Webinar: Using Nextdoor for Critical Civic Communication

Learn how your business, government agency or municipality can communicate more effectively with local residents through advanced Nextdoor use.

Join Social News Desk and Nextdoor to learn how your municipality, business or government agency can communicate more effectively with local residents.


As Nextdoor emerges as a pivotal platform for fostering connections with local communities, understanding its unique features for public agencies becomes more important.


Discover the distinct advantages Nextdoor offers over conventional social networks and learn strategies for optimizing reach and interaction. Plus, get a closer look at SND’s exclusive Nextdoor integrations, empowering you with advanced capabilities in publishing, scheduling, and social listening.


Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your government communication efforts and strengthen community bonds.

Created by SND in partnership with the team at Nextdoor, the webinar features Sarah Loyd from SND and Joseph Porcelli from Nextdoor.


Want to learn more about SND and how it can help your organization get more impact with less effort with social media management software? Get in touch: info@socialnewsdesk.com.

How can I use Nextdoor to improve community relations?

As humans, we are inherently social creatures, always seeking to meet new people, experience new connections, and build a sense of community with those around us. Nextdoor, a solution available through the Social News Desk platform, is designed to enhance this sense of community. It’s the best way to get the most out of your neighborhood and feel part of something bigger.

 

Our latest webinar above, ‘Using Nextdoor for Critical Civic Communication,’ shows you how to use the Nextdoor platform to improve local outreach, community relations, and information sharing.

 

What Is Nextdoor?

Nextdoor is a neighborhood-focused app that connects communities. It’s where neighbors greet newcomers, share recommendations, and stay informed about local news. You can support local businesses, borrow tools, or get updates from public agencies—all in one place.

 

Nextdoor provides real-time news and information from neighbors, businesses, and public agencies. It’s the only app that connects you instantly with your local area in a secure environment where all members are verified.

 

With 88 million verified neighbors in 11 countries and 330,000 neighborhoods, Nextdoor is a vital platform for community connection and engagement.

 

How Is Nextdoor Important for Public Agencies?

Nextdoor, with its neighborhood-focused approach, has slowly become a really important platform for civic communication. It allows government agencies, cities, and community organizations to engage directly with residents, giving you the power to shape your community. But just how is Nextdoor important for civic communication? The benefits include:

 

  • Built-In Audience: Nextdoor provides an opt-out audience of real people. Agencies can reach an authentic local audience looking for and sharing trusted information without needing them to like or subscribe.
  • Geo-Targeting: Agencies can post locally relevant messages, polls, events, and emergency alerts to specific neighborhoods, service areas, or the entire municipality.
  • Adherence to Guidelines: All members, including public agencies, must follow Nextdoor’s Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, ensuring a secure environment. This has led to just 0.29% of content being reported as harmful in 2023.

 

 

  • Control and Efficiency: Public agencies control the conversation, as residents can’t start a conversation or mention them directly. This allows agencies to share important messages without constant interaction.
  • Measure Your Impact: Agencies can encourage and instruct neighbors to take actions and change behaviors, then measure the impact using polls and other indicators.

 

Social News Desk and Nextdoor both cater to the unique needs of governments and municipalities. Download our Civic-Minded Social Media Content ebook and take your social media strategy to the next level.

 

Types of Communications Within Nextdoor

Nextdoor is fast becoming a household name, but not everyone is aware of the different types of communication you can carry out through the platform. When it comes to governments and civic communications, the following types of interactions/ communicationscommuncations are likely to be the most important.

 

  • Inform: Share updates about local projects, such as new speed cameras or road construction, directly with the affected neighborhoods.
  • Educate: Use polls or regular posts to inform residents about new programs, services, changes, or disruptions in their area.
  • Emergency Alerts: Nextdoor’s emergency alert feature sends push notifications and prioritizes urgent messages in the news feed when life or property is at risk. This feature ensures critical information reaches residents immediately.
  • Promote Events: Post about local events, both in-person and virtual, and provide event recaps for those who couldn’t attend. This keeps the community informed and engaged.

 

Nextdoor Best Practices

Nextdoor is a tool that offers a unique ability to foster direct communication with local communities. Public agencies can use Nextdoor to share critical updates, safety alerts, and community events directly with the most affected residents. However, if you are new to this platform, you should be aware of some best practices. Let’s take a look at how you can fully leverage Nextdoor to get the best results.

 

Enable Comments

Allowing comments on posts significantly boosts engagement. While you can close comments, leaving them open can increase interaction by 70-75%. Residents often have questions or want to discuss the information, and addressing these comments helps clarify concerns, provide more details, and build trust.

