Breaking the Marketing Mold: Alexa DaFonte of Sizzle On 5 Innovative & Non Traditional Marketing Strategies That Can Engage Audiences Like Never Before
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Build in Public. There’s something powerful about showing the real-time process of building your brand- the highs, the lows, the “figuring it out” moments. I’ve built Sizzle in public from day one, and it’s given our community a sense of ownership in what we’re creating. When people see the why behind your brand, not just the what, they feel personally connected to the outcome.
Traditional marketing methods are no longer sufficient in today’s dynamic and fast-evolving market. To truly engage and captivate audiences, businesses need to think outside the box and adopt innovative and non-traditional marketing strategies. What are these strategies, and how can they transform audience engagement? I had the pleasure of interviewing Alexa DaFonte.
Alexa DaFonte is a seasoned marketing leader with a background spanning media, content creation, and consumer brand growth. She has scaled two successful agencies and worked with leading industry brands and over 1,000 creators across social and influencer marketing. She currently serves as Chief Growth Officer at Sizzle. Alexa blends storytelling, strategy, and community to drive innovation in the food tech space.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! To start, could you share when and how you got started in marketing?
I got into marketing by accident. My undergrad was in pre-med, and for years, I was set on becoming a neurosurgeon. When I graduated during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, something shifted. I felt this deep disinterest in going into medicine, not burnout, but a misalignment I couldn’t ignore. So I pivoted.
That pivot led me to my first marketing role at a creative agency in Los Angeles called Nailed It Media. I was working with CPG brands and touched everything from social and web to email strategy and creative direction. Almost instantly, I fell in love with the field, particularly the creative side of marketing. There was something deeply satisfying about using storytelling, design, and strategy to shape how people connect with brands. Since 2018, I’ve been hooked ever since and have not looked back.
What has been the biggest shift in the marketing industry and can you give us an example of how it impacted you?
One of the biggest shifts I’ve seen in marketing has been the move away from high-cost, paid ad strategies toward more organic, growth hacker-style distribution. This change has impacted me directly, especially while building my food tech app, Sizzle.
In the past, there has been a significant emphasis placed on polished ad campaigns with massive budgets behind them. Today, it’s all about how effectively and authentically you can distribute content across platforms like TikTok and Instagram without paying to play. I’ve been living in that shift, trying to crack the code myself.
With Sizzle, we scaled our creator program from zero to over 100 creators posting every day. We’re pushing out nearly 150 pieces of content across social platforms daily. Our conversion rate has never been higher. I’ve learned the importance of balance, the sweet spot of doing just enough. Not flooding people’s feeds, not disappearing either, but finding that consistent rhythm that reaches your audience without overwhelming them. It’s a new kind of art form, and it’s completely reshaped the way I think about brand growth.
Can you explain why it’s essential for businesses to break away from traditional marketing and embrace new strategies?
It’s more essential than ever for businesses to break away from traditional marketing, especially the overreliance on paid ads, and lean into newer, more authentic strategies. Today’s consumers don’t want to feel like they’re being sold to by a faceless brand. They want to support a person. A story. A mission they can connect with.
I’ve made it a point to build Sizzle in public, especially on TikTok and socials. I share all the behind-the-scenes moments, the vision, the struggles, and the wins. It’s not polished. It’s not overly curated. While it’s real, that’s what resonates with Sizzle’s audience the best. Organic platforms have become an incredibly robust distribution channel where a single post can reach hundreds of thousands of people if it strikes the right chord.
The beauty is, it costs nothing but time, intention, and honesty. This reach and impact doesn’t happen through static ads anymore. This shift toward transparency, storytelling, and showing up as a founder, not just a marketer, is where the real connection and growth live.
Could you share and briefly explain the first major change you made to break the trend of traditional marketing that was not so common?
One of the first major shifts I made and the boldest at the time was deciding to double down on building my presence online, especially as a founder on TikTok. At the time, a lot of people in leadership roles saw platforms like TikTok as trivial, or not “serious” enough for showcasing your company from a founder’s point of view (as opposed to just a brand). I had a gut feeling that this was where attention lived and that attention was the new currency.
Instead of hiding behind a brand, I stepped out in front of it. I started talking about the journey of building Sizzle, my vision for the food tech space, and why I cared about what we were creating. No gimmicks, just real storytelling and consistent sharing. That pivot changed the trajectory of our growth. We hit over 7 million views, grew our app to over 150,000 downloads, and built a loyal base of users who feel personally connected to what we’re building, because they’ve seen it unfold in real-time.
It was a big departure from the traditional marketing playbook, but it taught me that betting on transparency and organic connection isn’t just bold, it’s the future.
What specific results did you see after implementing this change?
