Industry News Archives - Page 4 of 8

Community, Industry News, Pro Tips, Strategy
April 19, 2022

Salesforce Product Retirement: Social Studio Sails into the Sunset

Ambre Juryea-Amole

The Salesforce platform social media scheduling tool, which we all know as Social Studio, has officially entered sunset mode and has a retirement date set for 2024.

While the writing’s been on the wall for over a year, it may still be a shock for people who keep everything on the Salesforce platform and rely on Social Studio. We’ve seen a wave of big news, like product name changes, from Salesforce lately. And this news increased our collective jaw drops.

But, but, but… why would Salesforce retire social studio and duck out of the third-party social posting game? This seems like an odd decision.

In reality though, it’s a practical decision that team Salesforce has been working toward for a while. In this post, we’ll break it down for you so you can accept it and adjust your marketing strategy as you plan for the future.

Why is Salesforce no longer selling Social Studio licenses?

We (as-in, the Sercante marketing team) recently discovered the news about Social Studio’s journey into the sunset while shopping for social media scheduling tools.

During our shopping process, we learned that Salesforce hasn’t made any updates or enhancements to Social Studio in over a year. Then, we contacted a Salesforce AE who informed us that Salesforce is not selling Social Studio licenses after January 31, 2022.

So, we moved forward with one of our other social media scheduling tool options and said “sayonara” to the idea of using Social Studio.

Social Studio end-of-life dates

Here are important dates you should know about if you’re a Salesforce Social Studio customer:

August 1, 2022 – no Social Studio product renewals after this date
November 18, 2024 – end-of-life target date for Social Studio

You will still have access to Social Studio until the end of your contract date or November 18, 2024 (subject to change), whichever comes first.

Other social media scheduling tools do it better

Salesforce tries to do it all within the platform. But social media scheduling is (arguably) one of the things their competitors do better.

While there’s no official statement about the reasoning, we’re guessing team Salesforce has rightfully accepted the superiority of competing platforms.

Who will feel the greatest impact of the Salesforce Social Studio retirement?

Some people are going to feel Salesforce Social Studio’s retirement more than others. While other third-party social scheduling platforms include functionality that’s superior to Social Studio, there’s a few major things the competition hasn’t figured out yet.

Here’s who will feel greater effects of the Social Studio retirement moving forward.

Social Studio users who include organic Facebook carousels in their marketing strategy

We have a client who uses Salesforce Social Studio. They have had great success with the inclusion of organic Facebook carousel posts in their marketing strategy. But, they now have to revisit their social strategy based on the news.

We’ve evaluated several third-party social scheduling apps and haven’t found any that can handle posting organic Facebook carousel posts. Let us know in the comments if you have a solution for that.

People who integrate Social Studio with Salesforce Service Cloud and Sales Cloud

As you’d expect, Social Studio has easy-to-use integrations with other Salesforce clouds, and now teams that rely on those integrations need to revisit their setup.

The two main things you can currently do through Social Studio integrations with other Salesforce clouds is create Sales Cloud leads and respond to or create Service Cloud cases. These features may seem insignificant to some, but they are game changers to teams that rely on them.

If you’re using Social Studio integrations with other Salesforce clouds, then you’re going to need to find an alternative before the tool goes away forever.

Best Social Studio alternative for Salesforce users

The good news is that Salesforce is already working to create alternatives to Social Studio by teaming with third-party social scheduling platforms.

Depending on your company size, industry, and goals, we have a few recommendations for alternatives you can implement before Social Studio is completely retired. You’ll want to evaluate a few alternatives to Social Studio before jumping on board with one.

For example, you may not need the robust capabilities of one platform if all you do is share simple text social media posts. Or, you may need an advanced platform if you’re scheduling social media posts for an enterprise-level company with many social channels and lines of business.

A few of our favorites are:

One thing we’re already excited about is all of these alternative platforms have better reporting capabilities than what was available in Social Studio. For example, most of these alternatives give you a holistic view of engagement reporting across ALL social channels. Whereas, Social Studio only offers engagement reporting for individual channels.