 

 

Engaging with residents on Nextdoor is about creating a dialogue. Responding to comments and questions can ensure your messages are understood and valued. This engagement leads to more informed and active communities, which is a key goal for any public agency. Social News Desk’s listening and engagement tools can also help you stay on top of what’s most important to your audience.

 

Include a Call to Action

This shouldn’t be news to you, but you definitely want people to do something with your content. Do you want them to click on a link, share the message, or give input? Be clear in your communications on Nextdoor. With Social News Desk’s Link in Bio feature, you can easily share links to Instagram, TikTok, and more.

 

Utilize Geo-Targeting

Geo-targeting on Nextdoor allows you to reach users in specific locations, like a neighborhood, council district, or police district, with relevant information.

 

Tailor your messages to the local audience for maximum impact. Precise geo-targeting makes your content more relevant and actionable, keeping your community informed and building trust and engagement on Nextdoor. 

 

For example, if you post about a lost dog in a specific area, geo-targeting ensures that only those nearby see it, increasing the chances of finding the dog and boosting engagement rates.

 

Produce Post Events Event Recaps

Engaging your community on Nextdoor isn’t just about getting people to attend meetings. Many can’t participate in person due to life’s demands, but they shouldn’t miss out on important information. Posting event recaps ensures everyone stays informed and engaged, even if they can’t attend.

 

People juggle multiple jobs and family commitments. They might miss the meeting but still want to understand the information, ask questions, or give input. By providing a thorough recap, you help them stay connected.

 

Follow Creative Best Practices

Leveraging specific creative strategies is crucial to maximize click-through rates (CTR) on Nextdoor. Here are some best practices:

 

 

Imagery

  1. Use Real Imagery: Authentic images resonate better with Nextdoor’s community, increasing CTR by 13%. Capture local events, landmarks, or everyday scenes that neighbors will recognize and relate to.
  2. Minimize Text Overlay: Keep text to a quarter or less of the total image. This can boost CTR by 10%, as it maintains the image’s visual appeal.
  3. Avoid Logo Prominence: While logos are important, they shouldn’t dominate the image. Integrate logos subtly to keep the focus on the main content.

 

Copy

  1. Incorporate Local/Civic Names: Mentioning specific neighborhood or city names can enhance engagement, boosting CTR by 15%. For example, referencing the “Maplewood community event” makes the content feel more relevant and personalized.
  2. Moderate Use of All Caps: Use all caps sparingly to highlight important information without overwhelming your audience.

 

Review Your Metrics Regularly

Whatever kind of content you produce, you cannot improve engagement without monitoring your success metrics. With a better understanding of what’s working and what’s not, you can optimize your content. Here are our tips when reviewing your metrics:

 

  • Track Impressions: Impressions are calculated over a 24-hour period. For example, if you post at 6 PM, check back after 24 hours for the complete impression data. This delay means initial impressions might not reflect the full engagement potential.
  • Analyze Reactions and Comments: These metrics provide immediate feedback on how well your content resonates with your audience. High reactions and comments indicate strong engagement and interest.

 

Use the Content and Engagement Report:

  • Download the Report: In the Social News Desk platform, navigate to the Metrics tab to access the Content and Engagement Report. This report provides a comprehensive overview of how your posts performed. Social News Desk’s consolidated reporting feature makes reviewing your metrics easy.
  • Run Comparisons: Utilize pivot tables or graphs to compare the performance of different posts. Identifying trends and top-performing content helps refine your future communication strategies.

 

Encourage Your Community to Invite Their Neighbors

Within communities, a lot of the time, word of mouth holds more importance than normal. So, to grow your community on Nextdoor, encourage members to invite their neighbors and regularly send email invites to new subscribers. Here’s how:

 

  • Inform community gathering attendees that you’ll post meeting recaps and follow-up action items on Nextdoor. This real-time conversation keeps everyone informed and engaged. Encourage them to join Nextdoor to stay updated and participate in discussions between meetings.
  • Remind current members to invite their neighbors. Personal invitations from trusted sources are highly effective in increasing membership.
  • Use your email marketing platform, like Mailchimp or GovDelivery, to send quarterly invites to new subscribers. Inform them about your Nextdoor presence and the benefits of joining. 

 

Build Your Community with Social News Desk and Nextdoor

Building a strong community is crucial, and with Social News Desk and Nextdoor, you have the tools to do it effectively. Nextdoor’s unique platform lets you reach hyper-local audiences, ensuring your messages resonate where they matter most.

 

With Social News Desk, you can schedule posts, manage your content, and access engagement reports effortlessly. This integration makes maintaining a consistent presence on Nextdoor easy and does not overwhelm your resources.

 

Ready to see how Social News Desk and Nextdoor can transform your civic communication? Book a demo today and start building a more connected community.

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