Simone Bernardo

Distribution strategy

The right channel for every audience

Distribution starts with people. Who is this for, which persona, and where do they already spend their time? The channel mix, the order and the timing all follow from that.

Organic socialEmail & newslettersPaid mediaPRPartnershipsEventsInfluencersEmployee advocacy

ExampleTemplate

What an ideal distribution plan looks like

What it is

The plan I build at kickoff for any campaign: a report, a product launch, a customer story or an event. Distribution is planned alongside the content, so audiences, goals and KPIs are agreed before anything goes live.

How it works

Start from the personas. Rank channels by how well they reach each one. Give every persona its own asset and its own moment in the schedule. Put a UTM on every link so results trace back to the channel.

ExampleAn illustrative template. Personas, channels and timings change with every campaign.

Distribution plan · Campaign templateExample

Audience & personas

Persona A: the practitionerUses the product or the content day to day. Wants method, detail and proof.

Persona B: the decision-makerBuys, recommends or signs off. Wants the headline, the outcome and who else is doing it.

Channel mix

Primary

Company LinkedInEmployee & leader advocacyNewsletterEmail

Secondary

XInstagramFacebook

Support

Paid socialPREventsPartners

To test

ThreadsBlueskyRedditTikTok

Launch tracker

When	Channel	Type	Asset	Goal
Day −3	Internal (Slack, email)	Internal	Advocacy kit: copy, visuals and UTM links for staff and leaders	Get the team ready
Day 0	Company channels	Owned	Launch asset, e.g. a carousel	Awareness
Day 0	Employee & leader profiles	Hybrid	Personal posts with tailored copy	Trust and reach
Day 0	Newsletter, email	Owned	Feature, segmented by persona and region	Clicks
Day 0	Paid social	Paid	Adapted assets, targeted by region and role	Reach the right people
Day 0	PR, partners, events	Shared	Press note, partner posts, printed copies	Reach beyond our channels
Day +1	Social	Owned	Short video cut	Engagement
Day +3	Social	Owned	Asset written for persona A	Relevance
Day +5	Social	Owned	Asset written for persona B	Relevance
Day +7	Social	Owned	Recap or reminder	Catch the late audience

Copy rules by channel

LinkedInSpecific and expert. Show the method. One or two hashtags.

XFit the character limit. Tag the right accounts. No emojis.

WhatsAppUnder 100 words. Reads like a tip to a colleague.

KPIs

AwarenessImpressions, follower growth

EngagementComments, saves, engagement rate

ConversionDownloads, sign-ups or demo requests

UTM on every link. Compare against similar past campaigns and review two to three weeks after launch.

HudlProduct launch2025

A product launch with a runway

Brief

Launch Hudl Signal, a new athlete monitoring platform for sports scientists and performance analysts, built on three ideas: simplicity, automation and integration.

Approach

Three phases over four weeks. Two teasers in April built anticipation. Launch day on 1 May brought the press release, the landing page, the launch posts and the email. A week later the product showcase video gave everyone a first look at the new workflows.

Goal

Build anticipation before launch day, then keep the product in front of the audience for weeks after it.

Highlights only. The full plan had more posts across more channels.

9 AprLinkedIn · InstagramTeaser #1: "Launching May 1"LinkedIn ↗IG ↗
16 AprX · InstagramTeaser #2: "Coming soon"X ↗IG ↗
1 MayBlog · WebLaunch: press release and landing pageBlog ↗Page ↗
1 MaySocial · EmailLaunch posts and launch emailIG ↗
7 MayYouTubeProduct showcase videoYouTube ↗
7 MayInstagram · LinkedIn · XShowcase on socialIG ↗LinkedIn ↗X ↗

9 Apr · Instagram
Teaser #1

Instagram video teaser with the line Find the signal in the noise — **16 Apr · Instagram**
Teaser #2

Instagram launch video: Hudl Signal, centralized athlete monitoring — **1 May · Instagram**
Launch

HudlPartnership announcement2025

One partnership, many angles

Brief

Announce a new partnership with a Premier League club.

Approach

Go big on day one, with the story live on the blog and every social channel at once. Then keep it going for weeks, with a new angle each time: the club's own words, then what the partnership means in practice.

Goal

Maximise reach on announcement day, then keep the story in front of the audience with a fresh angle each week.

Highlights only. Each post type ran on LinkedIn, Instagram and X.

20 MayBlog · LinkedIn · IG · XThe announcement: video and carouselBlog ↗LinkedIn ↗IG ↗X ↗
26 MayQuote cardsThe club in its own words
Following weeksBenefitsWhat the partnership means in practice

X post with the announcement video: Fulham FC choose Hudl as Official Player Performance Insights Partner — **Announcement video · X**

Instagram carousel cover: Fulham FC, Official Player Performance Insights Partner, with four players celebrating — **Carousel · Instagram**

Quote card from Fulham FC's Head of Player Insights about expanding into athlete monitoring — **Quote card · Instagram**

ExampleProcess

From many requests to the right audience

The problem

Several teams, one set of channels. Without a shared process, launches collide and every channel tries to talk to everyone.

How I fix it

One intake where teams agree priorities. One calendar that sets the timelines, so launches go out one after another instead of all on the same day. Then a channel plan that sends each piece of content to the audience that actually uses that channel.

ExampleA simplified version. Teams and channels change from company to company.

Social media

20+ channels, each with a job

I've run social for several brands at once, plus sport-specific, regional and acquired accounts, across six platforms. Each account has its own audience, so each one gets its own content.

Account types

The kinds of accounts I've managed, and what each one is for.

