A Baseline poll is a detailed survey to gauge the feelings, sentiments and major issues that matter to your audience. It develops a detailed breakdown of your strengths, weaknesses, issues, messages and opponent(s). From this information, a campaign roadmap can be developed to plan every step and target your messaging. A Baseline poll should be conducted as early as possible to ensure you are armed with the details you need to win a campaign.

This poll would be conducted by phone from our Research Call Centre. It would be comprised of many closed-ended questions and a few open-ended issues based questions. These questions would be tailored to your needs. Our Research Division would develop a scientifically accurate random sample of voters from your area.

This poll determines a candidate’s viability prior to entering the race and before making major policy decisions. It is also used to determine the strengths/weaknesses of your opponent(s) at a vital stage. The information gathered from this poll, will serve as your campaign’s launchpad and help you navigate through the first weeks of your campaign.

These surveys are also best suited to help potential candidates determine if the seat is winnable and the popularity of both themselves and other candidates who may consider running. Since questions are often based on calculated speculation, we put more emphasis on the cross-tabulation of results to show how voters’ intentions would differ if their first choice candidate were to drop out or decide not to run.

These preliminary polls are a combination of the baseline poll and the viability poll to provide you with comprehensive information on your candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, issues, messages, and potential messages. These surveys also address the campaign’s starting point and may identify key issues. A bench viability poll will provide you with the insights for a strong foundation upon with you can build your campaign.

Trend polls are conducted within the context of your active campaign. This will help determine if your message is being absorbed by the sampled universe and it serves as a progress chart for your campaign.

Often a trend poll will discover holes in your messaging and can determine whether strategic or tactical changes are needed. It may also serve as an indicator of changing dynamics in your campaign. This form of polling is recommended after your campaign communicates by mail, debates, media, or mass canvass. Campaigns that are the first to notice the changes and possible issues with their internal messaging will have a strategic advantage.

Trend-based polling is also the ideal platform to incorporate issues that may be gaining momentum on the campaign trail. Often voting issues change as the campaign enters the writ period; what may have ranked as a mid-level issue can quickly climb to the top. This is often caused by increased discussion and policies that may be disseminated by other candidates or from your own platform. History reveals many examples of campaigns that championed the wrong issues without properly polling the electorate. More often than not, this will result in a slide in popularity and ultimately a loss. Campaigns that monitor issues throughout an election are able to spot these trends early and alter their messaging appropriately.

Tracking polls are short polls designed to help you manoeuvre your campaign through the final stretch. These polls provide information vital to the refinement of your strategy and tactics. Your field coordinators will use tracking polls to adjust plans and assignments accordingly and your media team will use them to alter television and radio rotations or adjust mail targeting. They are not intended for the development of completely new plans, strategies, or tactics. Tracking polls enable your campaign to see a snapshot of the electorate. This will help you determine whether your momentum is building, stalling, or slipping.

Tracking polls are often deployed after debates, prior to and immediately after advance polls, and in the final fourteen days of the campaign.

Our Research Firm always recommends having strategies in place in case the intelligence you receive is not in your favour. In the event, polling shows a decline in support, solid strategies must be executed immediately. Polling which reflects negative results in the final stretch of an election may cause a deflation of morale in your candidate and campaign staff. It is suggested that such results are only discussed between the campaign manager and our Research Firm so we can help guide your team through this turbulence.