Sprout Social and Salesforce partnership

Salesforce and Sprout Social recently announced they’ve joined forces to create an integration between the two platforms. According to the release, the integration connects Sprout to Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Slack.

The great part about this partnership is that many of the same functionalities from Social Studio will be available through the integration with Sprout Social.

The Sercante team jumped on board with Sprout Social, and we’re happy to report that it meets all of our social scheduling needs. It’s easy to use, we can manage multiple brands, and it has other helpful features, like the integration with Canva.

How to connect Sprout Social to Salesforce

The integration is already live and ready for you to integrate Sprout Social with your Salesforce org. This integration allows you to create Sales Cloud leads and respond to or create Service Cloud cases just like you did with Social Studio.

You can find instructions for integrating Sprout Social with Salesforce here.

Goodbye Social Studio, and fare thee well

Whelp Social Studio, it was a good run. But Salesforce is giving you the it’s not you… it’s me treatment. And we’ve already moved on.

For the team at Sercante, the partnership between Sprout Social and Salesforce made choosing a third-party social media scheduling tool easy. The integration means it will do all the same stuff Social Studio does — plus a bunch of other features that make our lives easier.

However, you may find an alternative platform that meets your needs better. And that’s to be expected.

What third-party social media platform are you using? What are your favorite features and what do you wish yours could do better? Tell us in the comments.

Community, Industry News, Real Talk
April 7, 2022

A Hot Take on the Pardot Rebrand to Marketing Cloud Account Engagement

Andrea Tarrell

It’s official — Pardot is going to be called Marketing Cloud Account Engagement going forward.

This is a big, bold change.

I have a lot of respect for whoever did the work on this rebrand, and whoever ultimately had to push the button and make the final approval on these changes. Having been a part of several corporate rebrands, I have a tiny peek at how much work goes into that.

Time and Twitter will tell how the new names land. Like most things — there are both pros and cons for this change. I suspect there will be a lot of strong opinions on both sides.

Quick background on the Marketing Cloud name changes

Here are the latest name changes affecting marketers who use Salesforce:

Marketing Cloud Email Studio (aka ExactTarget) 🡪 Marketing Cloud Engagement
Pardot 🡪 Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
CDP 🡪 Marketing Cloud Customer Data Platform
Interaction Studio 🡪 Marketing Cloud Personalization
Email, Messaging, and Journeys 🡪 Marketing Cloud Engagement
Advertising Studio 🡪 Marketing Cloud Advertising
Datorama 🡪 Marketing Cloud Intelligence
myTrailhead 🡪 Salesforce Sales Enablement
Salesforce CMS 🡪 Digital Experiences

Get all the details on the recent Salesforce product name changes here.

What I like about the name changes (particularly the Pardot one)

Let’s start with the good stuff.

1. It sets a vision for the connection between Salesforce products

The new naming conventions for the Marketing Cloud suite of products emphasizes that these products are part of the same family.

Salesforce has made a large number of acquisitions in the martech space, and retaining the individual brand names dilutes the message that they’re all one platform. A unified naming system simplifies the message for the existing stack, and makes it easier to name and talk about future additions.

2. It aligns with marketers’ big picture needs

Marketers need more than a pile of point solutions.

They have a vision, and they need infrastructure to execute on that. This line in Salesforce’s announcement about the change stated it perfectly:

“As you consider how to make the wow moments that build customer trust and loyalty, we know you’re focusing less on one channel or technology and more on the full experience. Our job is to deliver the how behind the wow.”

This shift also mirrors a recent change that we made in the positioning of this blog. We announced a few weeks ago that “The Spot for Pardot” is becoming “The Spot” and broadening its focus to a broader subset of martech — and this need is exactly why.

3. It focuses on what the products actually DO from a customer’s perspective

If you already know what Pardot is, you know what it does and what problems it solves. If you already know what Datorama is, you know what it does and what problems it solves.

