Baking it Down with Sugar Cookie Marketing 🍪

Episode 241: Stay on Track Track Tract

Airdate: December 23, 2025
Hosts: Heather and Corrie Miracle

Episode Overview

In this lively episode, Heather and Corrie tackle the crucial topic of tracking and metrics for bakery businesses—how to choose what to measure, why it matters, and how to use those metrics to guide decisions and growth in 2026. The hosts blend practical advice, automation tips, real-life examples (both their own and from their audience), and plenty of humor to help bakers, whether side-hustler or seasoned pro, get a handle on making their numbers serve them (instead of the other way around).

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Nature of Home Baking Businesses & Turnover

• Many bakers start out as a hobby or side job—COVID accelerated this trend, but as life changes, many move on or stop baking.
  • "Covid brought a lot of bakers and you're looking into, you're looking at two of them." (Heather, 01:22)
• Facebook groups (like Sugar Cookie Marketing) see high turnover; engagement is tracked and regularly cleaned.

Social Media Group Engagement: What to Track & Why

• Engagement Ratio (Active Users ÷ Total Members) is core to understanding group health.
  • Sugar Cookie Marketing has about a 69-70% active engagement rate (04:17).
  • Inactive members are regularly pruned to keep the group fresh and metrics meaningful.
  • "End of the day, out of 50,000 people, that 35,000 are active. Amazing." (Corrie, 04:17)
• Takeaway: Don't be misled by vanity metrics (total members); focus on quality engagement.

Why Is Tracking Important in Business?

• Tracking is compared to “dough days”—essential but not glamorous.
  • "It has to be done...but no one's congratulating you...That is my thing with tracking." (Corrie, 06:33–06:48)
• Better tracking enables reflection, improvement, and understanding what truly drives your business.
  • "If you think you're going to remember what happened in the last year, you won't." (Corrie, 08:48)

Setting Up Your Tracking System

• Consistency is Key: Pick a regular admin day (e.g. Mondays at 10 a.m.) for entering your numbers each week.
  • "Once my spreadsheets get dirty, it causes me a lot of anxiety...I know that on Mondays I can set aside one hour to update this spreadsheet." (Heather, 07:40)
• Keep note columns for variances (vacations, sick days, unexpected slow weeks).
• Start simple—Google Sheets or a basic CRM is fine, and don’t stress about missing historical data. Start now.

Choose Metrics That Support Your Business Goals

• "Not all metrics are created equally. There are metrics that can guide your entire existence and then there are metrics where you are just wasting your own time." (Heather, 09:47)
• Align tracking with your annual goal:
  • If you focus on retention, track client return rate, re-engagement actions, and CRM touches.
    • "As soon as you get a client, you're losing them. ...That goes for a bakery, too." (Corrie, 10:52)
  • If aiming for acquisition, track new leads, referral sources, ad ROI.
  • For influencer goals, impressions or creator fund payouts matter more than sales-per-lead.

Tools & Automation: Make Data Work for You

• CRM/Spreadsheet: At minimum, keep a sheet of name, email, and one customer factoid—you’ll be "better than 90% of bakers out there" (Heather, 18:50).
• Automate with Zapier: Connect forms (like Jotform) to CRMs (like Nutshell) to reduce manual data entry.
  • "What Zapier does, it is a paid thing. What it can do is create those leads for you. So while you are busy in the kitchen, it’s doing the work behind the scenes." (Corrie, 15:34)
• Keep it 'human'—automation should support, not replace, personal touches.

Data Quality & Avoiding 'Dirty Data'

• Only track actionable, quality data—not just numbers for numbers’ sake.
  • "Remember, it's always quality data. If I load up a thousand emails…900 hasn't ever heard from me...not the most valuable spreadsheet." (Heather, 19:34)
• Don’t be afraid to purge old or irrelevant contacts: "Don’t be afraid to delete dirty data." (Heather, 19:08)

Tracking Beyond Sales: Social, Content & Event Metrics

• Different goals require different metrics:
  • For social media growth: focus on platform-specific signals (e.g., views, followers on Instagram).
    • "Now it's not so important that we have returning customers as much as we have views...because we're getting paid out of the creator fund..." (Heather, 23:20)
  • For class/event sales: track net/gross income, ticket sales, and conversion rates from posts or ads.
• Don't chase all the metrics at once—choose a core goal and relevant KPIs for that month or quarter.
  • "When you say, I want bigger, faster, stronger, better of everything, you're going to overwhelm yourself." (Heather, 43:18)

Segmenting & Cleaning Data for Better Results

• Segment lists (custom class vs. custom order customers) so emails stay relevant and out of spam.
  • "Now you can see, now we're cleaning up our data. Now our data is more powerful." (Heather, 31:42)
• Use tags (e.g., custom, class, VIP) to better target your marketing and improve lead conversion.