After making the shift to organic marketing and building my presence as the face of Sizzle, the results spoke for themselves, not just in numbers. We saw over 7 million views and 150,000 downloads, which was incredible. What stood out to me was the quality of that growth.
Our retention got stronger. People weren’t downloading the app and disappearing, they were sticking around, engaging, and becoming part of our community. Viewers weren’t just buying into a product, they were buying into a vision. Showing up consistently on TikTok and other platforms and sharing what we’re building and why we’re building it, we earned people’s trust.
They saw the heart behind Sizzle, that it was not just a recipe app, but an entire ecosystem meant to inspire, simplify, and elevate home cooking. That level of belief and emotional investment is hard to generate with traditional marketing alone. It’s what keeps our users coming back, not because of a clever campaign, but because they feel like they’re growing with us.
How do you ensure that these new marketing strategies resonate with your target audience?
It all comes down to building in public, not just as a strategy, but as a principle. I’ve never approached Sizzle as something to “market” in the traditional sense. I’m not trying to sell people a product; I’m sharing a story, a vision, and a purpose. And that meaning comes through most clearly when I show up as myself, the person behind the brand.
I use platforms like TikTok not to pitch, but to document. I talk about why I built Sizzle, the gaps I saw in the food retail, digital, and recipe space. The goal was to revolutionize how people cook, connect, and think about food. I’ve found that our message resonates on a deeper level.
People don’t just see a cooking app, they see a movement. They feel the urgency and value because they see the human being behind it, who’s obsessed with solving a real problem. That’s how I know we’re hitting the mark. When your audience sees themselves in your “why,” the resonance happens naturally.
Can you share an example of something you tried that didn’t deliver expected results or ended up becoming a financial burden, and what you learned from that experience?
One misstep that taught me something was how much time we initially spent overanalyzing our content strategy for organic growth. As part of our early marketing approach with Sizzle, we were hyper-focused on trying to perfect everything, thinking deeply about hooks, trends, editing styles, and posting times. We’d spend hours dissecting one piece of content, trying to predict its performance.
It became a financial and creative drain.
What we eventually realized that completely changed the game for us is that organic success doesn’t come from overthinking. It comes from trying. From speed. From volume. Once we shifted to a mindset of rapid experimentation, everything clicked. We empowered our internal creators (including myself) to post, try new angles, test new formats, and let the algorithm guide us.
Now, we push out nearly 150 pieces of content a day. And that’s what works. The magic of organic isn’t in strategy paralysis, it’s in doing, learning, and moving fast. That’s been one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned: with organic, momentum beats perfection every time.
Could you list “5 Innovative & Non-Traditional Marketing Strategies That Can Engage Audiences Like Never Before”?
1. Build in Public
There’s something powerful about showing the real-time process of building your brand- the highs, the lows, the “figuring it out” moments. I’ve built Sizzle in public from day one, and it’s given our community a sense of ownership in what we’re creating. When people see the why behind your brand, not just the what, they feel personally connected to the outcome.
2. Founder-Led Organic Content
Don’t hide behind the logo. People want to buy from people, not faceless brands. Putting myself out there on TikTok as the founder, sharing my story, my vision, and why Sizzle exists has helped us build trust and loyalty in a way no paid ad ever could.
3. Prioritize Volume Over Perfection in Content
One of the best shifts we made was moving away from obsessing over “perfect” content. In the world of organic social, the most important thing is to just post. Try everything. Move quickly. We push out nearly 150 pieces of content a day across creators and platforms — and that’s where we see real traction. It’s not about overthinking. It’s about staying present and active in the conversation.
4. Scale a Creator Program, Not an Ad Budget
Instead of pumping money into paid ads, we scaled a grassroots creator program. We now have over 100 creators posting daily for Sizzle, each sharing the product in their voice. This kind of community-driven distribution feels more authentic and performs better than anything overly produced.
5. Treat Social as a Two-Way Street, Not a Billboard
I don’t see social as a place to “announce” things anymore. I see it as a place to talk to listen, respond, and build community. Whether it’s responding to comments, incorporating user feedback into the product, or just sharing what’s going on behind the scenes, treating social as a conversation has been one of our biggest unlocks.
What challenges might companies face when transitioning away from traditional marketing strategies, and how can they overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges companies face when moving away from traditional marketing is letting go of control. Traditional strategies like paid ads offer predictable structures: budgets, forecasts, and neatly packaged campaigns. Organic, founder-led, or creator-driven strategies, on the other hand, are messier. They require trust, speed, and a willingness to experiment and fail in public.
For many companies, especially those used to high polish and tight control, that can feel risky. There’s often hesitation around putting individuals, especially founders, front and center. It can feel vulnerable or even off-brand.
The way to overcome that? Start small, but start real. Begin by sharing the story behind the brand. Bring your team and audience into the journey. Instead of asking, “What’s our content calendar?” ask, “What are we learning right now that’s worth sharing?”