But no one is sitting around saying “I need a Datorama.”

They’re saying: “I need actionable business intelligence.”

Putting the names in the customer’s language simplifies the message, in some cases, on why a particular product is the solution of choice for a particular business challenge.

4. It makes it clearer that Pardot + ExactTarget play nice in the sandbox

For whatever reason, Pardot and ExactTarget have often been viewed as “competing” with one another. People liked to compare features, list pros and cons, and generally viewed it as a “this or that” choice.

Really, the products both send email, and that’s about where the similarities end. They are totally different tools, designed for totally different customers, with totally different admin experiences.

Using Sercante enterprise customers as a sample, I’d estimate about half use both ExactTarget and Pardot in different subsets of their business. Having both ensures their marketing teams can run fast and solve hard problems for the business.

(Somehow in this “either or” narrative people seem to forget that’s why ExactTarget actually bought Pardot before Salesforce scooped them both up. Clearly their founders recognized they were better together than they are apart.)

4. It’s easy to pronounce!

First, at least people will pronounce the new name correctly. Goodbye, Par-dough.

Silver linings, guys.

Some challenges with the rebrand

Now, for a gentle critique.

1. It’s going to be hard to unstick the legacy brand names

My friend’s mom decided she wanted to be called “Grand-mère” when her daughter brought little humans into the world.

Her grandchildren decided she was, in fact, “Lulu.”

Why? Not a clue.

But it stuck.

Take it from the 2 year olds: it’s really hard to tell people what to call you.

The ExactTarget brand was “sunsetted” ages ago. But people still call it that today, mostly for disambiguation with Marketing Cloud. It was rebranded Email Studio. Then Messaging & Journeys (kind of.) Now it’s “Engagement.”

Jury’s out on how Pardot customers will react to this change.

2. It’s going to make things harder to talk about

While the new naming system does have a unified nomenclature, it looks clean and sharp on a slide deck, it messages the right things from a customer perspective…

…it’s going to make the products really hard to talk about.

Take Salesforce Personalization for example. Formerly known as “Interaction Studio,” Salesforce Personalization provides a category-leading experience for AI-driven personalization in cross-channel marketing campaigns. It can be used alongside both Marketing Cloud or Pardot (see also: 3 Interaction Studio Features Marketers Should Look Out For from our Pardot conference last year.)

But labeling it with the generic word “Personalization” makes it really hard for people (customers, colleagues, the community, etc.) to know what you’re actually referring to.

Because you can personalize content with Pardot using handlebars merge language, dynamic content, or legacy variable tags. You can personalize content in Marketing Cloud with AMPscript or personalization strings. And we call those things “Personalization” too.

I don’t think it’s super clear in the current naming system that “Personalization” is its own thing that requires a separate SKU on your Salesforce order form and requires its own implementation.

3. “Account Engagement” doesn’t reflect the needs of all Pardot customers

“Account Engagement” implies a go-to-market model where sales reps are identifying target accounts and getting after them, and marketing is complementing those efforts through an ABM strategy.

That reflects the use case of some customers, for sure.

But many others use Pardot differently. They use it to communicate with students and donors. They use it for community engagement. They use it for recruiting and internal comms. And Pardot is pretty darn good at those things. The new name doesn’t jive with this.

4. It makes talent acquisition more confusing

If I see “project managed Pardot implementation” or “reported on KPIs to stakeholders using Datorama” on a resumé, I have a pretty clear vision of what that person did and what they can do for my company.

If you take away the OG brand names, it sounds like nonsensical fluff. Project managed Account Engagement? Reported on KPIs to stakeholders using Intelligence?

This is going to need some work.

5. It makes finding a partner more confusing

The AppExchange made a change to its filters a few days ago, presumably to align with this change to remove “Pardot” and “Datorama” from their filter criteria:

Expertise implementing one part of Marketing Cloud does not always translate to other parts of Marketing Cloud. In the short term, I think this change to the searchability of the AppExchange is going to really damage the ability of customers to find and vet qualified partners.

