board to organize social media posts for a given week, on a specific platform, or post ideas around a topic, such as a campaign or awareness day.
Why we like this social media tool:
Trello cards can be assigned to different team members, marked with due dates, and commented on. Users can even customize labels with different publication statuses so the entire team can see the progress of their social media posts and when they’re due on the calendar. The labels could also indicate different social networks that content is being published on.
5. SproutSocial

Social Publishing and Content Calendar

Price: The Standard plan starts at $89 per month for five social profiles, billed annually.

Sprout Social’s social media calendar and publishing tool make it easy for teams or individuals to plan and schedule all of their social posts. You can schedule content to automatically post to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and more.
You can also tag each social post and add notes to better track and report on your posting strategy and campaigns. Additionally, their publishing suite includes a tool called Optimal Send Times which analyzes your social media data and automatically publishes at a time your audience is most engaged.
Why we like this social media tool:
Coming up with social media content ideas isn’t always easy. Sprout Social’s social listening tool lets marketers like you uncover niche conversations that your audience is interested in. From there, you can join the conversation for brand awareness or start your own conversation on the topic to grow your following.
6. Evernote

Content Calendar, Task Management, and Asset Organization

Price: The Basic plan is free. Create a custom template using the Personal plan for $7.99 per month.

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Evernote is a note-taking app that marketers can use to keep track of all the moving parts that comprise a social media campaign.
The tool also features yearly, monthly, weekly, and hourly logs, which make it easy to keep track of when you’re publishing content on social media, when you’re producing blog content, and other team-wide priorities. (Evernote offers customizable templates for each of these that can be downloaded into the app.)
Another useful feature is Evernote’s Web Clipper extension for Chrome. Marketers can use this tool to easily save links to their Evernote Notebook for sharing later on.
Why we like this social media tool:
The Evernote mobile app also boasts some interesting features to help marketers keep their social content ideas straight. For example, you can easily snap a photo and save it to your Evernote files for review later. This feature is of particular value for social content creators looking to maintain a backlog of photos to publish on Instagram.
7. Hootsuite

Social Publishing and Content Calendar

Price: The Professional plan starts at $49 per month and starts with a free 14-day trial.

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Hootsuite offers a built-in Planner tool to help you create campaigns, identify publishing gaps, and collaborate with your content creation team. Its primary features are in social publishing so that you can release content to your networks in advance, but it also has rich features for collaboration and post approvals.
You can even curate content from other sources without logging into your account. Once your content is created, you can preview it with the Composer tool, which displays according to each social network’s unique format.
Why we like this social media tool:
Cross collaboration is a big deal on just about any marketing team, and Hootsuite has a way to make this even easier. The social publishing platform comes with a built-in content library that serves as the single point of truth for your entire organization. Does your sales team need a product feature cheatsheet? Customer service looking for details on the latest product feature? All that and more can be found in your team’s Hootsuite content library.
8. Agorapulse

Social Publishing and Content Calendar

Price: The individual plan is free, or you can use the Pro plan for small teams starting at $79 per month.

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Similar to Hootsuite, Agorapulse offers social publishing tools and a content calendar so that you can manage your social media accounts with ease. This includes scheduling (or rescheduling), queuing, and bulk uploading posts, which is incredibly helpful for teams who use quarterly or monthly content plans.
Why we like this social media tool:
What makes Agorapulse different is its social inbox that allows you to manage all the interactions from various platforms in a single place. After all, content isn’t just a one-and-done activity; it’s about building awareness and engagement with your readers as well.
9. StoryChief

Content Planning and Distribution

Price: Team pricing starts at $90 per month, billed annually.

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If you want more from your content calendar than simply knowing when posts go live, StoryChief is the option for you. With StoryChief’s smart calendar, you can better strategize and plan your content strategy across channels.
It displays much more than your timetable — it also allows you to assign collaborators to tasks and filter them by campaign. StoryChief self-describes its tool as a “content distribution platform” that unifies analytics and publishing across multiple channels for a more simplified approach to content creation. Best of all, it syncs with HubSpot and all of your favorite calendar apps.
Why we like this social media tool:
Believe it or not, there are quite a few similarities between social media marketing and SEO marketing. StoryChief bridges this gap with its SEO Copywriting tool. By highlighting the areas you can improve your copy for the reader (and subsequently the search engines), you can write clearer, more engaging content that works on both social media and on your website or blog.
10. ClearVoice

Content Creation and Management

Price: Request a free consultation for pricing.

