Design your digital marketing strategy with a simple canvas

www.visualcommunicationplanner.com
www.marketingdistinguo.com
www.anewpathto.digital
The most used marketing canvas in the world
with over 40,000 downloads.
NOW ALSO IN A BOOK
WITH PHILIP KOTLER
AND GABRIELE
CARBONI
FR EE TO O L
FR EE S LIDES
FR EE V IDEO
S u b s c r i b e t o t h e n e w f r e e p l a t f o r m
t o d o w n l o a d m o r e v i d e o s a n d o t h e r
r e s o u r c e s f o r s t u d e n t s ,
p r o f e s s o r s / l e c t u r e r s , c o n s u l t a n t s
a n d c o m p a n i e s !
https://online.visualcommunicationplanner.com

It is said that climbers used to look to the top of the mountain and imagine backwards the
path to follow to climb it.
The base of a mountain offers multiple departures for different routes. Unless someone has
already explored them, you can hardly choose the best or most direct in advance.
If, on the other hand, you visualize the zenith clearly, and look towards the base, you realize
that only one way, or very few roads, allow you to reach it.
From the top of your personal Everest you are able to glimpse the step immediately
preceding it. From there, it becomes clear which point comes first. And so on to the bottom
of the mountain.
Just like water, dropped from the top of the mountain, it finds the best path to descend.
Each of your personal or business goals is different from others. As well as every path to
reach it, every strategy. It is therefore useless to rely on the journeys made by someone
else.
But we all have the same goal: the top of the mountain.

Visual Communication Planner by Gabriele
Carboni - Weevo S.r.l. is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
4.0 International License.

NOW ALSO IN A BOOK
WITH PHILIP KOTLER
AND GABRIELE
CARBONI
THE BOOK “A NEW PATH TO DIGITAL
MARKETING” WITH A FOREWORD BY PHILIP
KOTLER, THE FATHER OF MODERN
MARKETING.
"A book that finally guides us to understand
how the digital strategy can help a company go
beyond profit for better relationships with all
the stakeholders."
Fabrizio Gavelli, President and Managing
Director of Danone Italy and Greece

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW FREE PLATFORM
A new platform full of free resources for:
• Entrepreneurs
• Startuppers
• CxOs
• Managers
• Marketers
• Consultants
• Students
• Professors and lecturers
P rint a ble V C P
Digit a l V C P
Whit e la bel
slid es
Tra ining vid eos
In-d ept h slid es
Illust ra t ions
a nd ima ges
A se t o f
d ed ic a ted
lessons
E-book s
Art ic les

GABRIELE CARBONI
Defined by Exportiamo.it: "Game-changer of digital marketing strategies".
Defined by Going Global UK: "Leading expert in international digital marketing strategies".
Consultant for the digital marketing strategy of: Lamborghini, Danone, Clementoni, Safilo, Bauli, GEA, Knauf, iliad, IMA, Aboca, Fedrigoni,
D-Orbit, Ilsa, CDNetworks, Bormioli Pharma, Snap-on, Caprari, Emak, Iris Ceramica Group and many others.
Founder of the “Be Brilliant” project with Kotler Impact Inc. by Prof. Philip Kotler.
Among the 5 major Italian marketing influencers according to Digitalic.
Author of "Web strategies for foreign markets", Hoepli 2016 and "The Marketing Distinguo: differentiation on three steps", Amazon 2019.
Author of the chapter “Disruptive digital marketing strategies” for the Kotler-i & Partners book “Essentials of Modern Marketing”.
Co-author with Philip Kotler and other gurus of marketing of the book “Essentials of Modern Marketing - Italy edition”.
Among the authors of "Big Bang Marketing 2021" with Philip Kotler, Marshall Goldsmith, David Aaker, Martha Rogers and many others.
Among the authors of "Giving Back - The impact of Philip Kotler".
Creator of the Visual Communication Planner, the most downloaded marketing canvas in the world.
Trained by the MIT on Digital Business Strategy and by HBS on Sustainable Business Strategy.
Awarded among the three Best 2019 Marketing Innovation at DES 2019 in Madrid with the Marketing Distinguo card deck.
Lecturer for several Italian and international universities such as University Ca' Foscari of Venice, IULM Milan, H-FARM, University of
Modena and Reggio Emilia, University of Bologna, University of Trento, International University of Rome, University of Bologna, 24 Ore
Business School, Eastern Illinois University.
Consultant of BPER Banca and the Italian Trade Agency for web marketing strategies for foreign markets.
Part of the UNI commission for the definition of legislation relating to the profession of the Export Manager and the Digital Export
Manager.
Global keynote speaker for various events in Italy and abroad including the World Marketing Summit.
https://anewpathto.digital

