TrendPo, the daily social media monitoring and rankings engine for politicians, is expanding in 2014. In addition to rolling out a new
website and hiring a few new faces, the company has launched
SocialEdge, a social media advertising service.
"We help [clients] who advertise on Facebook and Twitter target the best and most correct audience for them[selves]," says TrendPo founder JD Chang. TrendPo is already looking at and analyzing social media data for the company's clients; helping those clients figure out the best way to reach their target audience almost seems like a given. "We've signed two six-figure contracts with prominent political organizations in D.C. and we're working with them on their 2014 budgets," he explains.
TrendPo is also expanding onto the international stage. Chang just returned from a month-long trip to Taiwan, where he had productive meetings with several clients. "We are working on two pilot deals in Taiwan," he says. "One is with a political organization and one is with one of the top three online news organizations in Taiwan. Hopefully, in Q1, we'll run successfully pilots with both and be able to announce their names."
Closer to home, Chang already has the 2016 election clearly in sight. TrendPo is now offering a free
daily ranking of the top 20 contenders for the 2016 Presidential race. As of press time, Ted Cruz had the most social media momentum, according to TrendPo's daily ranking algorithm, which monitors buzz and social media momentum on Facebook, Twitter and "a little YouTube," explains Chang.
"Ted Cruz is the next version of Ron Paul," Chang says. "Two years ago, Paul had the online backing but not the mainstream support. Cruz is a social media politician who also does well in the mainstream."
Though a growing force in politicking, Chang thinks that social media still takes a back seat to mainstream media when it comes to the bottom line. "Social media won't outstrip mainstream media," he says. "But social media is going to be an undeniable factor. Politicians and political races that use social media the best are going to see a bounce."
To keep up with the company's growth, Chang is looking to add a front end engineer and a local salesperson to the TrendPo team.