Is the future of political polling in social networks and micropinions?

Vancouver-based Tiipz, which launched its social market research platform in August, says it has already attracted the attention of the political polling world and those seeking to engage "a younger, more social media-minded" demographic.

 “News media and political candidates, like so many businesses, want to infiltrate social media as a way to create conversations and distribute content," explains Jason Cyr, CEO. "Tiipz provides a much- needed avenue into voter participation that works because it’s both engaging and it offers tangible rewards. Tiipz incites a level of interaction never before seen in this demographic.” 

“Tiipz has completely revolutionized the way we are able to engage voters and reach a typically elusive demographic," says Darren Roberts, COO at The Pique Newsmagazine. "Most importantly, this platform has allowed our media outlets to acquire truly meaningful information from the voting community.” 

Tiipz says it differs "dramatically" from traditional market research firms in a couple of ways.

1. Unlike the traditional radio button polls, Tiipz incorporates images, video, interactive ratings, and real rewards, so it’s far more compelling to interact with.

2. Tiipz is real time and contextual. Its Micropinion feature allows questions to be created easily and distributed instantly via Facebook sharing. So organizations can react quickly as things change or new contentious issues arise while voters are instantly engaged in measurable conversations.

3. News outlets typically focus solely on content curation and distribution (i.e. posting information) when using Facebook and Twitter. Tiipz wraps this information in a Micropinion that engages people to respond, rather than only reading.  

The startup was founded in 2010 by Mark Nickson, Jason Cyr, and Gesvyn Tjandra, and was honoured with a top innovator award at the 2011 Launch @ Grow Conference.