DISCOVER MORE
E-BOOK
FREE WITH KINDLE
UNLIMITED
PODCAST
SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES,
SPOTIFY AND PODBEAN
CARD DECK
ONE OF THE THREE
BEST 2019 MARKETING
INNOVATIONS

DISCOVER MORE

Plot a path to communication
success, analyze the most effective
methods and eliminate operational
issues and problems along the way.
NOT A
MARKETING
EXPERT?

Perfect for marketing and
communication professionals and non-
specialists alike, the Visual
Communication Planner allows you to
outline and visualize your strategy
simply and understandably.

STRATEGY IS WHAT TO START WITH
GOAL
KPIs
CHANNELS AND ACTVITIES
CONTENT
MARKETING DISTINGUO
PRODUCT OR SERVICE
MISSION
VISION
PURPOSE
WWW.VISUALCOMMUNICATIONPLANNER.COM
>
INVESTMENTS
OWNERS
DEADLINES

HOW TO USE IT
Outlining your communication strategy has never
been easier.
1. Print your copy of the Visual Communication
Planner (A4 is suggested).
2. Answer the questions and start creating your
visual plan right away.
3. Write your answer inside the element of the
VCP.

THE PROCESS
1. Define the goal to be achieved, the peak of your mountain
2. Climb the mountain starting from the purpose
A dedicated set of training videos is available for free on the new online platform:

CONSULTANTS
Fill the elements of the Visual
Communication Planner with your
potential customer.
He/she will see the communication
strategy taking shape and understand the
importance of it.
Training your customers with this tool will
give them the knowledge they need to
make the right decisions on the
communication matter.
MANAGERS
The Visual Communication Planner gives
you a better understanding of the
communication strategy.
It saves time on planning, analysing and
evaluating the strategy.
Play with your team and define the
perfect plan for the company of any size.
A new set of free tools available also for professors, lecturers and students:

WHEN IT IS USEFUL
EXAMINE
results and calculate the ROI
IDENTIFY
and anticipate possible mistakes in
current strategies
DEFINE
the communication plan for a
brand, project or specific market
FIND
any correctives quickly
OUTLINE
the editorial plan
ANALYSE
the communication scenario

GOALS

• First approach to the market;
• search for distributors or retailers;
• business partnership research;
• commercial follow-up;
• customer care;
• consolidating position on the market;
• consumer involvement;
GOALS
• sales growth:
• increase number of customers;
• increase in transaction number per
customer;
• increase in average purchase value;
• expanding contact database;
• qualification and segmentation of the
contact database.
What are the business goals for your target market?

GOALS VS. METRICS
Don’t confuse metrics with goals
Some metrics often referred to as goals:
 attract more visits to the website / e-commerce / blog, through specific sources;
 increase the number of followers or likes on Social Media;
 generate share of your posts on social media;
 get clicks from advertisements;
 increase openings or clicks on newsletters.

GOALS
Set your goal as it is the START of your strategy.
It should be:
Specific
Target related
Appreciable and measurable
Reachable
Talked and agreed with your team

• Who do you want to buy your product or service?
• Who are your competitors communicating with?
• Who is influencing your target audience?
• Who is affected by your target audience?
• Who has the greatest online influence in your industry?
• Which industries are connected to your field of reference?
• What job positions do the superiors and subordinates of your target profiles
traditionally hold in the company?
TARGET MARKETS

PURPOSE
VISION
MISSION

PURPOSE
• Why do you do this job? Or why did you start doing it?
• What is it that gives you joy and makes you alive?
• What are your innate strengths?
• In what do you express your greatest value?
• How do you measure your life?
• What impact would you like to have on the world around you?
• Is there a moment in your life when you have understood this?
• Is your purpose aligned with your vision or your company's vision?

VISION
• What world is it? How would that be different?
• What problem did you solve?
• Why do you think that problem needs to be addressed?
• Is it a major problem for others too?
• Do you really believe your business can solve that problem?
• If it's a personal vision, is it in line with your company's vision?
• Is it consistent or inconsistent with that of your suppliers?
• And with that of your customers?