And most importantly, detach from the idea of every post needing to go viral or look perfect. Momentum builds from consistency, not perfection. It’s a muscle, and with any muscle, it gets stronger the more you use it.
How do you measure the success and ROI of these new marketing strategies?
Measuring the success and ROI of non-traditional marketing strategies looks different than running a paid ad campaign, but it’s as data-driven. For me, it’s about tying every creative effort back to real impact: are we converting? Are people sticking around? Are we growing sustainably?
When we leaned into organic growth with Sizzle, we kept a close eye on our conversion rates from social. If a video hit, we looked at how many downloads it drove, and more importantly, whether those users came back. Retention became one of our most important KPIs — because getting someone to download an app is one thing, but keeping them engaged. That’s where the real value is.
We tracked our burn closely. We weren’t pouring money into paid ads, we could reinvest those resources into content creation and creator partnerships, and that gave us a leaner, more efficient growth engine. ROI isn’t about how much we grow, but how sustainably we grow. These newer, organic strategies have made that possible.
Looking forward, how do you see the role of innovative marketing evolving in the next 5–10 years?
Looking ahead, I think the future of marketing will be deeply rooted in authenticity, decentralization, and community. Over the next 5 to 10 years, I see innovative marketing shifting even further away from traditional brand-to-consumer messaging and becoming more peer-driven, where creators, micro-communities, and even customers themselves become the primary distributors of brand stories.
Founders and teams who build in public, show up consistently, and cultivate trust through transparency will have a major advantage. It won’t just be about “what” you market — it’ll be about who is telling your story, why they believe in it, and how you empower your audience to become part of the narrative. I see the most exciting growth happening in that kind of participatory, human-first approach.
What advice would you give to business leaders who are hesitant to move away from traditional marketing methods?
My advice? Don’t let hesitation keep you from opportunity. Moving away from traditional marketing can feel uncomfortable, it’s structured, it’s measurable, it’s what you know. But the reality is, the way people connect with brands has changed. And if you’re still relying solely on ads and polished campaigns, you’re missing out on the human side of marketing — the side that builds real loyalty.
What worked five years ago doesn’t always work today. People crave transparency. They want to see the people behind the products. They want to feel something. And that’s not going to come from a banner ad.
Start small. Post a behind-the-scenes clip. Tell your story. Share the “why” behind your product. You don’t need to go viral to build momentum; you need to show up consistently, with intention. Once you start seeing the response, the hesitation fades. It’s not about abandoning traditional methods altogether; it’s about evolving with your audience and meeting them where they are.
Can you share any upcoming initiatives or plans you have for further innovating your marketing strategies?
We’re leaning into expanding our distribution even further, both in terms of scale and strategy. One of our biggest priorities right now is tapping deeper into our growing creator network. We’ve seen how powerful it is when 100+ creators post daily for Sizzle, and the plan is to keep scaling that, not just in numbers, but in quality and engagement.
We’re building out more community-driven initiatives, not just to spotlight our platform, but to celebrate and support the creators who power it. That includes hosting interactive events, co-creating content with top contributors and brands, and building programs that let creators grow their brands within the Sizzle ecosystem.
The goal is to make marketing feel less like a megaphone and more like a movement, one where users, creators, and the brand all have a voice. That’s where we’re headed. Because when people feel like they’re part of the journey, they don’t just amplify it they will own it.
How can our readers follow your work and learn more about your approaches to modern marketing?
If you’re curious to follow along or dive deeper into how I approach modern marketing, I’m building in public every day on TikTok. I share everything from B2C growth strategies to startup lessons, app-building tips, and community-led marketing experiments, all in real time.
Whether you’re just starting or leading a team, I’m always happy to connect, share what’s working (and what’s not), and learn from others doing the same.
LI, Twitter/X, Tiktok, Youtube?
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adaffyxo?_t=ZT-8vMux6FxUVO&_r=1
Twitter/X: https://x.com/alexa_onsizzle?s=21&t=GgqsdZuLsaMDOgFCb1DxBQ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexa-dafonte/
This was great. Thank you so much for the time you spent sharing with us.
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein is a seasoned entrepreneur with 25+ years of experience as a Founder and CEO. While attending Ohio State University, he launched his first company, Choice Recovery, Inc., a nationally recognized healthcare collection agency — twice ranked the #1 workplace in Ohio. In 2013, he founded [re]start, helping thousands of people find meaningful career opportunities. After selling both companies, Chad shifted his focus to his true passion — leadership. Today, he coaches founders and CEOs at Built to Lead, advises Authority Magazine’s Thought Leader Incubator.
Breaking the Marketing Mold: Alexa DaFonte of Sizzle On 5 Innovative & Non Traditional Marketing… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.