Columbus Fractional CMO
Senior marketing leadership for growing Columbus companies that need a strategy and a system, not another hire. I'm Zach Strauss, a fractional CMO and go-to-market architect with three exits and four Inc. 5000 companies behind me.
- Three exits and four Inc. 5000 companies as an operator
- I own the outcome: strategy, system, team, and pipeline
- Columbus based, in the room with your team
Let's talk. I'll audit your marketing before we even meet.
I love proving I know my stuff. Before the call, I'll run my own outside audit of your marketing and show up with specific findings, recommendations, and a clear look at how I operate. No obligation, whether you hire me or not.
No cost. No pitch. No obligation.
An operator, not just an advisor.
I started in Fortune 500 enterprise sales, carrying a quota and learning that revenue is built on human decisions, not dashboards. Then I built, scaled, and exited companies of my own. Three exits, one to private equity and two strategic, and four Inc. 5000 honors.
That means I have sat where you sit. I know what a board expects, what a sales team needs, and what marketing has to produce to matter. I lead from the revenue number backward.
I am also local. I live and work in Columbus, so I can be in the room with your team, not just on a call.
Signs you need a fractional CMO
Marketing spend keeps rising but pipeline does not move with it.
You have a few marketers or agencies, but no one owning the strategy.
Sales and marketing point fingers instead of sharing a number.
You are about to raise, scale, or sell, and the story is not tight.
A full-time CMO feels too expensive or too risky for where you are.
You are the founder still acting as the de facto head of marketing.
What you get
One leader, accountable for the whole function. The scope flexes to where you need the most leverage.
Strategy and positioning
A clear point of view on who you serve, why you win, and the message that makes buyers move.
Go-to-market architecture
The full revenue engine designed as a system, from demand to pipeline to close, built to compound.
Demand and pipeline
Channels and campaigns that produce qualified pipeline, measured against revenue, not vanity metrics.
Team and agency leadership
I lead your marketers and vendors, hire where there are gaps, and hold everyone to one plan.
Marketing operations
The CRM, attribution, and reporting that turn marketing from a cost center into a forecast.
Sales alignment
One funnel, one definition of a lead, and a handoff that sales actually trusts.
Fractional CMO FAQ
How is this different from an agency or a consultant?+
An agency executes campaigns. A consultant delivers a report. A fractional CMO owns the marketing function. I set the strategy, build the go-to-market system, lead and hire the team, and stay accountable for pipeline and revenue, not just deliverables.
What size company should hire a fractional CMO?+
It is less about size and more about need. A fractional CMO fits when you have outgrown founder-led marketing and need senior strategy and leadership, but a full-time CMO is premature, too expensive, or hard to attract. If marketing has become too important to leave unowned, yet too early for a permanent executive, you are in the right window.
What happens on the free working session?+
We spend thirty minutes pressure-testing your marketing and go-to-market. You walk away with a full marketing audit and a prioritized 90-day plan focused on the few moves that change your pipeline fastest. There is no obligation to work together.
See where your marketing is leaking revenue.
30-minute working session. You leave with a full audit and a 90-day plan, whether we work together or not.
Let's talk. I'll audit your marketing before we even meet.
I love proving I know my stuff. Before the call, I'll run my own outside audit of your marketing and show up with specific findings, recommendations, and a clear look at how I operate. No obligation, whether you hire me or not.
No cost. No pitch. No obligation.