Engaging Mortgage Lenders with Creative Marketing Content | Alayne Gardner from Lodestar Software Solutions

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments with relevant micro experiences, like case studies, intro videos, and much more. Stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us out at pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Alayne from Lodestar Software Solutions, director of revenue with them. How are you doing today, Alayne?

Alayne Gardner: I’m doing well. How are you?

Ernesto: I’m doing great. Great to have you on today’s show. And I’m sure our listeners tuned in, heard Lodestar Software Solutions, and are wondering what that’s all about. So let’s kick it off with that, Alayne. In your own words, can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Alayne: Yeah, so we are a niche business-to-business solution. We support closing costs for all 50 states in the mortgage disclosure process. If you’re not familiar with housing and all of that, we fill out two sections on a form—and that’s really all we do. If you ask me to explain what I do poorly, I like to say we have a calculator, and I sell it. But it’s honestly very data-driven, and it’s something lenders need to get right because there are a lot of federal regulations around it, making sure the data is accurate for consumers. So that’s what we do.

Ernesto: That’s super interesting, especially since it could always be a hassle for clients. For our listeners tuning in, Alayne, what would you say, to sum it up, is the key problem you solve for clients?

Alayne: We allow them to accurately disclose on their loan estimate forms without the risk of a tolerance cure, turning a manual process into an almost completely automated one. It’s a huge time-saver, and honestly, it’s fun. As a company, we’re really fun to follow online. If you’re into mortgage stuff, we do memes, comic strips, podcasts—you name it. We love creating content because talking about closing costs all the time would be quite boring.

Ernesto: That’s something else. Is it fair to say you only focus on specific clients? Who would your clients be? Is there a vertical segment you like to focus on?

Alayne: We specifically sell to mortgage lenders—mortgage ops professionals, to be exact. It’s a unique job title, and one of the fun challenges I’ve faced as a marketer is creating tools and strategies for such a niche audience in a small industry.

Ernesto: Definitely. How does a mortgage company in this space find you? What would you say is your top client acquisition channel?

Alayne: Our top client acquisition channel is our website. On almost every page, we have a “Book a Demo” button that allows lenders to watch a product demo video. We provide clarity on every integration—about 10 into various loan origination systems. They can also book a demo with a salesperson for a deeper conversation. Over 60% of our leads come through our website or referral sources like that.

Ernesto: That’s a high conversion rate—awesome to hear. Are there any tools or methods you’d recommend for lead generation?

Alayne: For us, it’s been about creating a brand people want to interact with. Our solution is dry—it’s heavily regulated, and there’s no way around that. So, we’ve had to get creative. We do mortgage memes, video podcasts, and even a syndicated comic strip. All of this drives traffic back to our website. Once we get people there, the chances of them booking a demo increase dramatically. Making it easy for clients to reach you—removing any hurdles—has been key for us.

Ernesto: Great advice for our listeners. Let’s switch gears here, Alayne, and talk about you as a leader. You’re the director of revenue there at Lodestar. What are some key tasks you focus on in your day-to-day work?

Alayne: I lead both the sales and marketing teams and work on partnerships—collaborative branding and co-marketing with integration partners. I also handle high-level vision tasks and budget management. As a small company with about 16 people, I do everything from booking my team’s flights to managing our marketing budget and ensuring every dollar spent drives conversions.

Ernesto: That’s the toughest part, right? Ensuring those dollars lead to conversions. Glad you’re handling it well. Let’s move into our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready?

Alayne: Let’s go!

Ernesto: Awesome. First off, what’s the last book you read?

Alayne: The Anxious Achiever. It’s been helpful for understanding how to leverage my anxiety in a positive way.

Ernesto: Great recommendation. What’s one thing your company is focused on the most right now?

Alayne: We’re launching a secret project. It’s involved new marketing automation tools and regulations we’ve never dealt with before. Lots of learning and developing—exciting things to come.

Ernesto: If there were no boundaries in technology, what’s one thing you’d want fixed as a marketer?

Alayne: I’d love to get rid of paid article placements. They often feel sneaky when you realize they’re sponsored content. Organic content should be king.

Ernesto: Fair point. What’s one repetitive task you’d automate?

Alayne: Sorting emails. I wish there were a tool that could highlight tasks within emails and tell me which require a response versus those that are just FYIs.

Ernesto: Lastly, what’s one piece of advice you’d give yourself if you were starting your marketing journey today?

Alayne: Don’t be afraid to be authentic. It took me a while to get there, but authenticity has been key to my success.

Ernesto: Great advice. Alayne, thanks so much for joining us today. If someone forgets everything about this interview, what’s the one thing they should remember about your company?

Alayne: That Lodestar creates great content. Follow us on LinkedIn—I post a lot there. If you enjoyed me here, connect with me on LinkedIn!

Ernesto: You heard it here! Thank you so much, Alayne, for being on today’s episode. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. Looking forward to our next episode on Pathmonk Presents.

Alayne: My pleasure.