Fractional CMO for Austin companies that need a senior marketing leader, not another vendor.
A fractional CMO gives an Austin company a senior marketing leader for part of the week: someone who sets the plan, owns the pipeline number, and directs the agencies, freelancers and in-house people already on payroll.
We work with growth-stage and mid-market companies around Austin and Central Texas, including tech firms, consumer brands, professional services and contractors. The leader sits in your leadership meeting, reports to the CEO or owner, and makes the calls a full-time CMO would make, at a fraction of the cost and without a long search. We are based in Liberty Hill and meet in person across the metro.
Questions this page answers
- Fractional cmo austin
- How much does a fractional cmo cost in austin
- Fractional cmo vs marketing agency
- When should a company hire a fractional cmo
- Fractional coo or fractional cmo
- Part time marketing director near me
- Does a fractional cmo manage my agencies
Step 1 of 2
How can we help you get found?
Next: name, email and budget. That’s it.
How Austin buyers find and choose.
Austin owners and CEOs usually start looking for a fractional CMO after a specific pain: an agency report nobody trusts, a marketing hire who left, a funding round with a growth target attached, or a sales team asking where the leads went. They search, ask their board or peer group, then compare two or three people on judgment and fit. The deciding question is almost always the same: will this person own a number, or produce slides about one?
The Austin market has a deep bench of marketing talent, but full-time CMOs are expensive and hard to keep when larger tech employers are hiring. Many companies here sit in the gap: too big for the founder to run marketing, too early or too lean for a full executive. Tech and SaaS firms need pipeline and positioning. Consumer brands need channel mix and retail or Amazon sense. Contractors and service firms along the I-35 and SH 130 corridors need lead flow and follow-up discipline.
Our fractional CMOs work a set number of days per week, usually one to three, with a standing slot in your leadership meeting. We audit what exists, write a plan tied to revenue, and then run it: budgets, agency direction, hiring, reporting. Because Theory Road also runs its own brands and full delivery teams, the plan comes with people who can execute it. Clients around Austin get in-person strategy sessions at their office, ours in Liberty Hill, or somewhere in between.
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Where you show up
Austin fractional cmo, scoped to leads.
Own the marketing number
We agree on the metric that matters, usually qualified pipeline, booked jobs or revenue, and the fractional CMO is accountable for it in every leadership meeting.
Plan and budget
A written plan with channel mix, spend by month, hiring needs and targets, built from your actual sales data and margins rather than industry averages.
Direct agencies and vendors
We manage your existing agencies and freelancers, set their briefs, review their work and reporting, and replace the ones that are not pulling their weight.
Lead the in-house team
Weekly one-on-ones, clear roles, and coaching for your marketing coordinator or manager, plus help writing job descriptions and interviewing when it is time to hire.
Reporting the board trusts
One dashboard that connects spend to leads to closed revenue through your CRM, so the CEO, owners or investors see the same numbers marketing sees.
Positioning and messaging
Clear positioning against the competitors your buyers actually compare you to, then messaging the sales team, website and ads all use consistently.
What we know about the Austin market.
Competing with big tech for talent
Large employers across Austin pay senior marketing salaries many growth-stage firms cannot match. A fractional model gives those firms executive judgment now, while they build the team underneath it.
Growth corridors reshape demand
Rapid residential and commercial growth along I-35, SH 130, US 183 and SH 29 means service companies keep adding territory. Marketing plans have to follow where new households and businesses are landing.
Event-driven calendars
SXSW in March, ACL Festival in October, Formula 1 weekend at Circuit of the Americas and UT football season all shift attention, ad costs and hospitality demand. Good plans schedule around them.
Founder-led buyers
Many Austin companies are still run by founders who were their own first marketer. They want a peer who will argue with them in the room, not a vendor who agrees and sends a monthly report.
Meetings in person across the Austin metro and Central Texas, and by video for companies anywhere in the United States.
From first call to running it.
Diagnostic.
Two to three weeks reviewing your sales data, CRM, ad accounts, website, agencies and team. We interview leadership and sales, then report what is working, what is wasted and what is missing.
Plan.
A written 90-day and 12-month plan with targets, budget, channel mix and roles. Leadership signs off on the number marketing will own before any spend changes.
Run.
The fractional CMO works set days each week, leads marketing meetings, directs agencies and staff, and joins your leadership meeting in person or by video with a short weekly readout.
