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Prototype the message, not just the product

Most teams treat copy like a finished product.

Write it. Approve it. Ship it.

But what if we treated it like a prototype instead?

In product development, that'd be a no-brainer. You test early. You prototype fast. You pressure-test assumptions before committing resources.

In marketing? Not so much.

We still write landing pages and campaigns based on brainstorms, meetings, and good intentions. Best case? You A/B test the live thing and wait weeks to find out what flopped.

Not ideal, but fixable.

The "hot wash" (and why most teams skip it)

In the military, a "hot wash" is a quick, structured debrief immediately after a mission. You capture what worked, what didn’t, and what to do next time, while the memory is still fresh.

The term itself comes from a post-mission practice used by some soldiers: dousing their weapons in near-boiling water to remove grit and residue after firing. It didn’t replace a full breakdown and cleaning, but it cleared the major debris fast and made the deeper clean go more smoothly.

One soldier called it "the quick and dirty cleaning that can save a lot of time later."

In marketing, we usually do a cold wash.

Message goes out. A few weeks pass. You look at bounce rates or click-throughs and try to reverse-engineer what happened.

Problem is by then it’s often too late. Insight has decayed. Assumptions have already calcified.

What if you could debrief before the mission?

That’s where synthetic research comes in.

Instead of asking, "How did our copy perform?" after launch… you ask:

• How will this message land with a skeptical buyer?
• What will a first-time visitor expect to see next?
• Which parts feel vague, redundant, or misaligned?

And you ask before a single real prospect sees it.

With synthetic user simulation, you prototype the message. You test clarity, flow, resonance, objections, all in context.

It’s not perfect. But it’s way closer to reality than just reading it aloud or asking your team.

Example…

Just recently, I offered to run synthetic validation for a client. We were gonna write new copy, then validate it, before launch, with synthetic / AI customers. Turns out, they already had an internal system for it.

It wasn’t slick. It required a bit of manual effort. But it worked for them. And that was AWESOME to see!

This was a company with a strong product and loyal customers, the kind who jump at the chance to join a customer interview (rare). They already knew their market well.

And that’s exactly why they invested in faster, cheaper, more consistent insight.

Because they understood two things:

• If your product deserves testing, so does your messaging

and

• only when you already do the work (whether it’s research, strategy, or validation), you see the value in doing it more efficiently

Prototype your message before it costs you

Synthetic research and validation isn’t about replacing intuition or skipping real customer conversations. It’s about systematizing insight.

It’s your pre-launch hot wash. Your message prototype.

And it might just save you from launching a message that feels right… but doesn’t land.

Want to see how this works?

That’s exactly what the Research Optimization System™ is built for. One simple process to deeply understand your buyers, product and market. And to simulate buyer reactions, test your copy, and validate your messaging before (and after) launch.

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DISCOVERY

🎙 Branducation with Bill Harper

What if your messaging system was as robust as your product dev process? In this episode with Bill, we dig into why conversion copy isn't about clever words but about engineered decisions. I break down the PATH Framework, how to turn research into strategy, and why AI only amplifies your gaps if you skip the groundwork

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🔗 Listen here​

🎙 B2B Creatively

This one goes deep into how AI is reshaping the process behind great messaging. We talk synthetic research, training AI to be more empathetic, the real job of a persona, and how to balance data with human nuance. If you're exploring how to use AI without losing your voice, this episode’s for you.

​

🔗 Listen here​

🎙 The Changemakers

From my career in industrial automation to message-market fit, this conversation with Dave unpacks my turning point and much more. We cover how fast-growing B2B SaaS companies lose the plot with their messaging, why clarity trumps cleverness, and how AI is changing the research game.

🔗 Listen here​

RESONANCE

Dan Koe, Purpose & Profit

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Chris

Chris Silvestri Founder & conversion alchemist

🙌🏻 Let’s be friends (unless you’re a stalker)​

When you're ready, here's a few ways I can help

Not sure where to start? Take our free message-market fit scorecard.​