Salesforce has just closed a mega-deal worth $28 billion to acquire Slack. This deal will generate significant debt, but not by spending large sums.The CRM company announced today that it would be expanding into streaming media with Salesforce+. This new digital media network will focus on video and, according to the company, will bring Dreamforce's magic to viewers around the world with luminary speakers.Salesforce has seen companies struggle to transform quickly into fully-digital entities over the past year. Salesforce's response to the changing market is the Slack acquisition. However, the company believes it could do more with an on demand video service that provides business content 24 hours a day.Sarah Franklin, Salesforce's CMO and president, stated in an official post that the company had to reimagine its success in the digital-first age.Colin Fleming is Salesforce's senior vice president for Global Brand Marketing. He sees this as a way to improve the content that the company has shared since the beginning. We looked at the media landscape and where people consume content. The pandemic made it clear that white papers in a business to-business context were not relevant anymore. We were looking at a cookieless future. We looked at the consumer world and thought about Salesforce. He said, "Why shouldn't we be thinking this way too?"These efforts are not insignificant. Axios reports there are 50 editorial leaders on the project to help it launch. Salesforce+ is also being worked on by hundreds of people.Salesforce has not yet developed near-term monetization strategies for Salesforce+. This service is free and will not include any external advertising. Salesforce+ will be launched in September with Dreamforce. It will include four channels: Primetime to announce news, Trailblazer to train content, Customer 360 to share success stories, and Industry Channels to offer industry-specific offerings.Salesforce hopes that Dreamforce and the company's announcement will drive interest in the products they have created. Salesforce+ will be able to enter new territory after the Dreamforce push. Salesforce+ will be a new platform that offers customers and larger businesses compelling on-demand content.Salesforce is the most successful SaaS-first company ever. This may be why people might be interested in listening to it. The company's most recent quarterly earnings report, May 2011, revealed $5.96 billion in revenue. This is 23% more than the previous year and puts it at close to a 25 billion annual run rate. The company also generates a lot of cash. However, being cash-rich does not negate the possibility that this new streaming venture will be a money pit. It will cost a lot of cash to produce and have limited returns.This service is a little like your LinkedIn feed, but in video format. It is, at the very minimum, the most comprehensive content marketing program of all time. But, can it ever be profitable as a business unit, or through other monetization plans (like ads)?Brent Leary, principal analyst at CRM essentials and founder of CRM essentials, said that Salesforce could potentially generate advertising revenue through this venture. This would tie directly into Salesforce's platform. Customers could sponsor, advertise, or collaborate on a show. You can track ROI and have leads generated by the show tied directly to activity from these options. Leary explained to TechCrunch that the ads live on and that content continues to exist.It remains to be determined if that is the ultimate goal of the venture. However, Salesforce has shown that there is a market for Dreamforce content at minimum in the physical world. In 2019, Salesforce hosted a live event that was attended by over 100 thousand people. Although most conference activity has moved to the digital world due to the pandemic, Dreamforce and other related content can still be accessed year-round via video format.It will be difficult to determine how the company will justify spending so much on marketing. Measuring ROI from video products isn't easy when they are not directly monetized. It will eventually have to have a direct or indirect effect on the company or be subject to questions from shareholders about the purpose of the venture.