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So what about content planning and creation? ClearVoice offers content creation tools to fit into your workflow. While their big claim to fame is their Talent Network Search which allows you to find and connect to content creators to work on your projects, ClearVoice also has features for task management for internal and external collaborators.
You can create, edit, and approve projects in an interface that makes editorial management easy. It also includes a dashboard and dynamic editorial calendar with plenty of interactive functionality, and integrations with other popular software.
Why we like this social media tool:
Not every social team is working for a big agency or client. For freelance content teams who want to stay organized and on time with their social media publishing, ClearVoice offers some of the same great features at a price customized to your team.
11. Zerys

Content Creation and Management

Price: $40 per document plus $49 per month for project management.

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Zerys is another platform that matches you with your ideal content creation freelancers. However, it markets itself as a platform dedicated to content success, offering features for content planning, production, publishing, promotion, conversion, and analytics.
Why we like this social media tool:
You can manage unlimited content projects, plan keywords and titles for blog content, hire writers, and view all deadlines on an integrated calendar. With the project management features that Zerys offers, in-house writers can use the platform to produce quality work on time every time. It also integrates with HubSpot so that publishing is a breeze.
Social Media Templates
HubSpot’s Social Media Calendar Template
If you’re new to setting up social media calendars, HubSpot offers a pre-made, free, and downloadable template that you can use to schedule out full weeks of posts.

HubSpot’s Social Media Content Calendar Template for Startups
This template is very similar to the one seen above but also has tabs that work as a repository for content ideas. The template also includes helpful tips for posting on specific social media networks.

If you’re aiming to get all of your ideas down in order to develop a big-picture plan for your social assets, we recommend starting with this template.
The Benefits of Using a Social Media Content Calendar
We’re all busy, and inevitably, tasks slip through the cracks. Social media content is no exception.
Just like with blogging, a successful social media strategy requires regular publishing and engaging with followers to see positive results — whether that’s in terms of SEO, brand recognition, lead generation, or all three.
So, if you’re not already using a social media content calendar, here are three facts to pique your interest:

You can pivot flawlessly when plans change by using a content calendar. With a social media content calendar, marketers can plan out posts for entire weeks or months in advance, which frees up working hours to strategize for the future. The best part is that you can always leave space for breaking news or current events in your industry. Otherwise, you’ll spend valuable time each day searching the internet every day for content to share, which is a known productivity killer.
Grow your audience on each platform by curating content specifically for them. Social media marketers should take the time to craft custom messages for each network because the audience expects to see something different on each one. For example, your Instagram followers want to see Reels and Videos while your Twitter followers like quick sound bites and shareable quotes. Planning this content in advance using a social media calendar will save you time throughout the week and ensure you’re being thoughtful and intentional when you post on each site.
Optimize your social strategy by tracking the performance of your content each month. Without a calendar, social media marketers are publishing content into the void and are unable to track big-picture and past performance. With a calendar, marketers can look back and analyze which content performed best so they can adjust their strategy accordingly. If a particular type of post received a significant amount of views, you could recreate it for a different topic and see the same success.
Take advantage of social media holidays to tap into a new, but relevant audience. With the help of a calendar, marketers can plan for holidays and observance days, such as National Cat Day, when they can tailor their content and engage with a wider audience.

Social Media Calendar Examples
1. JotForm Social Media Calendar

JotForm’s social media calendar isn’t just visually appealing, it’s also functional. The tabs at the top reveal your social plan for every channel you execute your strategy on, including in-person or virtual events. If you’re modeling your social calendar after this one, don’t forget to include a tab for content details and who on your team will be responsible for creating the content. You might also include a separate tab for each month to keep things organized.
2. Firefly Marketing Social Media Content Calendar

Going a more traditional route with your social media calendar? Try a Google Sheets template like the one created by Firefly Marketing. Each tab is dedicated to a different month while the worksheet includes every channel you might need across the top. The rows are separated by week so you can easily identify the date and time a post is scheduled for publishing. Our favorite part of this template is the social media holiday column that is pre-populated with fun dates that your audience will love.
What is the best social media calendar?
Now that we’ve reviewed a few helpful tools to kick your social media strategy into high gear, it’s time for you to experiment with them. The best social media calendar is one that saves you time, streamlines processes, and helps you work smarter, not harder.
Several of the platforms we’ve suggested are free to use or offer a free trial. Have one person on your team test one out and report back on their findings. You might just find the tool that helps you reach your next social media KPI. Don’t forget, every social media team is different, and it could be a combination of these tools that helps you execute your strategy efficiently to drive ROI.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.