Examples: Applying Tracking in the Real World

• Vendi Blendi: Membership applications, not the number of sellers or vanity group numbers, are the best success metric for this virtual vendor event.
  • "Pending members are indicative of the success of the event." (Heather, 33:20)
• Pop-ups & Sales Events: Track what products sell (singles vs. packs), not just attendance.
  • "If the singular cookie did not sell, but the pack of four minis sold...next year...give them more of what they want." (Corrie, 57:22)

Lessons from Corporate Flops

• Blockbuster, Red Lobster: Tracking the wrong thing leads to catastrophe.
  • "Red Lobster’s endless shrimp got people into the store, but they lost money per person." (Heather, 46:38)
  • "Blockbuster...wasn’t willing to give up late fees. Netflix waited. By the time Blockbuster turned, it was too late." (Corrie, 47:28)

Don’t Be Led by Competitors

• Don’t blindly copy others’ strategies—they could be tracking (or not tracking) completely different goals.
  • "Your competitor is running a completely different business...You have no idea what metric, if any, they're focused on." (Heather, 49:03)
  • "Views is also not necessarily a metric for sales." (Corrie, 49:54)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Tracking is like dough days...It has to be done because it makes a better business. But...no one's congratulating you." (Corrie, 06:32)
• "If you think you’re going to remember what happened last year, you won’t." (Corrie, 08:48)
• "Not all metrics are created equally...There are metrics that can guide your entire existence and then there are metrics where you are just wasting your own time." (Heather, 09:47)
• "As soon as you get a client, you're losing them." (Corrie, 10:52)
• "Don’t be afraid to delete dirty data." (Heather, 19:08)
• "Pending members are indicative of the success of the event. That’s the one we said—if this number is strong, the sales numbers will be strong." (Heather, 33:20)
• "You can't change what you don't track." (Corrie, 53:44)
• "If you look at what your competitor is doing—you have no idea what metric, if any, they're focused on." (Heather, 49:03)
• "Views are great if you’re paid out of the creator fund...but if you want sales, track conversions." (Heather, 51:17)

Practical Takeaways

• Pick 3–4 core metrics that serve your current business goals.
• Set a recurring time to track data and stick to it for consistency.
• Use at minimum a Google Sheet—CRMs and automation (like Zapier) can save time as you grow.
• Segment email lists to prevent spam complaints and keep messaging relevant.
• Regularly ask: "Did this metric help me make a decision?" If not, stop tracking it.
• Don’t let vanity metrics or competitors’ choices distract you from your own goals.
• The best time to start tracking is now! Don’t worry about “dirty” or missing data—just start.

Audience Q&A and Situational Advice

• Handling Walk-in (Non-Storefront) Customers:
  → If someone arrives expecting a bakery instead of made-to-order, use as a chance to educate: “Everything’s made to order—here’s how you can place an order for next time!”
  • “I would have been like, ‘Oh, I'm so sorry for that confusion....I would love to bake for you in the future and I'm super sorry.’” (Heather, 62:05)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Group Turnover: 00:05–02:30
• Engagement Ratios & Data Cleansing: 02:30–05:12
• Dough Days Analogy & Why Track: 06:02–06:46
• Setting Up Spreadsheets & Scheduling Tracking: 07:32–09:41
• Aligning Metrics with Goals: 10:03–12:49
• Retention vs. Acquisition Strategies: 12:49–14:34
• Automation via Zapier: 14:34–15:43
• Cleaning Data & CRM Benefits: 16:07–19:08
• Choosing Metrics for Social Media Growth: 22:34–24:42
• Segmentation & Avoiding Spam: 29:31–31:42
• Vendi Blendi & Choosing What to Track: 33:20–34:16
• Cautionary Corporate Tales: 46:20–48:43
• Competitors & Picking Your Own Metrics: 48:50–51:17
• Final Motivational Wrap-up: 53:03–54:02

Final Word

Heather and Corrie urge bakers to treat tracking as a supportive process, not a chore or an end in itself. Define your North Star (goal) first, let it guide your metric choices, keep things manageable, and be ready to adjust. You run the business, not your spreadsheets! Track wisely, and let your numbers help you grow in the direction you want in 2026.

Merry Christmas from the Marketing Twins, and see you—on track—in 2026!