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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 252 - Piping Positioning, we wanted to talk about a buzzy marketing concept called "product positioning." Think of positioning as the mental real estate your bakery is renting in the heads of your customers.

Here's the catch - 🫵 you don't control what they think about you, but rather all the pieces of marketing create an experience they recall when they hear your name. Let me explain.

Having recently moved, I've been targeted in a half dozen ads about anything and everything home goods, but one brand keeps rising to the top - of both feeds and word-of-mouth.

Quince is an up-and-coming household brand that positions itself as "luxury and quality for less," 💸💸💸💸 going as far as to directly compare their prices against popular brands like West Elm, Pottery Barn, and Williams-Sonoma (⚖️ there's a lawsuit about this, actually).

How do they do the same thing at the same quality, but for less? Their approach of "radical transparency" explains it just about everywhere on their website. They source the same materials from the same factories as the higher-priced brands, and then cut out the middleman by selling directly from their website to consumers.

Other examples of brands that have done a great job at positioning - try guessing these before you peek (some may be location dependent):

• 🧠 Safe Cars = Volvo
• 🧠 Customer Service Chicken = Chick-Fil-A
• 🧠 Everyday products at a lower cost = Walmart
• 🧠 Quick Oil Changes = Jiffy Lube
• 🧠 Judge-free Gym = Planet Fitness
• 🧠 Gas with Great Convenience Store = Sheetz
• 🧠 Quick Burgers = McDonald's
• 🧠 Quality Groceries = Wegmans / Whole Foods
• 🧠 Streaming Service = Netflix
• 🧠 Best Dating App = Hinge
• 🧠 Social Media = Facebook

What made us all think of mostly the same brands? That's positioning. If I said "really high-quality burger," you likely wouldn't think of McDonald's, right?

“Positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect.” - Jack Trout

Positioning can take multiple forms and varies depending on who you're targeting (Volvo positions both as safe and as luxurious, depending on who their target market is for the vehicle). Price-based is the route Quince

🏷️ Price-based positioning is the route Quince is taking, and while we often tell bakers not to compete on price, you can position on price depending on your targets. For example, we're not the most expensive cookie class instructors, so we could compete there if we wanted, without touching our margins at all.

Quality and premium positioning you see with brands like ⌚ Rolex or Apple - brands you know won't be cheap, but that's almost why you want them in the first place.

Application / Use-case positioning is a brand that comes to mind when you need to solve a specific problem. Which app would you use for online meetings? Zoom, right? What do you reach for when your nose is running? Kleenex? And then there's the funny backstory to Vecro (a brand so positioned that it's replaced its product name - hook and loop - with its brand).

Take the concept of positioning into your week and see which brands have rented your mental landscape. The positioning formula is this:

• For [Target Audience], [Brand Name] is the [Category] that [Point of Differentiation] because [Reason to Believe].

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🍩 Posting Do’s & Do-nots - Coming up with a social strategy.

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 251 - Posting Dos and Donuts, the twin2 (sorry for the audio issues on this episode, still figuring out remote podcasts 😭) wanted to talk about posting strategy. If it were as easy as "post every day and you'll be a billionaire," well, you wouldn't be hearing from me right now; I'd be too busy posting once a day (as I'm sure you would, too).

But alas - posting and getting reach involves strategy - a formulated plan to reach our audience and cut through the noise of every other business attempting to snag their attention and hog their feeds.

📝 Do: Post frequently

In today's podcast, Corrie said, "Post every day," as in that's the goal, but it can't be just posting whatever, whenever. It's gotta be quality content as frequently as you can manage it. Does that mean if you don't post daily, you get a big giant F in marketing? No - that means you get a giant H because you're H-uman.

It's estimated that every day, 300 million pieces of content are posted to Facebook - and we need to cut through all of that with our cookie posts. So how do you compete in a flooded feed? You get creative, but you also stay consistent.

🍩 Do-not: Post just to post

Content is queen, sure - but quality content will reign supreme. If you posted a cookie set every day, you'd be posting consistently, yes - but your reach will decrease over time. Why? 🥱 It's boring. Just a picture of a decorating cookie and a boring caption? It can only do so much. The algos won't reward you with reach because your content doesn't compel people to stay on the platform.

💡 Remember - content that intrigues, captivates, creates curiosity keeps people on their platforms. If you keep people on their platforms long enough for them to serve an ad, they'll reward you with more reach.

Corrie has been pinging her "personal" content bucket. Her Q1 strategy was to see if creating more relationship-centered content would increase her reach. And in February, she saw a 39% increase in reach - and a double bonus, 71% of those were non-followers.