Build the bench.
As results stabilize we hire or train the people who will run marketing day to day, document the system, and step back to fewer days or hand off to a full-time leader.
Local businesses we know well.
- SaaS companiesMarketing agency and product studio for B2B and vertical SaaS companies: trial-to-paid flows, pricing configurators, referral attribution and billing systems.
- Product brandsMarketing agency and e-commerce builder for product brands: headless Shopify storefronts, Amazon Brand Registry and listings, Klaviyo, ads tracked to orders.
- Home buildersMarketing agency and website studio for custom and luxury home builders: photo-first galleries, community launch campaigns, and Buildertrend CRM wiring.
- Roofing companiesMarketing agency and website builder for roofing companies: speed-to-lead dialer, instant roof estimates, Google Ads, LSA and sync into JobNimbus or AccuLynx.
- Law firmsMarketing agency and web builder for law firms and case-connection services: primary-source content, compliant ads, flat-fee leads, Clio and Filevine intake.
- Financial advisors and wealth managersA financial advisor marketing agency for RIAs and wealth managers: niche positioning, compliant websites, seminar funnels and CRM wiring built for AUM growth.
Reading for Austin businesses.
- Explainer · Takeaway
A fractional CMO is part-time senior marketing leadership: strategy, positioning, channel priorities, and team direction, not hands-on campaign execution.
Explainer · 11 min read
Fractional CMO: What It Is and When to Hire One.
Senior marketing leadership on a part-time clock, what it actually buys you, and when it doesn't.
Read - Agency Guide · Takeaway
Fractional CMO cost is driven less by the title than by three variables: how many days a week you buy, how large a team or vendor bench they must direct, and whether they also execute the work.
Agency Guide · 10 min read
How Much Does a Fractional CMO Cost? Models, Scope and Ranges.
Fractional CMO pricing looks random until you see what is actually being bought: time, seniority, and whether the person also does the work. Here is how the models are structured, what moves the price, and how to scope one.
Read - Agency Guide · Takeaway
A fractional COO owns how the company delivers: processes, people, systems and margins, while a fractional CMO owns how the company grows: demand, pipeline, brand and marketing spend.
Agency Guide · 10 min read
Fractional COO vs Fractional CMO: Which One Does Your Company Need?.
A fractional COO fixes how the company delivers. A fractional CMO fixes how the company grows. Hiring the wrong one first wastes a quarter. Here is how to tell which bottleneck you actually have, and how the two roles fit together.
Read
Hiring for fractional cmo in Austin.
- How much does a fractional CMO cost in Austin?
- It depends on days per week and scope. Most engagements are a monthly retainer for a set number of days, which costs far less than a full-time executive salary plus benefits and equity. Ad spend and agency fees are separate. We quote after a short diagnostic call so the scope matches what your company actually needs.
- Fractional CMO vs marketing agency: what is the difference?
- An agency executes a defined set of services, such as ads or SEO. A fractional CMO sits on your side of the table: sets strategy, owns the number, and manages agencies and staff, including other agencies if you keep them. Theory Road can do both, but the fractional role is accountable to leadership, not to a service line.
- How many days a week does a fractional CMO work?
- Usually one to three days per week, set at the start and adjusted as needs change. Early months are heavier while we diagnose and rebuild. Once the system runs and your team is in place, many companies step down to fewer days or transition to a full-time hire we help recruit.
- Do you meet in person?
- Yes. Our office is in Liberty Hill on State Highway 29, and we meet clients in person across the Austin metro, including Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, downtown and South Austin. Many clients have us in their leadership meeting in person on a regular cadence and on video the rest of the time.
- Should we hire a fractional COO or a fractional CMO?
- If the problem is not enough demand or the wrong demand, start with a fractional CMO. If leads are coming in but delivery, scheduling, hiring or cash flow are breaking, a fractional COO fits better. Some companies need both in sequence. We will tell you which one the numbers point to.
- Will a fractional CMO work with our existing agencies?
- Yes, that is a core part of the job. We set clear briefs and targets for each agency, review their reporting against your CRM data, and hold them to it. If an agency is not performing we say so plainly and help you replace it, whether with Theory Road or another firm.
Let’s meet in Austin.
A short note on where the business is and where it needs to go. A senior partner replies within one business day.