{"id":16866,"date":"2023-09-19T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/?p=16866"},"modified":"2023-09-19T09:21:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T13:21:50","slug":"the-benefits-of-creating-a-multi-city-community-on-meetup-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/blog\/the-benefits-of-creating-a-multi-city-community-on-meetup-pro\/","title":{"rendered":"The Benefits of Creating a Multi-City Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every community wants to broaden its membership. Bringing people together is the shared goal of all Meetup groups, no matter what specific topic you organize around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the pandemic, community as a whole\u2014both in and outside of Meetup\u2014faced unprecedented challenges, and was forced to slow down dramatically. Now, a few years removed from the peak of the social distancing era, togetherness is on the rebound. Both in-person and online connections are easier to facilitate because of all the progress made in health and safety, as well as in social technologies. So why is it that some Meetup Pro communities are still finding it difficult to attract new members?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key reasons has to do with maximizing your potential through Meetup\u2019s search engine and recommendation system. This simple breakdown of the Meetup algorithm will highlight the main adjustment you can make in order to establish a global presence: expanding to more groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Meetup connects members to new groups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Using the website or the app, Meetup members who browse new potential connections are presented with lots of choices for events and groups. But instead of overwhelming members with options, the choices presented to them are curated by a complex algorithm that considers three main factors: a member\u2019s location, interests, and needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a member uses the search engine, the results they see will correspond to these factors. Also, when Meetup sends emails and notifications to members with specific event and group suggestions, those recommendations are based primarily on these factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why having a presence in multiple cities drives more event RSVPs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Discoverability<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now that it\u2019s clear how favorable discoverability can strengthen your presence on Meetup, it\u2019s time to learn how to take advantage of this insider info. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most important thing you can do to increase your discoverability\u2014and ultimately increase your membership\u2014is to expand your community to multiple cities. If you have the resources to create new in-person chapters of your community, that\u2019s great! But the easiest way to gain a bigger presence within the Meetup recommendation system is by hosting online events through several groups spread across multiple cities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, let\u2019s say you\u2019re hosting an online event through a group based in Los Angeles. A member from Los Angeles who uses the search engine to find tech events will most likely discover your event on the very first page of search results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a member from Chicago may have to search through five pages of results until they find your Los Angeles-based tech event. Even though it\u2019s a virtual event that the Los Angeles and Chicago members could equally participate in, the search engine won\u2019t favor your event for the Chicago member as much because it\u2019s being hosted by a group based in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having your online event hosted across multiple locations will increase the number of members likely to see your event within top search results. You can easily do so by using the network event feature<\/a>, a tool designed to promote one event across multiple groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another important piece of information to keep in mind is that on average, the majority of registrations for online events come from users located within 100 miles (161 kilometers) of the location of the group hosting the online event. Though online events can be found within a 3,000 miles radius (4,828 kilometers radius) from the location of the hosting group (hence why you may see someone from London RSVPing to an event hosted by a New York group), more than 51% of your RSVPs will come from users within a 100 miles radius. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To illustrate this, let\u2019s say you\u2019re looking to expand your presence in the Northeast of the United States. Establishing a Meetup group in New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. would be strategic since there are more than 200 miles separating each city. Adding a group in Philadelphia wouldn\u2019t help reach more members as much since it\u2019s only 94 miles from New York. As such, you\u2019d likely reach a similar audience with your Philadelphia group than with your New York group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Similarly, if you\u2019re looking to increase your membership in Europe, the best strategy would be to start groups in the most populated cities that are at least 200 miles (322 kilometers) from each other, e.g. London, Paris, and Berlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here\u2019s a table showing the cities on Meetup where we have the highest concentration of members:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Key takeaways<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n