In the long term, I think we will see an increased emphasis on partners growing to support across the entire Marketing Cloud. But that will take some time.

6. It makes Googling your way to success more confusing

What do you search if you’re looking for Pardot help in the future?

“Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Tips for _______” is almost certainly going to turn up a lot of irrelevant content.

I have a lot of faith in Google, but it’s going to be tricky there for a while.

How I expect the Pardot community to respond to the name change

The Pardot community is going to full-on rebel in the wake of this name change.

Mostly kidding.

I think a decent subset of Pardot customers, consultants, and long-time users will see the intent of what Salesforce is trying to do with the naming update and get on board.

I also think a decent subset of Pardot customers, consultants, and long-time users will call it “Pardot” until their final days.

Remember back in 2019 where Salesforce tried to force a name change of Pardot User Groups to “B2B Marketing User Groups”? Yeah, they’re still called “PUGs.”

The Spot has several digital community hubs to rebrand following this change:

Pardashians community | Slack home of Pardot lovers and learners
The Spot for Pardot Jobs | The place to find Pardot gigs
ParDreamin’ | The virtual event bringing together the best minds in martech

More to come on those after the dust settles from this announcement.

The bottom line

I believe in the “why” behind the Pardot name change 100%. I appreciate that Salesforce is aligning with customer needs and meeting them where they’re at when they’re talking about their business challenges.

I have faith that Salesforce is going to work on the details and logistics of what this means to customers to make this a net positive at the end of the day. There will be some bumps in the road. And many people will hold on to the Pardot name. And it will continue to help marketers kick butt and take names with engaging their audiences in a scalable way.

What’s your take on the name change?

I’m dying to hear what ya’ll think of this renaming. Are you for or against? Spicy feelings?

Drop a comment with your opinion and let’s discuss.

Community, Industry News, Real Talk
April 6, 2022

Salesforce Name Changes: Pardot & Marketing Cloud Get A Rebrand

Andrea Tarrell

Salesforce announced today that they’re changing the name “Pardot” to… drumroll… Marketing Cloud Account Engagement. Along with this rebrand, they’re changing the names of about a dozen products — but of course, Pardot is nearest and dearest to my heart.

Do I have opinions? Ohhhh yes. And I will be sharing those in a blog tomorrow.

In the meantime — here’s what you need to know about the future of the Pardot brand.

2022 Salesforce product name changes

Salesforce likes renaming things. It’s what they do. Having been a customer and partner in this ecosystem for 12 years, I’ve kind of accepted it.

In this quarter’s wave of brand updates, Salesforce itself is actually getting an upgrade. The company announced in March 2022 that Salesforce.com is changing its legal name to Salesforce, Inc. (Sorry, I’m still going to call it SFDC though.)

The most recent wave of Salesforce name changes

Several products are also getting the rename treatment. Pay attention — you’ll have to use these new names when communicating with Salesforce support agents.

Here are the latest name changes affecting marketers who use Salesforce:

Marketing Cloud Email Studio (aka ExactTarget) to Marketing Cloud Engagement
Pardot to Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
CDP to Marketing Cloud Customer Data Platform
Interaction Studio to Marketing Cloud Personalization
Email, Messaging, and Journeys to Marketing Cloud Engagement
Advertising Studio to Marketing Cloud Advertising
Datorama to Marketing Cloud Intelligence
myTrailhead to Salesforce Sales Enablement
Salesforce CMS to Digital Experiences

Wait, what? Why?

The word Salesforce has used as a touchstone when communicating these product name changes is that they are EASY.

Salesforce EVP & GM Digital Experiences Lidiane Jones echoed this in the official announcement about the name change:

The Marketing Cloud portfolio is now more aligned with the language marketers already use, so the capabilities and value are easier to understand. For example, many marketers are looking for the capability and value of real-time Personalization, not an “Interaction Studio” solution.

