If you are public sector comms you need to know about the strengths and weaknesses to Nextdoor.
Yes, I know you’re busy. That’s why I’ve written a brief post to explain the platform with the help of some nice people from the Public Sector Comms Headspace.
Firstly, here’s three key things you need to know about this platform.
Three key Nextdoor facts
Nextdoor’s audience is over 55s
The first key Nextdoor fact is that it’s mainly used by over 55s. If you’re in the public sector these may well be a key audience. They tend to vote and also be service users.
Nextdoor is arranged into neighbourhoods
Fact number two is that Nextdoor operates rather like a rigid community Facebook group. Want to join as an individual? You need to put your name, address and postcode. This way you are assigned into a specific area Nextdoor.
However, you can only be in one Nextdoor. So, no glancing over the fence to see what a neighbouring area is up to. This is a strength and weakness. A strength because you get local content but a weakness if you are interested in more than one area.
This is a pain as I’m in the Brierley Hill Nextdoor. Can I see if there’s a plumber recommended in the Halesowen Nextdoor three miles away? No, I can’t. That’s annoying.
Nextdoor really likes the public sector
When I say Nextdoor really likes the public sector it really, really likes the public sector. You can get a free partnership agreement as a public sector organisation. This means your content is automatically sent to ALL Nextdoor members in a geographic area. So, none of this messing around with a Facebook page and begging for likes.
A chum Lucy Salvage ran some A/BNextdoor v Facebook testing a while back which showed almost 4,000 had seen a Nextdoor post a couple of weeks after it was adopted by their council compared to 5,500 seeing it on the Facebook page which had been established for more than a decade.
This is a really big deal.
On the Nextdoor website, they are keen to push testimonials from the Metropolitan Police in London as well as the Police Service of Northern Ireland amongst ‘hundreds’ of public sector users.
One suggestion is to post as the council rather than the council comms team.
The size of the Nextdoor audience
Irritatingly, Ofcom does not have data in their social media release.
This is where it gets a bit opaque. Globally, there are 88 million Nextdoor users which is small fry compared to the two billion who are using Facebook. But its a 13 per cent increase in users represents growth compared to X, formerly Twitter’s apparent 20 per cent decline in the US.
Digging around for UK stats is tricky. The platform’s UK pages talk of one in four households being registered. Indications from other sources are that 8.1 million people have used Nextdoor in the previous month. That’s 11.9 per cent of the population.
This is not the strongest set of figures available but the public sector partnership agreement approach really puts a rocket under those numbers.
The hyperlocal approach
Where Nextdoor does well is that it taps into the broad approach of hyperlocal walled gardens which reflects where the internet has been heading. Facebook groups are now a cornerstone of effective public sector comms.
Nextdoor also reflects the need for the public sector to go to where the eyeballs are. Just posting on a site and then expecting people to read it is no approach.
Content in Nextdoor works best when it is hyperlocal. For some, this can be cloying. The discussion around what the police helicopter was doing last night or the bad parking in your street may not be everyone’s cup of tea but there would appear to be value in it.
A public sector partnership with the platform allows the council, fire and rescue and police comms team to post to their entire borough, city, district, town or county and also if required to target a specific ward. This is huge.
NHS can also use it, from what I can gather, if they ask nicely. Health is a private thing in the US where Nextdoor is based so it isn’t promoted on their website but anecdotally NHS Trusts in the UK have successfully signed up.
Facebook groups v Nextdoor
This is where things look less rosy for Nextdoor. Ofcom data for local government information puts Facebook groups as the dominant place in a crowded field as the place where people get the most council information.
However, Nextdoor does perform ahead of radio, newspapers, email bulletins and Reach plc news sites for 25 to 64-year-olds.
What content works well
Hyperlocal content works well. The ability to pinpoint a ward with roadworks, consultation or other issues appears richly valuable. If it is tailored to a community the community will listen.
So too, apparently, is flooding and extreme weather comms. So, expected snow fall will work well.
Feedback is that the platform needs a longer run up than say, X, formerly Twitter has been in the past. Post your news in advance for routine updates.
Is this a place to put all your content? No. Be choosy.
Councillors
Bright elected members have been using Nextdoor to tap into the hyperlocal nature of the platform.
Snark
Do expect some online snark in Nextdoor. The internet can be a rowdy place these days and post-pandemic the conversation that includes the public sector can often be tetchy. Have a set of social media house rules in place would be my general recommendation for Nextdoor as well as every other platform.
Thanks to Public Sector Comms Headspace members who contributed to this blog including Annwen Bates, Fraser Serle, Isabella Gamble, Katie Jane, Sian Williams, Will Lodge, Kulbinder Mann Cara Marchant, Jade Mizen and Helen Chater-Franks.
I help deliver the ESSENTIAL COMMS SKILLS BOOSTER workshop which helps PR and communications people communicate.