You are likely aware Dreamforce 2021 is streaming live on Salesforce+ September 21-23 if your job has anything to do with Salesforce or Pardot. That’s because the good marketers at Salesforce know how to find you and make sure you come to whatever thing they’re promoting.

Well, it’s all with good intentions. That’s because there’s lots of information Salesforce needs to relay to customers, users, consultants and partners as the platform evolves. 

Dreamforce serves as the annual culmination of that information relay. It’s the place to go to learn more about the direction Salesforce is taking with the platform so you can adjust your own technology strategy. But, like most things in 2021, you’re gonna have to watch it virtually unless you have a golden ticket to this invite-only event.

Attending Dreamforce virtually is creating barriers for me as a busy human person. So, I put on my marketer hat to figure out how I can hack this. 

Here’s the Cliffs Notes version of Dreamforce 2021 for B2B marketers who have other stuff to do.

Major Dreamforce 2021 Announcements

Salesforce always saves their flagship Dreamforce event for sharing major announcements. In 2020, it was the Slack acquisition and Salesforce pandemic response. 

Two big themes dominate Dreamforce 2021: 

• Slack Technologies is officially a Salesforce company.
• Salesforce is launching the Salesforce+ video streaming service.

We’re all getting used to this digital-first world. Salesforce is creating more educational and inspirational content every day while enabling people to work and learn from anywhere. So making some big Slack announcements and moving all that video content to one hub makes perfect sense.

How to Hack Dreamforce 2021: A B2B Marketer’s Guide

In years of Dreamforce past, in-person attendees could choose from many Pardot-focused sessions to learn about a wide range of Salesforce and business strategy topics. There was even an agenda builder to help attendees sort through all the content. 

Salesforce+ is going to house all of those hours of recorded sessions and video content. And Salesforce is going to broadcast live on the platform, which means most of that video content will be available to everyone after the conference is over.

If you’re like me, then you probably don’t block time to attend entire virtual conferences — let alone three days in a row. Instead, you have the parts you want to see playing on one screen while you’re working in another and you get all stressed out from not giving full attention to either. 

I’m also more of a reader than a watcher when it comes to learning new concepts. So, I’m going to provide the reader’s version of everything marketers should catch at Dreamforce this year by collecting the blogs/articles that give insights into these sessions. Then you can read about the topics that interest you and only tune in for the fun stuff (i.e., Fresh Prince & Foo Fighters!)

Remember to take a relaxing break from Dreamforce 2021 at ParDreamin’ Pond.

Day 1: Tuesday, September 21

Dreamforce Main Show: Welcome to the Trusted Enterprise with Marc Benioff and special guests

The main show is top-secret new content, so you’ll have to tune into that one.

Session Description 

Today, every business has to transform to become a Trusted Enterprise. Join Marc Benioff and special guests to learn how the Slack-First Customer 360 helps businesses of all sizes succeed anywhere.

9:45 a.m. PT / 12:45 p.m. ET

From Idea to Exit: Build a Thriving Business on AppExchange

Here’s an AppExchange-focused Dreamforce preview from Holly Rushton with the lowdown for Salesforce product people. These AppExchange-focused sessions are especially beneficial for B2B SAAS and product marketers.

Session Description 

Trailblazing entrepreneurs share how they landed on a profitable business idea, secrets to scaling, wisdom from the journey, and why they love being part of our partner ecosystem.

12:00 p.m. PT / 3:00 p.m. ET

Welcome to Your Digital HQ

This session addresses the Salesforce acquisition of Slack that was finalized in July 2021 and builds upon Slack-First Salesforce Customer 360 and Digital HQ concepts. 

You can read more about the Slack Digital HQ concept in this press release from Slack.

Session Description 

Redefining what’s possible in a digital-first world.

12:00 p.m. PT / 3:00 p.m. ET

Grow Moments into Relationships with Slack-First Marketing

Salesforce is introducing the concept of using Slack to manage marketing campaigns and projects. Using integrations, workflows, and channels, marketers can use Slack to feel more connected with the company as a whole and create a more collaborative experience.