We’re expecting to hear more on Salesforce’s logic behind the changes at the Sydney World Tour.

What is NOT affected by the Pardot name change

With the name change, there’s lots that is staying the same:

Product features & functionality (continuing to grow and expand as part of the normal release cycle)
Pricing
Packaging / bundles
The actual SKU names on your Salesforce contract

Not ready to accept the new brand? Let’s cope together.

If you’re anything like us, Pardot is your BFF and you know all the Pardot trivia, including how Pardot got its name.

So, you might need some time to process the news from Salesforce — especially since Marketing Cloud Account Engagement just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Spotify playlists for your recovery

While we are still waiting for the ecosystem to establish its own moniker (McKay, anyone?) we have just the thing to get you through all of your stages of grief — some tunes to carry you through. Check out our breakup playlists on Spotify.

What’s your reaction to the new name? Share your take in the comments while we all process this.

Community, Community Spotlight, Events, Industry News
November 23, 2021

ParDreamin’ 2021 Demo Jam recap: Products to Extend Pardot

Ambre Juryea-Amole

The final day of ParDreamin’ 2021 kicked off with the second annual Demo Jam, which highlighted sponsors’ products by showing how Pardot customers can extend the capabilities of their technology stack through integration.

Each participant had three minutes to present their product demo. Then, demo jam attendees weighed in with their votes at the end of the session. We crowned the Demo Jam Champion at the end thanks to everyone’s votes and sent a trophy to the winner.

This year’s Demo Jam winner was Feedotter, which was presented by Feedotter Founder Andy Thiemer.

ParDreamin’ Demo Jam rules

Each participant had 3 minutes to demo their product and wow the audience. Then at the end of the Demo Jam, the audience voted for their favorite product. Since Sercante won the 2020 Demo Jam, Adam Erstelle had 5 minutes to present but was not eligible to win the 2021 competition.

2021 ParDreamin’ Demo Jam participants

Sercante’s own Richard Feist and Courtney Cerniglia shared Demo Jam hosting duties and provided welcome comic relief while giving away swag to attendees throughout the competition.

Here’s who presented their products to compete for the best Pardot solution:

SaaScend: Craig Jordan
Qualified: Jeff Ostenson
FeedOtter: Andy Theimer
GetFeedback: Alan MacDougall
Sercante: Adam Erstelle

SaaScend

SaaScend empowers go-to-market teams to hit their ultimate revenue potential by combining revenue operations domain expertise with cutting-edge go-to-market technologies so teams can focus on scaling revenue. With over 300 clients in the last four years, SaaScend is creating a SaaS-plus-services platform for revenue operations, partnering with clients to guide, coach, and manage their go-to-market technology stack for years.

Craig Jordan is the Founder of SaaScend, the RevOps Consulting Firm partnering with SaaS startups to scale and grow their businesses with systems, data, strategy, and people. A revenue operations expert who has worked with over 300 companies, his background includes over 10 years of experience as a marketing leader, entrepreneur, coach, and a technology strategist. Craig is fueled by his passion for guiding go-to-market teams to success and has been a guest speaker for several industry webinars, conferences, and events.

Qualified

Qualified is the conversational sales and marketing platform for revenue teams that use Salesforce. Leading B2B brands like Adobe, Bitly, SurveyMonkey, ThoughtSpot and VMware trust Qualified to grow their pipeline by tapping into their greatest asset — their corporate website — to identify their most valuable buyers, understand their intent, and instantly start a sales conversation. Qualified runs natively on Salesforce and is ranked #1 in its category on the Salesforce AppExchange.

FeedOtter

FeedOtter allows you to create personalized email newsletters and send automated blog emails from Pardot. With built-in templates for newsletters, blog digests, and employee emails, and easy-to-use interface, you can create and send emails in less than 15 minutes.

