Visual Communication Planner v.4: the most donwloaded marketing canvas!

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CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN
OF THE DIGITAL STRATEGY

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.

GABRIELE CARBONI
Finalist for the Best 2019 Marketing Innovation award at DES 2019 Madrid with the Marketing
Distinguo card deck.
Defined by GoingGlobal UK: "LEADING EXPERT IN INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL MARKETING
STRATEGIES".
Among the 5 major Italian marketing influencers according to Digitalic.
Coordinator of the networking project by Philip Kotler in Italy for the Italian Marketing Foundation.
The first and only Italian to complete the MIT Sloan Digital Business Strategy Executive Program on
Digital Transformation. Co-founder of Weevo S.r.l., an Italian web agency specializing in the
international market approach through Social Media. Engaged in Marketing, Communication and
Sales, is a Digital Strategic Planner, journalist and Communications Designer.
Author of "Strategie web per i mercati esteri" (Digital Strategies for International Markets), Hoepli
2016.
Worked as a lecturer for 24Ore Business School, Ninja Academy, Warrantraining and several Italian
universities.
Co-publisher and columist of Il Giornale delle PMI, the Italian online magazine dedicated to small
and medium-sized businesses.

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Plot a path to communication success,
analyse 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 visualise 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 new set of training videos is available for free on the Youtube channel of Gabriele Carboni:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhlAEHoyELg&list=PLQI_WFdQLyvHjba3T4ejrluziYQI1jTtm

CONSULTANT
S
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.

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

• Can you measure your market segment?
• Is it large enough to make a profit?
• Will it remain stable over time?
• Are you confident you can reach the right potential customers through the
communication channels you’re currently using?
• Do potential customers in the same segment want the same kind of product?
• Is your market segment diverse enough? Can potential groups of customers access
different kinds of products?
• Does the market segment respond to marketing stimulation?
• Can you create marketing stimulation with marketing activities that ensure a cost-
sustainable effect?
SEGMENTATION

• Geographical segmentation – Your communication strategy doesn’t have to be confined to a specific country, you can
also target a particular region, city or defined geographical area. This is known as geo-marketing, and is particularly
useful for B2C communication. In geo-marketing, geographical data is used to communicate directly with specific
demographics.
• Demographic segmentation – This segments target markets by age, gender, employment, education or digitisation. When
used for B2B communication, it also takes into account the company’s size - more specifically its turnover, number of
employees and/or industry.
• Behavioural segmentation – Potential customers are divided into groups based on their skills, attitude, awareness and
brand loyalty.
• Psychographic segmentation – This is evaluated based on the social class, lifestyle, personality, interest and opinions of
potential customers.
• Cultural segmentation – This kind of segmentation is particularly important for foreign markets as it takes into account
cultural origin, religion, behaviour, traditions and colloquial language. Segmenting customers based on culture is
becoming increasingly important because of globalisation and migration, and new targets are beginning to request
products and services based on their cultural needs.
SEGMENTATION

• 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

TARGET AUDIENCES
The audience to which the communication on the web should be
addressed.
There is a tendency to divide the concept of Target Market from
that of Target Audience, because web channels often do not offer
a direct correspondence between the two.

BUYER PERSONAS
Buyer Personas are fictitious and generalized representations of
your ideal, existing and potential customers. They help you
understand them better and facilitate the adaptation of content to
the specific needs, behaviors and concerns of different
segments.
Buyer Personas should be based on market research and
statistical analysis gathered from your actual customer base
(through surveys, interviews, etc.). Depending on your business,
you could have from one or two Buyer Personas to as many as
ten or twenty.

PURPOS
E
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

What to analyse?
MARKETING DISTINGUO
What differentiates the company from its competition can
belong to the brand, or be different for each product line.
The analysis should be done on every market the company
work in or wants to, concerning the players operating in the
same target.
With the Marketing Distinguo method you can answer to
the question “Why should I buy your product?” in three
simple steps.
Discover more
with the e-book,
free with Kindle
Unlimited

Step 1: check the competitors
MARKETING DISTINGUO
The first phase concerns the competitors
or possibly the peers: it is necessary to
draw up the list of companies, brands or
products to refer to, on each market.

Step 2: analyse
MARKETING DISTINGUO
The second step is already operational: a benchmarking
of online presence, websites, social networks and other
touchpoints used by the company and defined
competitors.
Why use the web? Because all companies today
communicate through the Internet. Often their slogans,
claims and payoffs, and the very structure of their
websites, contents and social media approach, express
what they consider to be distinctive elements.
Buzzwords
• innovation/innovative
• passion
• quality
• turnkey solution
• precision
• tailor-made
• knowledge/competence
• experience
• top/leader/the best
• since 19xx
• reliability
• professionalism
• craftmanship
• creativity/design
• availability
• concreteness

Step 3: define
MARKETING DISTINGUO
During the third phase, you go down to the concrete, and to do so, I have devised an
analogical instrument.
A deck of cards that helps in the process of defining Marketing Distinguo, analysing in
practice:
• the characteristics of the product/service
• the characteristics of the company
• the characteristics of people
• the characteristics of the sector
You can apply the Marketing Distinguo method even without the card deck!

Step 3: without the card deck
MARKETING DISTINGUO
Characteristic of the
product or brand
Competitor 1 Competitor 2 Competior 3

CONTENT
S

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 localises your content?
• What are the main concepts or data you want to underline or emphasise?
• 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

CHANNEL
S
AND
ACTIVITIE
S

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 analyse traffic?
• What tools do you use to analyse the results?
• Who will analyse 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

INVESTMENT
S
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

GABRIELE CARBONI
Finalist for the Best 2019 Marketing Innovation award at DES 2019 Madrid with the Marketing
Distinguo card deck.
Defined by GoingGlobal UK: "LEADING EXPERT IN INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL MARKETING
STRATEGIES".
Among the 5 major Italian marketing influencers according to Digitalic.
Coordinator of the networking project by Philip Kotler in Italy for the Italian Marketing Foundation.
The first and only Italian to complete the MIT Sloan Digital Business Strategy Executive Program on
Digital Transformation. Co-founder of Weevo S.r.l., an Italian web agency specializing in the
international market approach through Social Media. Engaged in Marketing, Communication and
Sales, is a Digital Strategic Planner, journalist and Communications Designer.
Author of "Strategie web per i mercati esteri" (Digital Strategies for International Markets), Hoepli
2016.
Worked as a lecturer for 24Ore Business School, Ninja Academy, Warrantraining and several Italian
universities.
Co-publisher and columist of Il Giornale delle PMI, the Italian online magazine dedicated to small
and medium-sized businesses.
Gabriele@Weevo.it

• Twitter: @gabbariele
• Websites:
• http://www.visualcommunicationplanner.com
• http://www.marketingdistinguo.com
• 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/.

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