📝 Do: Check insights

Your insights (metrics) provided by my social media platforms will help you guide your strategy. Some things your audience will love, some will be only viewed by crickets. 📊 Corrie made an Excel spreadsheet tracking each piece of content she posted in February, the reach, and the engagement. From there, she's able to dial in that strategy for March. She can cut what didn't land, and she can double down on what got more of a response.

And that's how you build a strategy that's ever-shifting.

🍩 Do-not: Talk at your audience

Social media is a conversation. 🤝 That's why end users are able to like, comment, stitch, and share - because social platforms know that the more people can converse, the longer they stay on the platform, and yep - the more ads they can be served. Remember that relationship, right?

🗣️ By asking a question or making a joke or posting interesting content, you're joining the conversation. When you say, "Buy from me, buy from me, buy from me," there's no conversation happening there. "Do you want to buy from me?" Still not it. What about posting a set of cat-themed cookies and asking people to comment with a photo of their cats in the comments?

Guess what - 🐱 they'll comment a pic of their lil orange Garfield and tell you all about how adorable it is when he scratches the seats up. That's a conversation!

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 250 - 1,000 Word Pictures, in preparation for this week's Cookie Photography Bootcamp, photography is on the brain of the twins, and that's because a huge part of food sales comes from great photos.

Consider yourself - do you tend to order things off the menu that have pictures? A study shows that restaurants saw a 30% increase in sales when pictures were included on their menu.

"Restaurants with high-quality photos can see up to 30% higher sales on average — showing just how powerful great menu photography can be. In fact, nearly half of Gen Z diners (46%) say food photos influence their decision to try a new restaurant, according to the DoorDash Delivery Trends Report. "

🖼️ Photography's marketing value

Better photos, better ingredients, better pizza, Papa John's. Only kidding (Heather can't resist), but better photos do increase the perceived value of a product. Doesn't matter how good the product is, if the photo screams "this was baked in a dark dungeon," you're not going to move product.

And great photos are a great way to flex your skillset. If you live in an area of stiff cookie competition, photography can put you a cut(ter) above the rest. By being able to really dial in on your details with great photos, you can push product faster than the next kitchen.

Corrie adds that investing in your photography skills now can allow you to use current photos for years to come. "I got really good at photography years ago. Now those cookies from 4 years ago? I can use them to sell quickly even today. Good photography pays it forward."

🖼️ Lighten up!

In the Bootcamp for Cookie Photography (you can sign up at www.thecookiecollege.com for $13), we focus a lot on lighting. Photography = photon = light. Photography is the capture of light, so good lighting sets the stage for a great photo. Finding good lighting is a must if you want to fall in love with your photography.

Light boxes, three-point lighting systems, and overhead lighting are fine in a picture pinch, but bakers should really focus on indirect, natural (sun) light for pictures that pop off the newsfeed.

🖼️ Back up that background

Your kitchen's granite countertops are designed to distract (from your husband's inability to clear the crumbs from the toaster). As such, using them as your backdrop is distracting. Investing in a backdrop can clear the clutter and make for some clean product shots. Don't overspend - a matte white finish (or marble if you're feelin' fancy) is all you need to start leveling up your photography game.

🖼️ To the big stage!

Referring to the "pyramid" worksheet, build from the bottom up. Pyramid style staging keeps it simple: a backer, a tea towel, a baking tray, a plate, and your cookies. Sprinkle some props in the periphery (and don't be afraid to crop the prop), and you've set the stage for cookies that create a want in your clients.

Not sure if you nailed the staging? Take your photo to the nearest unbiased friend (or twin) and ask, "What did your eyes see first when I showed you this photo?" If the answer ain't "them cookies, giiiirl -wooohooo," rethink the set and take it back to basics.

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 250 - 1,000 Word Pictures.

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 248 - Bootcamp Recap, we wrapped up our first pilot for the Cookie College 2026 Bootcamp configuration - and it went pretty well! Thanks to all who put up with some bumps and bruises for round one.

🥾 What's a Cookie College Bootcamp?

In 2026, we're taking a different approach to adding new content to our top membership - The Cookie College. Instead of adding new classes all willy nilly, we're adding a monthly collection of modules that focus on a specific topic. Bootcamps last between 2 - 3 days, and each day has about 2 hours worth of content. Recruits also get access to a private Bootcamp Facebook group where we discuss topics, break down worksheets, and host Live Q&As.

The cool part about Bootcamps? You don't need to be a Cookie College monthly member to join. Bootcamps are $13, and they're a great way to "taste test" the content in The Cookie College. And bonus - if you sign up after attending a Bootcamp, you get $13/off the Cookie College membership (forever).