Andy Theimer is the founder of FeedOtter and enjoys building tech companies, marketing strategies, and anything radio-controlled. Specialties: tech, seo, saas, content marketing, influencer marketing, and marketing automation.

GetFeedback

GetFeedback is an agile CX platform for Salesforce that enables your team to start fast, and think big, so they can focus on what matters most — your customers.

Alan MacDougall is an engineering manager on the GetFeedback platform team handling their most high-value integrations.

Sercante

Sercante offers Pardot and Salesforce consulting, support, and development services. We support growth-minded companies with strategy, technology and execution across every step of the lead-to-revenue process.

Adam Erstelle has 20 years of software and development team leadership experience and a knack for diving into new technologies and learning them quickly. At Sercante, he is the driving force behind all product development initiatives and works with Pardot, Sales Cloud, and Heroku, among other platforms.

ParDreamin 2021 Demo Jam full video replay

You can relive the ParDreamin’ 2021 Demo Jam and all of Rich and Courtney’s regional colloquialisms by watching the full video replay below.

Learn more about extending Pardot

Watch the Demo Jam Replay to see the demos and learn more about using integrations to extend Pardot functionality. However, the ParDreamin’ 2021 Demo Jam includes only a small portion of the seemingly endless ways you can get Pardot to do more so you can reach your goals.

Here are more resources to learn about extending Pardot through integrations:

Have something in mind that you wish Pardot could do but you haven’t found the solution yet? Tell us about it in the comments below or reach out to Sercante Labs to see if we can help.

Community, Events, Industry News
October 15, 2021

ParDreamin’ 2021: The Pardot World’s Big Virtual Gathering

Ambre Juryea-Amole

ParDreamin’ 2021 is the only global virtual conference that lasts three days and focuses on all things Pardot and marketing automation.

We’re pulling together marketing minds at all levels to learn together, network, and explore new territories. Pardot experts from around the world are gathering to share information they’ve learned the hard way through determination, and the easy way — from the Pardot community.

So pack your satchel and grab some snacks. Here’s what you can expect as you trek your way through ParDreamin’ 2021.

How to attend ParDreamin’ 2021

ParDreamin’ is for people who want to immerse themselves in all things Pardot. However, it’s easy to attend if you’re new to Pardot or B2B marketing automation as a whole.

You’ll have access to more than 50 sessions, keynotes, and panel discussions hosted by some of the most recognizable names in B2B marketing and the Salesforce community.

ParDreamin’ 2021 kicks off with some pre-conference fun on October 26, and the main show happens October 27-29. No matter which aspects of the conference you attend, you’ll have to complete the ParDreamin’ registration form.

Registering for ParDreamin’

You’ll see Ticket Options after you complete the Personal Information page. Here’s what you get with each of the ticket options.

Conference Ticket: Free Pass

Three-day virtual conference access through the ParDreamin’ platform
Access to session recordings

Conference Ticket: VIP Package ($75)

Standard admission ticket
Conference t-shirt
VIP After-Party access

Pre-Conference Workshop Pass ($299)

Standard admission ticket
Conference t-shirt (if you register by Oct. X)
VIP After-Party access

Send an email to [email protected] if you need help with the registration process.

ParDreamin’ Pre-Conference Training Workshops

Choose the Pardot training workshop that best fits where you are in your career so you can get closer to where you want to be. You’ll build strong foundations before moving on to more complex actions and insights.

You can secure your spot in a pre-conference Pardot training workshop when you sign up for a ParDreamin’ conference ticket. Choose ‘Pre-conference Workshop Pass’ under Ticket Options when you register for ParDreamin’.

You can select only one training workshop with the exception of “Pardot Fundamentals,” which runs 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. ET. All other pre-conference Pardot training workshops run simultaneously from 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET.

The 2021 ParDreamies: A Pardot Award Show

People do really cool stuff in Pardot, and we’re recognizing them for it. Prepare yourself for the first-ever ParDreamies Awards!

