Fractional CMO and Marketing Strategy in Austin, TX

Your CPA manages your books.
Your attorney manages your risk.
We manage your growth.

Fractional CMO and marketing strategy for businesses preparing to scale or exit in the Austin, TX area.

Schedule a Consultation How It Works

Why Signal Growth Advisory

Why growing businesses need a fractional CMO.

Your business has an attorney who protects it. A CPA who keeps the books clean. A financial advisor who manages the money.

But who owns your marketing strategy?

For most businesses between $3M and $50M, the answer is nobody. The founder handles it between everything else. An agency runs campaigns without direction. A coordinator executes without a plan.

The result: money goes out, reports come in, and nobody can say whether marketing is driving revenue.

The spend-without-strategy problem

Agencies and tools consume budget, but nobody is accountable for whether the spend generates pipeline. Marketing stays a cost center instead of becoming a growth engine.

The missed-compounding problem

Tactics produce short-term results. Infrastructure compounds. A system gets stronger every quarter. Without someone building that system, you start over every year.

The valuation problem

Buyers and investors evaluate marketing infrastructure during due diligence. A business that depends on the founder's relationships for revenue is worth less than one with a repeatable growth engine.

Dustin Crawford, Founder of Signal Growth Advisory

About

Built on years of marketing leadership at scale.

I've spent seven years in marketing leadership at PE-backed software companies, most recently as Director of Marketing at EZLynx (Applied Systems). I lead brand, demand generation, partner marketing, and customer marketing for a platform serving thousands of independent insurance agencies across North America.

Before EZLynx, I led marketing at EverCommerce across three vertical SaaS brands: Service Fusion, Profit Rhino, and Briostack. I built demand engines, rebuilt positioning, and consistently hit pipeline and revenue targets in industries where sales cycles are long and buyers are not spending time on social media.

The pattern I kept seeing: growing businesses with an attorney, a CPA, a financial advisor, and nobody owning marketing strategy. A coordinator updating the website. An agency running campaigns without direction. A founder making marketing decisions between everything else on their plate.

Signal Growth Advisory exists to fill that seat.

I work alongside the attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors who already serve your business. If one of them sent you here, they recognized the gap.

7+
Years Marketing Leadership
$100M+
Revenue Influenced
35,000+
SMBs on Platforms I've Marketed

How It Works

How fractional CMO engagements work.

1
Conversation
30 minutes, no cost. We discuss where your marketing stands.
2
Assessment
3-week diagnostic of your team, vendors, data, and results.
3
Roadmap
Written report and 90-day plan, presented to your leadership team.
4
Decision
You choose whether to engage further. The roadmap is yours either way.

Every engagement starts here

Marketing Infrastructure Assessment

In three weeks, we audit your entire marketing operation: your team, your vendors, your data, your spend, and your results. You receive a written diagnostic and a 90-day strategic roadmap, delivered in a 90-minute presentation to your leadership team.

The assessment is a standalone professional service. The deliverable is yours whether or not we continue working together. But it will reveal gaps you cannot unsee.

$5,000 One-time investment
3 Weeks From kickoff to delivery
Full Diagnostic Written report + roadmap + presentation

The assessment reveals what your business needs. From there, three engagement models.

Strategic Advisory

For businesses with marketing staff who need strategic direction.

  • Monthly strategy sessions
  • Async strategic counsel
  • Marketing budget and vendor accountability
  • Quarterly business reviews

We tell you what to do and why.

Fractional CMO

For businesses that need active marketing leadership and execution oversight.

  • Bi-weekly working sessions
  • Direct team and vendor oversight
  • Pipeline and revenue reporting
  • Go-to-market planning

We run your marketing function.

Embedded CMO

For pre-exit businesses or companies in critical growth phases.

  • Weekly executive team integration
  • Marketing infrastructure buildout
  • Due diligence preparation
  • Deep vendor management

We join your leadership team.

Who We Serve

Who hires a fractional CMO.

This is for you if

You've outgrown founder-led marketing.

You started the business, you built the client base, and you've been handling marketing yourself. It worked at $1M. It doesn't work at $5M.

You're preparing to scale or exit.

Whether that's 18 months away or five years, marketing infrastructure built now compounds into valuation later.

Your advisor recommended us.

Many of our clients come through the attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors they already trust. If that's how you found us, you're in the right place.

You're spending but can't tell if it's working.

Agencies send reports. We send answers.

This is not for you if

You want someone to run your social media.

We provide strategic leadership, not execution of individual tactics.

You're looking for the cheapest option.

Senior marketing leadership is an investment. If price is the primary filter, a freelancer or small agency is a better fit.

You need results by next week.

Infrastructure compounds over quarters, not days. If you need leads tomorrow, you need paid ads, not a CMO.

Common Questions

Fractional CMO frequently asked questions.

A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who works with your business on a part-time, ongoing basis. You get the strategic leadership of a Chief Marketing Officer without the $250K+ salary, benefits, and equity of a full-time hire. Most engagements run 10-30 hours per month depending on your needs.

An agency executes campaigns. A fractional CMO sets the strategy, holds the agency accountable, and ties marketing activity to revenue outcomes. Most businesses that hire an agency without marketing leadership end up spending money without knowing whether it's working. We fix that.

You receive a written diagnostic report and a 90-day strategic roadmap, presented in a 90-minute session with your leadership team. From there, you decide whether to engage further. Many clients choose to continue with a retainer engagement, but the assessment and roadmap are yours to execute independently if you prefer.

During the assessment, expect 2-3 hours of your time for interviews and access to your marketing data. In an ongoing engagement, most business owners spend 1-2 hours per month in strategy sessions. The point is to take marketing off your plate, not add to it.

No. We work with your existing team and vendors. In many cases, we help you get more value from the agency and staff you already have by providing the strategic direction they've been missing. If changes are needed, we'll tell you, but the goal is to lead what's already in place.

Schedule a fractional CMO consultation.

A 30-minute conversation about where your marketing stands and what senior leadership would change. No pitch deck. No pressure. Just a clear-eyed look at the gap between where you are and where your business could be.

Schedule a Consultation
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