Nothing else changes about our memberships and the content - we're just adding the new feature of Bootcamp Intensives!

🥾 Bootcamp Day 1 - Event Setup + Marketing

Day 1 of the Bootcamp covered setting up a cookie class event using Eventbrite (and their nifty 2025 / 2026 event dashboard redesign). Attendees got access to a free Cookie Class Kit (🍍🍎🍓🍇 Fruits & Frosting), and we used the included Event Listing copy to build out Eventbrite as well as set class limits, add DIY kit add-ons, and set sales dates. We also had Eventbrite push the event listing to Facebook for better cross-marketing.

📅 Then we created a marketing campaign using the techniques we talk about in Sugar Cookie Marketing - working with content buckets (silos) and content types ot create a really robust strategy that would hit just about everyone in your target demographic. 🎟️🎟️🎟️ Repeat that strategy 3 times over a 6-week promotional schedule, and you're gonna move some tickets.

🥾 Bootcamp Day 2 - Class Setup + Instruction

Day 2, we actually set up a fake class so we could talk about what we use, why we use it, and what we'd do differently. It's helpful seeing the types of class tech along with hearing why we set up classes the way we do.

Then we pretended to teach the intro to a class, breaking the third wall so that would-be instructors could understand the flow of it (Bootcamp attendees also got our class script that matched the Fruits and Frosting class).

🥾 Bootcamp Day 3 - Follow-up Marketing + Live

By Day 3, "recruits" got access to the module on follow-up marketing. Follow-up marketing helps us take past class attendees and turn them into future sales by getting them into our remarketing funnel through email list segmentation, Facebook groups, and follow-up emails (copy also included in our Class Kits).

Corrie and I ended with an hour-long Live Q&A in the private Bootcamp group, where we answered questions from members about teaching classes, class promotion, and woulda-coulda-shouldas. It was a lot of fun!

Next Bootcamp - 📸 Cookie Photography. It'll be a good one! More info comin' this week.

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 248 - Bootcamp Recap.

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 246 - The Reviews Collab, we're talkin' reviews as we see 2026 really start to rev up - and perfect timing too - the first ever Reviews Collab is this Friday at 11:00 AM (est... edt??).

💕 About Friday’s Reviews Collab!

The Friday collab is pretty simple, but it's a marketing power play. You'll take a selfie holding a red heart cookie - that's it. The magic happens when we combine the collab participants, giving you engagement with a direct ask to your audience to leave you a review on a specific website.

• 💗 Date: Friday, Feb 6, 2026
• 💗 Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM est
• 💗 Hashtag: # SCMCollabLove (remove the space)
• 💗 More Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1168981642056798/

💕 Setting Yourself Up for Reviews

To get reviews, we must make it easy for people to leave reviews. This means having your review profiles set up correctly (Google Business Profile, Facebook Page, Yelp, NextDoor), and we must link to those profiles - like on your website and your Instagram bio link (using apps like LinkTree and Shorby).

To have a review profile show up in search engines, you need to have it fully optimized with pictures, website links, paragraphs describing your business, addresses, etc.

🫀 Remember - the more clicks it takes to perform an action (like asking someone to leave you a review), the less likely they are to complete the action. If the shortest distance from A to B is a straight line, the shortest distance to getting a review is a direct link.

💕 Responding to Reviews

Bold statement - we think 100% of your reviews should have a response from you. Yep - even those "just star ratings" and those bad reviews. Why? When people read bad reviews, they're also seeing if you're the type of business owner who will make an effort to acknowledge and make an effort to turn a bad experience around.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ In fact, an imperfect review profile can actually be seen as more trustworthy when you nail the response. People aren't perfect, and neither are businesses - so embracing the bad review is actually a decent strategy.

💕 How to Ask for Reviews

Asking for reviews can feel awkward. It's like, "Hey - you just gave me a lot of money! How about giving me even more!" Which is why the reviews collab is a neat idea to blame "the Sugar Cookie Marketing Group" for making you ask - because it's a part of the rules to participate.

But we need to make peace with asking for reviews, because it's not if, it's when you end up with a bad one. Padding those review profiles with our fan-favorite clients can really help offset that one-off reviewer.

💕 Bracing for Bad Reviews

Bad reviews hurt. But you know what hurts more than a bad review? A bad review when you only have 2 good reviews. That means 33% of people who ordered from you HATED your cookies. By bracing for bad reviews by getting 9 great reviews, we move that 33% down to just 10%. 20 reviews? Now it's only 5%. Bad reviews are par for the course of business ownership (heck, just check this podcast's reviews) - knowing how to handle bad reviews makes you a good business owner.

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 246 - The Reviews Collab.