The ParDreamies Awards will honor Pardot community members for finding creative and thoughtful methods to reach business goals using the power of the Pardot platform.

We’ll announce the winners of the ParDreamies Awards during the ParDreamin’ VIP After-Party on October 28 from 4 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. ET. And, remember to sign up for a VIP pass to ParDreamin’ 2021 so you can cheer for the winners during the live event.

How to submit your entry to the ParDreamies

The ParDreamies recognize exemplary work utilizing the power of the Pardot platform.

You have to submit your entry before the deadline for a chance to win. The deadline for entering is October 15, 2021.

The competition is open to all individuals, companies, and organizations involved in producing any marketing and communication materials utilizing the Pardot platform for external or internal audiences.

To be eligible, an entry must have been produced after January 1, 2020.

Complete the form on this page (scroll down) to submit a ParDreamies award application. You can complete multiple applications for different stories, but you can only win once per year.

Award categories

Each entry can only be submitted to one category.

Personalization Perfection: Right-time, right-message marketing
Social Impact: Creating positive change through Pardot
Grassroots Innovation: Scaling small business with Pardot
Extending Pardot: API-driven solutions
Best in Show: Overall winner

Getting permission to use Pardot stories

You, your employer, and your customer (if you’re a consultant) must be willing to publicly share any stories you submit. Your customer does not have to be present to accept the award, but they have to grant permission to you for the public mention of their company name and story in reference to the award.

We realize that may create some barriers to submitting a Pardot story, so here are some considerations for those situations:

Let the company or client know what’s in it for them. Winning a ParDreamies award is a great way to show that a company is innovative and forward thinking. It also provides an easy publicity opportunity and gets the company name in front of thousands of business executives and potential employees.
Leave the company name out of the story. Including an impressive enterprise-level company name definitely makes a story stronger, but your story is probably solid without it. You can say something like “an enterprise-level company in the insurance industry” if you cannot get permission to use a company name publicly.

Flex your Pardot knowledge: Pardot Trivia Party

After a day of learning at our pre-conference ParDreamin’ 2021 workshops, join us to show off your brain powers. We’ll gather virtually to play Pardot Trivia and enjoy healthy competition and networking opportunities.

The Pardot Trivia party is open to all ParDreamin’ attendees, and it’s taking place during the pre-conference festivities on Tuesday, October 26. We encourage ParDreamin’ Pre-Conference Training Workshop attendees to stick around after the workshops to use their newly gained knowledge and maybe win prizes.

We have limited spots available, and registration is almost full at the time of this blog. So, get there quickly if you want to join.

Choose your team. You can choose to register as a team (6-8 players) or sign up as a free agent and we’ll add you to a team.

Prizes. We’ll award cash prizes to the first, second and third place teams. You can also win a special prize for the best team name, so get your creative juices flowing. Pardot puns are welcome.

Get instant answers: Genius Bar

Open October 27-29 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET

You can spend hours scouring the interwebz for the answer to your pressing Pardot question. Or, you can visit the ParDreamin’ 2021 Genius Bar to book a one-on-one session with an expert to get the info you need.

Choose the Genius Bar topic that’s related to your question to book an appointment.

Genius Bar Topics

Our genius bar is organized by topics to ensure the right expert is available to discuss your individual questions. Register for the topic related to your questions to get the most out of your 1:1 session.

Automations – Talk with our automation experts to discover the best route to take. Bring us anything — from Engagement Studio Programs to dynamic lists and page actions.
Analytics – This is the place for questions about analytics topics like B2BMA or campaigns & ROI reporting. Meet 1:1 without analytics experts to talk about your specific tracking needs.
Tech/Dev – Working with integrations or the Pardot API can be a challenge. Talk with our developers to discuss your more complex technical questions.
Scoring & Grading – If you’re not fully utilizing Pardot scoring or grading rules, then you’re missing out. Our geniuses are here to talk through or take a peek at your current setup.
General/Misc. – Have a question not related to any of the topics above? Sign up for one of our general sessions.

