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What is the difference between a Connection and an Explorer? 🧭
What is the difference between a Connection and an Explorer? 🧭

Learn about the different types of contacts you can message through your Gloo account

Updated over a week ago

What is a Connection? 🧭

A Connection is someone who is already connected with your church or ministry and is part of your current "audience." Connections can "add themselves" into your My People tab by texting into your toll-free number because they attended your church as a connection, or because they are involved in your ministry. You can also add Connections to your My People tab yourself, through things like Integrations and csv uploads.

What is an Explorer? 🧭

Did you know that you can increase your reach beyond the walls of your church and chat with people in your community looking for help? Check out the Explorer Connections program as part of our Gloo+ offering.

People in your city are looking for answers —now more than ever. But instead of turning to the Church for help, people are searching online. These Explorers, as we call them, are looking for someone to help them process life’s big questions through meaningful conversation. We have all been there, and we are all Explorers to some extent.

Ad campaigns are running all over the country, connecting Explorers to the churches and ministries closest to them. Our ad partners do all the work of gathering Explorers and Gloo sends them directly into your account, so all you have to do is to use our easy texting features to reach out and start a conversation!

Learn more about who these Explorers are and how they are connected with churches here.

At this time, you must upgrade to a Gloo+ account in order to receive Explorers- the Explorer Inbox is not included in a Free account.

Once you have activated your Gloo+ subscription and enabled the account to receive Explorers, check out the Explorer Quick Start Guide for your next steps!

Note: If you'd like to learn more about the different statuses an Explorer can have, check out our our article on Gloo's different statuses!

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