You can earn a Slack-First Marketing Trailhead badge to understand this concept.

Session Description 

In relationships, every moment counts. Marketers must be data-focused, AI-savvy, and agile. Learn how Trailblazers have done this, plus get a peek at new Marketing Cloud and Slack innovations.

1:00 p.m. PT / 4:00 p.m. ET

Data and Privacy in a Cookieless Future

This is a big one for marketing operations professionals. MOPs everywhere are rethinking their strategies in response to impending deadlines as most major web browsers drop support for third-party web tracking cookies. 

Martin Kihn, Salesforce SVP, Market Strategy, Marketing Cloud, presented a webinar in June 2021 with the same name as this Dreamforce session. Here’s a blog Kihn wrote that explains the concepts and links to the webinar.

Session Description 

How will changes in cookies, the rise of real-time unified profiles, AI-driven measurement methods, and the privacy imperative impact marketers? Learn how to thrive in the cookieless future.

1:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. ET

How to Do Sales Prospecting the Right Way

Sales and marketing goes hand-in-hand, which means the best B2B marketers understand the sales process inside and out. Lucky for you, Salesforce has already released a guide on this very topic that you can peruse at your leisure. Here’s the Salesforce Complete Guide to Sales Prospecting.

Session Description

Prospects are the fuel for the sales pipeline. Whether you’re just starting out or an expert hoping to level up, learn how you can turn prospecting into a science.

3:00 p.m. PT / 6:00 p.m. ET

What is RevOps and Why is it Critical to Your Success?

RevOps is one of those buzzwords that’s puzzling marketers who are new to the concept. But it’s one of those areas that brings every division together at a company because they are working toward a shared goal. Diligent B2B marketers should understand this concept so they can contribute in meaningful ways through their marketing efforts. Here is the Salesforce guide to understanding revenue operations.

Session Description

86% percent of executives say revenue operations is important to meet their goals, but just 41% are very confident they understand RevOps. Learn why RevOps is important and how to get started.

5:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. ET

Day 2: September 22

Explore Slack & Salesforce’s Successful Path to Integration

This particular session is going to be interesting because it explains how Slack and Salesforce teamed up to integrate the two platforms. So, you may want to tune in for this one. 

This session will also serve as a great companion to the concept of Slack-first marketing. Here’s a guide that includes instructions on how to build your Slack-Salesforce integrations to make it all work like magic.

Session Description

Learn how Slack’s business technology developers, in partnership with Salesforce, exponentially sped up the integration of both companies by building innovative solutions on the Slack platform.

9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET

Getting Back to Growth: B2B Sales Reimagined

We’re all rethinking everything we thought we knew about sales and marketing. Companies on Pardot are already ahead of the curve, but rethinking their sales strategies to meet changing priorities takes some work. Check out this Salesforce guide to reimaging sales strategies and fuel economic growth.

Session Description

In a post-pandemic world, most sales leaders are focused on filling the funnel and getting back to growth. Learn how to reimagine sales strategies in the complex and dynamic world of B2B sales.

9:30 a.m. PT / 12:30 p.m. ET

Time to Digest All That Dreamforce Content 

Hopefully this Dreamforce 2021 guide for B2B marketers proves to be helpful as we all navigate this new way of approaching Salesforce events. 

We’ll have to accept these virtual conferences as the norm until the day comes that gathering in large groups is safe again. And maybe we’ll continue to see these hybrid in-person/virtual conferences so everyone can attend regardless of their location (or comfort level in large crowds). 

Let us know how you feel about Dreamforce 2021 in the comments below.

Wishing B2B marketers got more love at Dreamforce 2021? Well there’s a whole three-day virtual conference coming October 27-29 to fill those gaps. 

Register for ParDreamin’ 2021 so you can fill your head with all the Pardot and B2B marketing knowledge you need to accomplish your professional goals. We promise you’ll meet people like you who do awesome things with marketing automation. 

The post Dreamforce 2021 Hacks for Busy B2B Marketers appeared first on The Spot For Pardot.