Reserve a Genius Bar time slot

Space is limited in the ParDreamin’ Genius Bar. Please claim your spot by making a reservation.

You can make a reservation inside the ParDreamin’ conference platform. Navigate to the Genius Bar page and scroll down to the Reserve My Spot link.

Birds of a Feather roundtable discussions

Birds of a Feather roundtable discussions are a great way to network and collaborate with like-minded individuals. In these informal sessions, the moderator will present five discussion questions before sending everyone to smaller breakout groups.

We’re limiting the size of these sessions so everyone has a chance to share. That means you have to grab a spot at the table to join the fun.

Reserve a Birds of a Feather time slot

Space is limited in the ParDreamin’ Birds of a Feather sessions. Please claim your spot by making a reservation.

You can make a reservation inside the ParDreamin’ conference platform. Navigate to the Birds of a Feather page and click the graphic for the topic that resonates with you.

Explore Pardot career opportunities

Hey, we’re all here for one reason, right? Learning more about Pardot and B2B marketing automation is going to boost your career potential and open a world of opportunities.

Here’s how you can focus on landing your dream job while you’re navigating through ParDreamin’.

Your Pardot Career Path: Panel Discussion

October 29, 2021 | 12 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET

Digital transformation entered the fast track last year. Companies are creating marketing operations roles for the first time while organizations are doubling down on new functionality and integrations. The job market for marketing operations professionals (MOPs) is exploding as a result.

At the same time, Pardot is leading the charge as one of the fastest growing products in the B2B marketing space. We’ve experienced more product innovations for Pardot in the last year than in the 5 years before it combined.

In this panel discussion session, we’ll talk to people from the Pardot community who work in various industries and roles. They’ll share stories of their successes and failures, talk about the future of the job market and provide advice for advancing MOPs careers.

We invite attendees to come equipped with excellent questions for a Q&A session with our panelists.

Witness Pardot in Action: Industry Days

Pardot can look different for you depending on your industry. Learn about the differences and immerse yourself in real-life Pardot use cases that are specific to certain industries.

Each conference day includes content to highlight diverse industry solutions.

Financial Services: October 27
Nonprofit: October 28
Manufacturing: October 29

Par-take in the Pardot Event of the Year

ParDreamin’ 2021 will be here before you know it. If you’ve already registered for ParDreamin’, then watch for an email that will give you early access to enter the ParDreamin’ platform. Get in there early so you can preview the schedule, register for special sessions, and build your perfect agenda.

If you haven’t registered, then get on it now! Remember, you can complete the form again if you got a free ticket but decided you’d like to add VIP access or a pre-conference training workshop.Click here to complete the registration form and get your ticket to ParDreamin’.

Community, Events, Industry News
September 20, 2021

Dreamforce 2021 Hacks for Busy B2B Marketers

Ambre Juryea-Amole

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.

Here’s a guide to 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, B2B marketers could choose from many Pardot-focused sessions to learn about a wide range of Salesforce and business strategy topics. But the reimagined hybrid in-person/virtual event has to pack more punch into fewer content hours.

So what are B2B marketers supposed to do with fewer Pardot-specific sessions to attend?

Well, there’s plenty of helpful B2B marketing content at Dreamforce 2021 if you know where to find it. And most of these sessions already have a companion article, how-to guide, or even Trailhead module to accompany them.

So we’ve collected all the Dreamforce 2021 sessions and companion content for you so you can relax and soak it all in.

Salesforce+ is going to house all live broadcasts, recorded sessions and video content. That means most of that video content will be available to everyone after the conference is over.

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. But we think they’re going to mention this announcement from Salesforce:

“A new study from IDC that finds Salesforce and its ecosystem of partners will create 9.3 million new jobs and $1.6 trillion in new business revenues worldwide by 2026.”

The Salesforce Economic Impact Study has been the focus of the Dreamforce keynote before. That means we’ll see it again.

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.