MISSION
• How do you do your activities to achieve your vision?
• Who do you help with your work?
• What is the result they get with your help?
• How do you help them in practice?
• Why do you want to help them?

PRODUCT
OR SERVICE

• Do you offer a product, a service or a solution?
• Are product and service related? How?
• Is your product/service ready for the market you have targeted?
• What core problem do you solve for your ideal customers?
• Is your offer consistent in relation to the market you want to approach?
• Do you need to change the product or service to sell to the target you have set
and the goal you want to achieve?
• Do you have to change the packaging, the labels of your product for the market
you have selected?
• To achieve the goal, do you have to modify the product in some way?
• How is your product or service perceived in terms of target’s culture?
PRODUCT OR SERVICE

MARKETING
DISTINGUO

Why should I buy your product?
MARKETING DISTINGUO
The Marketing Distinguo is a simple process to answer the most challenging question:
“Why should I buy your company’s product rather than your competitor’s?”
On the one hand, Positioning refers to the “place” the brand occupies in the consumer’s
mind. On the other hand, USP positions the product within a particular market to create
the perfect advertising.
A glue between these two concepts is essential to simplify the job of the marketing
manager and development of a communications strategy.

MARKETING DISTINGUO
On paper, the marketing strategy is easy. You define the target and the elements of the
marketing mix: product, price, place, promotion.
If the result of the marketing mix is something different from what the competitors
propose, then the marketing strategy is successful.
It may seem complicated to outline a marketing strategy for a new company. It is even
more challenging to determine a plan for a company, a brand, or a group of companies
operating for years, and evolving according to the market and the business strategy.

MARKETING DISTINGUO
The miscommunication of the distinctive characteristics denotes a problem at a strategic
level. The most apparent symptoms are found precisely in the way we communicate
online and offline, through slogans, payoffs but also company brochures or exhibition
stands.
Terms such as “quality”, “innovation” or “360 ° service” are the most common expression
of a lack of awareness.
The absence of differentiation affects the words the company uses to communicate, as
well as the commercial offer and eventually, sales.
The absence of differentiation.

So, why should I buy your product?
MARKETING DISTINGUO
If the answer is “my product is the best”, you’re off track.
The first step to verify the marketing or communication strategy is to understand what distinguishes
the company, the brands, the products from the competitors.
The goal is to respond to that question through strengths that offer tangible value to the customer:
• the characteristics of the product or service,
• of the company,
• of the people who work there,
• of the industry in which it operates.
I call the method that leads to the answer to that question Marketing Distinguo: the unique and
distinctive reason to buy a product or a service.

MARKETING DISTINGUO
The Marketing Distinguo is a glue concept between Positioning and Unique Selling
Proposition: the unique, distinctive way to sell a product or service and the process used
to determine it.
In other words, a method that helps you to find the factor which differentiates a specific
product from its competition.
The Marketing Distinguo is also a simple and effective way of understanding the
strengths of your company and taking advantage of them to increase sales. It is the
crucial element for a perfect communication strategy.

POSITIONING
How the brand/product should be - or is - perceived by your
customers and prospects.
USP (UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION)
The creative execution of Positioning and Marketing Distinguo in
advertising.
MARKETING DISTINGUO
POSITIONING USP
MARKETING
DISTINGUO

“…a process to finally come to the
differentiation you need"
MARKETING DISTINGUO
PROF. PHILIP KOTLER

DISCOVER MORE
E-BOOK
FREE WITH KINDLE
UNLIMITED
PODCAST
SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES,
SPOTIFY AND PODBEAN
CARD DECK
ON OF THE THREE BEST
2019 MARKETING
INNOVATIONS

CONTENTS

CONTENTS
TEXT
IMAGES
ILLUSTRATIONS
VIDEOS
BROCHURE
E-BOOK
WHITE PAPER
CASE STUDIES

• What content do you want to use in your communication?
• What is the context of your communication?
• What tone of voice and style do you want to use in your
communication?
• What content do you need, and for which channels?
• What new content do you need to create?
• What existing content needs to be revised?
• Do you have an editorial calendar?
CONTENTS

• Do you have editorial guidelines or standards for your content?
• What magazines, influencers or blogs inspire you?
• Who translates or localizes your content?
• What are the main concepts or data you want to underline or
emphasize?
• What concepts don’t you want to use?
• How do you plan to present your market supply on the web?
• What graphic line do you want to follow?
CONTENTS

