Fractional CMO for accounting and advisory firms

Strategy without a marketing system is like ideas without execution.

Firms rarely stall for lack of ideas. They stall when nobody owns execution: there's no senior marketing leader, the last one left, or the system can't keep up. I step in as that owner: I sharpen the strategy where it needs it, build the system, and run it until it produces. Then I hand it to your team.

Book a 30-minute call What the assessment includes

THE PROBLEM

The Stalled Strategy Folder

Every firm I walk into has one of these. A collection of marketing articles. Strategic goals and new services to launch. The new brand identity from a few years back. The go-to-market plan from the last offsite. A positioning deck the agency delivered. Action items from the last partner retreat.

All of it reasonable and well thought out.

All of it in a shared drive nobody has opened since.

Most firms in this position don't have a marketing strategy problem. They have an ownership problem. A coordinator handles what he or she can. Different vendors manage design, copywriting, the website and SEO, each working from their own brief. Partners network on their own, independently, with no shared story. The strategy someone paid for eighteen months ago never had anyone accountable for running it, so it didn't survive busy season or a spike in client demands.

In the last few years, the problem has gotten worse...

AI makes it extremely fast to generate ideas. But without a system and a leadership team aligned on what matters, every new idea is more work for the same people. This creates resource-draining chaos and ad hoc projects.

Result: more ideas, less execution.

If your strategy is sound, it doesn’t need another rewrite. It needs an owner.

I'm Justin Robinette. I've spent 15+ years leading marketing inside accounting and advisory firms, and every engagement I run follows one framework:

Build

I build the marketing function with you and your leadership team.
Drive

I create the systems. I run what we built until it produces growth you can measure.
Transfer

I hand it to your team, or to a marketer we hire and develop. You own the playbook.

More about me

What the system learns feeds back in

Customer

Understand the market.

Client & Stakeholder Interviews
Competitive Set
Pipeline & CRM Data
Buyer Journey
Market Research

Marketing Strategy

Decide where to play and how to win.

Positioning & Messaging
ICP & Segmentation
Go-to-Market Strategy
Service & Pricing Alignment
Demand Generation

Operations

Build the system that runs it.

Content Engine
CRM & Automation
Project Management
Sales Enablement
KPI Reporting

sprchrgr-marketing-function-case-study-home-thumbnail-480x360

Supercharging the Marketing Function with Strategy, Positioning, and AI

600%+ growth in website traffic and an ICP-aligned brand positioning still in use today — what one marketing hire built alone inside a tech-forward advisory firm, and the systems set up to modernize the marketing function.

Read case study

eisneramper-healthcare-marketing-case-study-home-thumbnail-480x360

Brand equity transfer playbook for a top-20 firm's M&A entry into a new Midwest market

PR across national outlets, a healthcare industry collaborative marketing model still live years later, and an M&A brand equity retention playbook — how marketing integration worked inside a $1B roll-up's biggest Midwest deal.

Read case study

lurie-llp-accounting-firm-marketing-case-study-home-thumbnail-480x360

Building Market Visibility Into a Firm's Growth Story and Driving in the Left Lane

For the fiscal year prior to the merger, Lurie grew 20% to $41.5 million. The previous fiscal year, revenue jumped by 15%. Head count grew from 160 employees in 2020 to more than 200 two years later. A collaborative growth function that aligned executives, partners, emerging leaders and marketing.

Read case study

Six signals:

You've invested in strategy or branding before, and it never fully translated into pipeline
Every significant new client still traces back to a founder's or partner's personal network
Marketing is producing content but not contributing to revenue
You're growing through M&A and the brands aren't aligning
You're preparing for a PE transaction or capital raise and the marketing operation needs to sharpen — or transfer cleanly
You've outgrown your agency but aren't ready to hire a full marketing team

"Since launching the refreshed brand, our network has taken notice — sales conversations are easier, and inbound referrals from our evangelists have increased. I would recommend [Justin] without hesitation to any organization seeking a senior marketing leader who builds with clarity, works effectively at the C-level, and executes complex initiatives with a lean, efficient mindset."

Mark Wald

CEO | SPRCHRGR

Why not hire a full-time CMO?

A full-time CMO runs $275,000+ all-in, and you're asking a highly compensated professional to handle strategy and execution. You need the strategy, the system, and the marketing leadership to build it — not the headcount. When you eventually do need the headcount, I'll help you recruit for it and hand off a function that's ready to run.

Why not just use an agency?

Agencies are great in a lot of ways: a deep bench of talent, specialists on their team or a network you can tap into. But agencies typically don't execute inside a system; they don't build one, and they don't lead. They need someone to hand them strategy, judge their output, and connect their activity to pipeline. When nobody inside the firm can do that, you get deliverables instead of growth. I build the system the agency plugs into — and I've managed enough retainers to make yours accountable.

What makes you different from other fractional CMOs?

Most fractional CMOs deliver a strategy and leave execution to you. I set the strategy and build the system that runs it. I have fifteen-plus years exclusively in accounting, advisory, and financial services, so I'm not learning your business on your retainer. And the engagement ends with a handoff, not a dependency.

Every engagement starts with a paid assessment

Start here

After a free 30-minute call, I spend three weeks finding what's holding your marketing back. You get a written diagnosis and a 90-day plan you can act on with or without me.

See the full scope and what follows

$5,000 Three weeks, fixed scope

Up to six stakeholder interviews
A review of your website, CRM, pipeline data, brand and competitors
A written assessment and 90-day roadmap, presented to your leadership team
A straight answer if you don't need a fractional CMO yet

Move forward within 30 days of the presentation and half the fee credits toward your first month.

RobinetteCMO at a glance

Ideal fit: Accounting and advisory firms between $15M–$40M in annual revenue.
Client goals: Staying independent and need a fractional CMO-level leader to build sustainable growth marketing operations.

Preparing for a transaction and need documented, due diligence-ready marketing systems.

Integrating after a M&A deal, with a stretched marketing team that has to catch up, or that can use my integration experience.
Engagement types: Fractional CMO retainer and project-based marketing services.
Based in: Minneapolis, MN · Available nationally
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/justinrobinette (opens in a new tab)

Fractional CMO for accounting and advisory firms

The Stalled Strategy Folder

Before AI

After AI

Own your growth the way you own your firm

Build

Drive

Transfer

The firms that grow sustainably aren't the ones that market the loudest — they're the ones that build a clear, differentiated message and align focused marketing execution systems.