A tight first-half saw the Scottish side hold a slender 19-16 advantage at the break but a dominant second-half showing wrapped up the points.
And Townsend admitted although his side did well in difficult conditions, there is much more work to do in order to produce that complete performance.
"The result was really good. To come to Treviso in front of a big crowd against a team who played really well and get a bonus-point win is a great achievement," he said.
"The players worked hard for that win. Our performance wasn't up to the required standard at times during the game and our accuracy in attack and our discipline in defence needs to be better.
"But all credit to the players for taking their opportunities and finishing them well.
"We've seen teams struggle out in Italy; Italian teams are very tough at home. It's a different environment with the sun and the atmosphere the crowd generates but we've got to make sure we still focus on what we know works for us.
"I was really pleased we managed to get into a big enough lead that even though we picked up two yellow cards we were still comfortable winners."
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