In today’s interview, Sorana McCarron sits down with Kyler Canastra to share her top insights from over 12 years’ experience in content marketing across Europe and the US. A marketing and PR professional who speaks five languages, Sorana delves into how she ended up focusing on marketing in the charitable sector and became a founding member of the UK-based MarketingKind community, which brings together marketers, brands and causes to create positive change.

These are just some of the many highlights from Sorana’s impressive skill set and background. In 2021, Sorana earned an MBA in Marketing with Distinction based on a full scholarship in the UK, and recently became a Certified Product Marketing Manager  with the Association of International Product Marketing and Management (AIPMM). 

Sorana chose to go into product marketing because she says that after wearing so many hats as a marketer, she realized that ultimately it’s essential in a consumer-driven world to be able to launch sustainable and kind  products or services—and she’s become obsessed with understanding how to match supply and demand in a post-pandemic world. 

Sorana also shares the reason why she dedicated her research for her MBA dissertation in marketing to the British charitable sector: “I realized that the most important things are human connection, growth, warmth, and mental well being. What really matters is my health and who I am as an individual, and how I’m supporting and lifting others.” 

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on YouTube, and listen to the podcast on Apple or Spotify.

Rapid-fire recs  

Productivity hack:

  • Turn your notifications off. “During this time (lockdown), I’ve realized that I need to use my personal time well. So, I don’t have any notifications on my phone other than phone calls, and no notifications on my computer.”
  • Write down lists of ideas as they come to you. “I have a little notebook on the side of my bed, and I write down ideas of content, posts, articles that I have. Then in the morning I write them in the app Notes on my phone and then from Notes, they transfer to my computer. When I do this, I end up having an endless inventory of thoughts and content ideas.” 

Best apps:

  • Calm for meditation and tranquility. “Calm is literally my go-to app because it has a lot of incredible tools. I probably use it too much. I’m such a loyal fan that I acquired a lifetime membership, for the first time, and it was totally worth it. I go to sleep by listening to Calm. It’s an amazing way of relaxing, either listening to a sleep story or to a meditation in the evening. Throughout the day, very often I find myself sitting at my computer listening to just background noise, whether it’s nature, rain or even a song.”
  • Audible for reading. “My absolute favorite app for reading during lockdown has been Audible. I’ve developed a 1.7 speed while listening to audiobooks and I find it really useful, because I can consume a bit more. If I need to tone it down and take some notes, I’ll go back to 1 or 1.2. If I’m streaming or traveling, I’ll listen to Audible and it is absolutely amazing.”
  • Otter.ai for automatic transcriptions instead of taking notes. “For instance, when I watch videos or listen to an in-demand webinar, I use Otter to transcribe the video and audio into text. And then I have that text for whatever purpose I need, rather than taking notes throughout the actual listening.”
  • Canva for design. “When it comes to design, I’m absolutely in love with Canva. Big shoutout to them—they immediately understood what content creators need and gave us a lot of tools. Canva is so user friendly and makes it so easy to create simple, minimalistic designs that represent brands very well, whether it’s a personal or company brand.”

Learning resources:

  • HubSpot
  • LinkedIn Learning
  • YouTube
  • MBAs
  • Certificate in product marketing at AIPMM.

Books: 

  • Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. “Michael has put a lot of research into the science of sleep, and I really understood a lot from reading his book. It’s not just turning the lights off and going to sleep, you have to get into an evening routine. You have to get into the zone: dim the lights down, light a candle, listen to some meditation, reduce screen time. What you eat and drink before sleep, it all kicks in. And one of the best things I learned from him is actually connected with coffee—the effect lasts longer than a day.”

Connect with Sorana and Kyler on LinkedIn.

For more insights into marketing in the charitable sector:

To read the full transcript, click on page number 2 below.

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