The perfect content – website, brochure, video, advertising – should
always answer these questions:
 Who we are?
 What do we do?
 To whom we want to sell it?
 Why should they buy it? (a.k.a. the Marketing Distinguo)
CONTENTS

CHANNELS
AND
ACTIVITIES

SOCIAL MEDIA
SOCIAL & WEB ADVERTISING
NEWSLETTER & DEM
CORPORATE BLOG
EXTRANET / INTRANET
CHANNELS AND ACTIVITIES
www
WEBSITE

• What are the most used web channels from the defined target?
• Are there niche channels dedicated to the industry?
• What is the actual use of these channels from your target?
• Have multiple target segments been identified, so are channels dedicated to
these segments?
• Which channels can be opened in relation to the defined budget?
• Do these channels help you achieve your goals?
• What are the direct and indirect costs?
• Is there anyone inside the company who can handle them?
• What tools are needed to use and measure these channels?

• What actions do you need to take to achieve your defined goals?
• Are your preferred channels already available? Do you need to activate any social profiles
or newsletter platform?
• What are the characteristics of each channel you want to use?
• What content do you need to properly profile your chosen channels?
• How many campaigns can you start with your current budget? Which ones will you focus
on?
• What is your budget for web and social advertising?
• What action do you need to take on each channel?
• How often do you want to communicate on each channel?
• How do you plan to manage your engagement?

KPIs

KPIs
• What are the business metrics aligned to the goals?
• What are the channel metrics to consider?
• Can you measure those metrics?
• How often do you analyze traffic?
• What tools do you use to analyze the results?
• Who will analyze the results?
• What to do if goals are not met?

KPI EXAMPLES
• Monthly new prospects/leads
• Qualified leads per month
• Marketing Qualified Leads
• Sales-Accepted Leads
• Sales Qualified Leads
• Cost per lead
• Cost per conversion
• Average time of conversion
• Retention rate
• Churn rate

CHANNEL METRIC EXAMPLES
• Monthly website traffic
• Returning vs. new visitors
• Visits per channel
• Average time on page
• Page per visit
• Inbound links to website
• Traffic from organic search
• Advertising Click-Through Rate
• Volume of traffic from video
content
• Traffic from Social Media
• Engagement rate
• Mentions and comments

FUNNEL EXAMPLE
CHANNEL
METRICS
TOFU: WEBSITE TRAFFIC FROM
SPECIFIC CHANNELS
KPIs MOFU: FILLED FORMS
BUSINESS
GOALS
BOFU: SALES

INVESTMENTS
OWNERS
DEADLINES

• Which and how many selected target segments are?
• What is the language in which you intend to communicate?
• What kind of content do you intend to create?
• How many channels are you going to use?
• What kind of activity do you intend to do?
• What budget can you devote to advertising activities?
• How long do individual activities last?
INVESTMENTS

• What are the internal or external resources involved in the activities?
• Who cares about channel management?
• Who is involved in implementing the identified communication plan?
• Who will follow Social Media discussions, or newsletters answers?
• Who will manage obtained contacts?
INVESTMENTS

• Who are the stakeholders involved in this element of the
strategy?
• Who is the internal or external reference to the company?
OWNERS

• What is the time frame to carry out this element of the
strategy?
• What is the deadline?
• What are the expected times and deadlines to achieve the
goal?
DEADLINES

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW FREE PLATFORM
A new platform full of free resources for:
• Entrepreneurs
• Startuppers
• CxOs
• Managers
• Marketers
• Consultants
• Students
• Professors and lecturers
P rint a ble V C P
Digit a l V C P
Whit e la bel
slid es
Tra ining vid eos
Tra ining slid es
Illust ra t ions
a nd ima ges
A se t o f
d ed ic a ted
lessons
E-book s
Art ic les

• Twitter: @gabbarieleweevo
• Websites:
• http://www.visualcommunicationplanner.com
• http://www.marketingdistinguo.com
• https://anewpathto.digital
• https://eomm.bebrilliant.it
• E-mail: gabriele@weevo.it
The Visual Communication Planner is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license,
visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/.

Design your digital marketing strategy with a simple canvas

Design your digital marketing strategy with a simple canvas

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Design your digital marketing strategy with a simple canvas