Fractional CMO in Houston

What is a fractional CMO?

A fractional CMO is a part-time head of marketing. They own the plan, the budget, and the numbers, manage the agencies and vendors you already pay, and report what marketing put into the pipeline, for a monthly fee instead of a full-time salary. We're the fractional CMO Houston companies can meet in person, and we work by video anywhere in the US.

How much does a fractional CMO cost in Houston?

Ours starts at $2,500 a month for about 10 hours, including the monthly numbers meeting, month to month. Executive-as-a-service firms such as Chief Outsiders publish retainers from $1,500 to over $30,000 a month, their published range, checked November 2026. The price moves with hours, locations, and how many vendors need managing.

How It Works and What to Expect

Joe acts as your head of marketing for about 10 hours a month. You get a written 90-day plan, a budget split by channel, and vendors held to clear goals. Once a month, we show you what came in, what it cost, and what changes next.

1. 01

   Free Consultation

   Thirty minutes by phone or video. We look at what you spend now and where your customers come from, and name the first gap worth fixing.

2. 02

   The 90-Day Plan

   In the first month we set up tracking, meet your vendors, and write the plan and the budget split. You approve it before anything changes.

3. 03

   Every Month After

   Vendors work to the plan, spend moves toward what brings in customers, and we meet once a month to go over the numbers.

Who This Applies To

• Growing companies spending real money on marketing with no marketing leader in charge
• Owners or salespeople doing the marketing by default, on top of their actual jobs
• Companies paying several vendors and unable to tell which one is working
• B2B, industrial, and professional firms with a sales team that needs better leads
• Companies ready to spend more on marketing that want a written plan first
• Businesses not yet ready to hire a full-time marketing director

What's Covered

• A written 90-day marketing plan: what to fix first, what to stop, and what each piece costs
• A monthly budget split by channel, moved toward what brings in customers
• Management of the agencies and vendors you already pay, against clear written goals
• A review of any new marketing pitch or contract before you sign it
• Call tracking and form tags, so every lead arrives with a source
• Lead source fields set up in your CRM, so each deal traces back to the marketing that started it
• Handoff rules with sales: what counts as a good lead and how fast it gets a call
• One monthly numbers meeting: what came in, what it cost, and what changes next

Don't see your situation listed? Ask us in a free consultation.

What You Can Expect

• Big-Company Discipline

  The planning, budgeting, and reporting habits of a large marketing department, sized for a company like yours. Your numbers drive the plan, not a template.

• One Owner for the Numbers

  One person answers for what marketing spends and what it returns. You stop chasing five vendors for five different reports.

• Spend Moves to What Works

  Each month, budget shifts toward the channels that bring in customers. Anything that doesn't pay its way gets fixed or cut.

• Straight Answers on New Pitches

  Before you sign with a new agency or tool, we read the proposal and tell you plainly whether it fits the plan.

• Sales and Marketing Aligned

  Sales helps define a good lead, and marketing is judged by the deals it starts. Both teams work from the same numbers.

• Nothing Locked to Us

  Every account, report, and login is set up in your name. The plan and the data are yours whether we work together for three months or three years.

How It Compares

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What It Costs

From $2,500 a month

$2,500 a month covers about 10 hours: the plan, the budget, vendor management, tracking, and the monthly meeting for one business. More locations, more vendors to manage, or hands-on work such as running your ads moves the price, and any change is quoted in writing first. No surprise invoices. It's month to month, with no long contract. Ad spend, software, and vendor fees are billed to you directly, with no markup.

Common Questions

How is a fractional CMO different from an agency?

An agency runs campaigns in its own channels and reports its own metrics. A fractional CMO owns the plan and the numbers across every vendor, agencies included. When we also run a piece of the work, such as demand generation, it's priced separately and judged the same way as any other vendor: by what it brings in.

Do you do the marketing work too?

The plan comes first. Some pieces stay with the vendors you already have. Others we can run, such as demand generation, CRM automation, or your Google listing, each priced on its own. You always see who does what, what each piece costs, and whether it's paying its way.

How do you know what's working?

Tracking goes in during the first month: call tracking, form tags, and a source on every lead in your CRM. The monthly meeting puts cost next to customers for each channel, so decisions rest on numbers instead of opinions. Any tracking software is billed to you directly at cost.

Will you meet with my team in person?

Yes, across Greater Houston. Companies elsewhere in the US meet by video. A typical month has one planning conversation with leadership, one numbers meeting, and short check-ins with your vendors by email or phone. If your sales team needs a seat at the table, they get one.

Can I stop any time?

Yes. It's month to month, with no long contract. Because every account, report, and login lives in your name from the first week, stopping doesn't cost you the tracking, the history, or the plan. The next person you hire can pick up exactly where we left off.

How much does a fractional CMO cost?

From $2,500 a month for about 10 hours, month to month. That covers the plan, the budget, vendor management, tracking, and the monthly numbers meeting. More locations or more vendors raise it, and you get the number in writing before work begins. No surprise invoices. Ad spend stays billed to you directly.

Related Services

• B2B Demand GenerationPaid search, LinkedIn, landing pages, and lead routing, run as one pipeline program.From $2,000 a month, plus ad spend
• AI Sales and Marketing AutomationLead research, scoring, routing, and follow-up built into your CRM, with AI doing the busywork.$3,000 to $7,500 per project
• CRM Setup and ImplementationSalesforce, HubSpot, or the CRM you already pay for, set up so every lead has an owner and a source.From $1,500
• Fractional RevOpsA part-time revenue operations lead: CRM, routing, reporting, and forecasting.From $2,000 a month

See every service and starting price