Everyone has an opinion on our new messaging and nobody can settle the argument. How do I test it instead?

The actual method: which five dimensions to score, the open questions that get useful answers, and why you test section by section instead of judging a whole page. Laja's claim that a third to half of your messaging is not landing is a good reason to start.

What is Message Testing in Marketing and How To Do It

From Wynter by Peep Laja 13 min read

• Assume 30 to 50 percent of your messaging is not landing with the audience at all.
• Test five components: clarity, relevance, value, differentiation, and brand.
• Score each on a 1 to 5 Likert scale plus open-ended questions, so you get the why alongside the rating.
• Done manually, one message test takes a week or two, which is why most teams skip it.

Three real startup homepages taken apart, showing the whole chain from positioning statement to messaging to the actual sentence on the page. Seeing the translation fail in someone else's copy is the fastest way to spot it in yours.

Positioning & messaging teardown, with Anthony Pierri

From MKT1 Newsletter by Emily Kramer and Anthony Pierri 20 min read

• Even startups that write a perfect positioning statement lose it by the time it reaches the site.
• Point the homepage hero at your primary audience and route other ICPs to audience-specific pages.
• The fastest way for a sales-tech company to sound like everyone else is to lead with increasing revenue.
• New way positioning is the hardest of the four product types, because you have to build problem, solution and product awareness at once.

The interviewing craft, not the theory: how to open so people feel safe being blunt, how to use five whys past the polite answer, and why you let the buyer talk ninety percent of the time.

How to Conduct Win-Loss Interviews: Step-By-Step Guide

From Klue 14 min read

• Follow the 90/10 rule in a win-loss interview: the buyer should be speaking 90 percent of the time.
• Plan for 30 minutes but block an hour, and prepare 20 to 30 questions knowing you will use 10 to 15.
• Uses a D.E.P.T.H. structure (details, engaged, personal, trust, high impact) plus five-whys laddering to get past the first answer.
• 41 percent of win-loss programs are now owned by product marketing (2025 Win-Loss Trend Report).

The title is the answer to your question, and Laja built Wynter because he got tired of the most senior opinion winning. He walks through how the testing is run and what you ask, so you can end the argument this week.

Don't review messaging internally, message test instead w/ Peep Laja

On We're Not Marketers by Peep Laja 36 min