As soon as we’ve all enjoyed a much-needed festive break, time will fly, and it will be the 12th of March before we know it. Often, the last week in work before Christmas can move at a lighter pace, so why not use the time to start your MIPIM prep? The wardrobe can wait, what about your social media plan and slide deck? What meetings and events do you want to attend? Who’s on your hit list and what will the big topics of discussion be? The list is long, people.
My advice would be to start doing your research now, draw up a planner and map out your ideal strategy. Always make sure you leave gaps though, bumping into that one person you’ve been waiting 12 months to meet and finding that you can’t fit them in for a coffee is a big no-no. After all, that’s what MIPIM’s all about: having more time in a relaxed environment to meet new contacts and catch up with old ones.
Understanding what the hot topics of conversation will be is great for intelligent blogging and social media content. Reading through the events schedules, you can soon start to get a flavour of what everyone will be talking about (BREXIT being a given). Forearmed is forewarned, and, if you know what’s what, you can start thinking about your content now - or even writing it and tweaking it nearer the time. The content from your blog posts will form the basis of your social media strategy too, so it’s two birds, one stone.
Having a slide-deck presentation loaded onto a tablet so that you can sell your story over a coffee is also a great approach for MIPIM. Now’s the time to be thinking about what your sales strategy will be in three months’ time and how you want to position yourself. Give it some thought when you have some time to yourself over Christmas and come back in January armed with ideas. And if you don’t have the time to pull it all together yourself, get a PR and marketing agency to do it for you!
Enjoy the Christmas break, eat, drink and be merry but have a good rest because you’re going to need it! See you in Cannes!
© V. DESJARDINS - IMAGE & CO