GlobalBrand channels

Company news, product launches, partnerships and customer stories for a worldwide audience.

One sport eachSport-specific

Football, basketball, rugby and American football. One community per account, with content made for it.

Local marketsRegional

Accounts for individual markets, from the UK and France to Japan and Brazil, with content for each one.

InheritedAcquired brands

Accounts that came with acquired companies, each with an existing audience to keep engaged.

Platforms

FacebookXLinkedInInstagramThreadsBluesky

Also

YouTubeNewslettersBlog

Eight posts, eight jobs

A good feed mixes many types of content, and each type has a different job.

Editorial

The stories behind the channels

Distribution needs something worth distributing. Four formats I curated for the blog.

Customer story

Full-service scouting: how video and data drive ProEleven

A Lisbon agency with clients in more than 30 countries, and how it uses video and data to match players with the right clubs.

Read the story ↗ Interview

Victor Orta on technology in scouting and recruitment

The former Leeds United director of football on why 70% of his scouting was still traditional, and how the edge comes from turning information into knowledge quickly.

Read the interview ↗ Event

Wyscout Forum, Amsterdam

140 clubs and more than 120 player agencies at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, meeting before the transfer window opens.

Read the preview ↗ Product updates

The latest Pro Suite updates

New features across three analysis products, each explained with a short video so analysts can see the change before they try it.

Read the update ↗

Email

The right email in every inbox

Newsletters, onboarding, event invitations and product news. Each one written for the audience reading it.

RegularNewsletters

Round-ups of stories, product news and events. The habit that keeps the brand in the inbox between launches.

AutomatedNurture & onboarding

Sequences that welcome new users to the product, and take new contacts from first interest to a conversation with sales.

Before & afterEvents & webinars

Invitations, reminders and follow-ups, with the replay for anyone who couldn't make it.

As it happensProduct updates & news

Launches, releases and announcements, written for the people who use the product.

Example: a typical newsletter structure. Illustrative layout, no real content.

Reporting

Data that tells the team what to do next

Good reporting gives the team context on what works, for whom and where, so the next plan rests on evidence instead of instinct. How you slice the data depends on the company and its audiences. Here's an example from sports tech, where I tagged every post and article five ways and shared the results in a short monthly report.

ExampleOne way to slice content data. The lenses change with each company's audiences and products.

Format
Short formLong formVideo
Sport
Global footballAmerican footballBasketballRugbyVolleyball
Audience
AnalystsScoutsCoaches
Type
Product updatesCustomer storiesWebinarsEducational
Region
GlobalEMEALATAMNAM

Engagement by content type and audience

	Analysts	Scouts	Coaches
Customer stories	82	48	55
Product updates	60	30	71
Webinars	44	76	12
Short video	52	38	88

Which formats work best for coaches?
Why are webinars missing coaches entirely?
Is regional content reaching the region it was made for?

Illustrative values, indexed 0–100. The dashed cell is the kind of gap the report exists to find.

Skills

Toolkit and working style

Hard skills

Editorial planning & content strategyCompany-wide calendars across products, regions and personas.
Cross-channel distributionOwned, paid and earned, sequenced with product marketing, regional, brand, PR and social teams.
Social media & email marketing20+ social accounts and email programmes for different audiences.
Paid media, events & influencer marketingCampaign support beyond owned channels.
Tone of voice & messagingCo-authored the frameworks and guidelines global teams worked from.
Copywriting, SEO & PRMulti-format content for global sports audiences, localised for international markets.
Reporting & analyticsEnd-to-end reporting frameworks and dashboards.

Tools

Email & automation

HubSpotMarketoMailchimp

Social

Sprout SocialHootsuiteBufferBrandwatch

Paid media

LinkedIn Campaign ManagerMeta Ads Manager

Analytics & SEO

Google suite, incl. AnalyticsBizibleSemrush

Content & AI

WordPressCanvaChatGPTClaude

Workflow

AsanaNotionTrelloSlack

Certifications

Advanced Google AnalyticsAdvanced Product MarketingLeadership Foundations

How I work

I turn ad-hoc requests into a systemOne intake, one calendar, clear priorities.
I align teams across time zonesI ran the recurring forum where content, product marketing, brand and regional teams agreed priorities. Six years delivering for a US-headquartered company from Italy.
I write things downGuidelines, frameworks and shared workflows, so the work doesn't depend on one person.
I know the sports-tech buyerClubs, federations, coaches, analysts, agents and media.
I measure what changes the next decisionReporting built to find the gap.
I work in three languagesItalian (native), English (fluent), Spanish (proficient).

Career

Where I've done it

When	Company	Role
2025–26	Break	Career breakPlanned time with family. Available now.
Apr–Sep 2025	Hudl	Channel Marketing ManagerCross-channel distribution for global product and brand campaigns.
2021–2025	Hudl	Content Marketing ManagerCompany-wide editorial and distribution strategy, reporting framework, tone of voice.
2019–2021	Hudl	Senior Content ProducerMulti-format content for global sports audiences, localised for international markets.
2018–2019	Wyscout	Web Content Editor & Social Media ManagerEditorial calendar and social channels for the leading football data and video platform.
2016–2018	nssmag	Head of Content & Social Media ManagerLaunched the Sports section. Brand collaborations with Nike, adidas and PUMA.
Education
2013–2016	UniGe	Master's Degree, Information and PublishingUniversità degli Studi di Genova
2009–2013	UniGe	Degree, Media StudiesUniversità degli Studi di Genova

Content & Channel Marketing Manager. I make sure the story you tell actually reaches the people it's for.

Five things I'm good at.