Hi everyone! 
We’re excited to share some valuable insights based on polls conducted in the “Introduce Yourself” monthly threads on Local Guides Connect from April to July.
A heartfelt thank you to all the Local Guides who participated in these polls!
Your responses have helped shed light on how new members are discovering Connect—and how we can further grow our community.
Key Findings: How Local Guides Discovered Connect
A majority of Local Guides discovered Local Guides Connect through random searches. Out of 100[1] Local Guides who responded to polls across 30 active posts (6 out of 36 posts had no responses and were excluded), here’s what we found:
36% of Local Guides joined Connect after receiving an email invitation
64% joined Connect through other means
In April, we introduced more detailed poll options. Based on those results, it became evident that most of those who didn’t join via email found Connect through random Google searches.
Links to these poll posts are shared in the first reply to this post.
Haven’t Voted Yet? Join the Conversation!
Please take a moment to answer this ongoing poll:
How did you discover Local Guides Connect?
- After receiving an email
- I discovered Local Guides Connect by random search on google
- By social media
- Trough a friend
Why This Matters for Community Building
I’ve emphasized the importance of community building in this earlier post:
Growing the Community: Awareness Matters
To further this effort, I launched these ongoing campaigns:
Each One Reach One: Encouraging every Local Guide to introduce at least one new member to Connect
Each One Post One: Urging every Local Guide to share at least one post on social media about Local Guides Connect
These poll results affirm the need to expand visibility beyond official emails, especially through social media outreach.
Reaching the Unreached: Social Media Initiatives
To enhance outreach, our community has developed several platforms to raise awareness:
- India Local Guides, Rajasthan – Instagram managed by me
- India Loca Guides, Gujarat – Instagram and India Local Guides - Facebook managed by @NareshDarji
- Take a look at how @AjitThite, @Globe_trotter_Ish, @NareshDarji, @TusharSuradkar, and I have showcased Connect/Maps/Local Guides on Instagram — see our posts here, here, here, here and here.
These platforms aim to connect with those who are unaware of the Local Guides program or the Connect.
Let’s Collaborate!
Are you using social media or any creative means to promote Connect or raise awareness?
Drop your links and ideas in the comments!
Share what’s working for you and how we can amplify each other’s efforts.
Don’t Miss Out!
Join us on 20th July for a meet-up [Virtual] India, July 20, Exploring Connect Tags: Best Practices and Issues focused on Qualitative Community Building. Bring your ideas, outreach examples, and suggestions to help drive this conversation forward.
Together, let’s connect better—and build stronger!
Some Local Guides submitted multiple votes; however, only one response per participant was considered when computing the final results. ↩︎
