How Nextdoor enables community engagement in the public sector: insights from two customer stories

For public sector organisations wanting to engage and build trust with their communities, Nextdoor is fast becoming an indispensable tool. At our BIG Social 2024, two different organisations working in the public sector – Merseyside Police and Surrey County Council – described how they use the platform; its benefits, and the results they have seen to date.

Merseyside Police covers a wide geographic region and serves a population of approximately 1.5 million people. Its comms team wanted to trial Nextdoor in order to fulfil the force’s strategic objectives around engaging community members, in order to build trust and confidence in local policing and nurture safer communities. Given Nextdoor’s positive focus and its focus on kindness and building trust (Nextdoor’s Transparency Report 2024 states that less than 0.29% of content was reported as harmful) it seemed like a natural addition to Merseyside’s social media activities. Additionally, Merseyside’s comms team was keen to trial Nextdoor’s unique features, namely polls and emergency alerts.

Surrey County Council serves a similar-sized population – over 1.2 million residents. Its Community Vision for Surrey in 2030 emphasises its commitment to engaging the public, fostering community development and ensuring that “no one is left behind”. A staggering 300,000 of Surrey’s population is on Nextdoor, and so Surrey County Council’s comms team is confident about using the social platform to reach a wide number of residents.

Merseyside’s Nextdoor pilot

Merseyside Police already have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X. Its comms team decided to add Nextdoor into their channel mix, starting with a trial in one specific area (Speke) with a limited number of users, in order to establish whether it was worth expanding the platform to include the rest of Merseyside. In the Speke area, there were over 21,000 members signed up on Nextdoor representing over 16,000 households.

The comms team decided to empower local officers with their own Nextdoor profiles, with comms retaining an overview on content. The Nextdoor trial involved 25 users (two officers per ward) including Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), Sergeants, Constables and one Inspector. For consistency, all users adopted the same naming conventions (sharing first name and rank to protect officers’ privacy) and similar profile pictures and cover photos. Following a training session led by the comms team, the users were launched on Nextdoor with comms support on hand.

Surrey County Council’s use of Nextdoor

The organisation has a number of accounts beyond its general ‘Surrey County Council’ profile, covering services such as libraries and trading standards. The team has integrated its Nextdoor accounts within Orlo, so comms and customer service teams are to post and engage on Nextdoor alongside Surrey’s other social media accounts. Being able to schedule content on Nextdoor (a feature only available via Orlo) alongside other channels allows the team to post consistently, reuse content where appropriate, and optimise workflows.

Surrey uses Nextdoor to fulfil their comms objectives of warning and informing communities; changing behaviour (for example to prevent health issues); improving the council’s reputation, and engaging with Surrey’s residents effectively. On Nextdoor, the team posts regularly about services and support available (for example help for patients leaving hospital); promoting events such as drop-in sessions for older people looking to plan their retirement, and utilising the emergency alerts feature for urgent issues such wild fires and major road closures. Surrey’s comms team also makes full use of Nextdoor’s geo-targeting functionality, allowing the council to either post messages to a specific neighbourhood or to the full service area.

For Surrey County Council, two-way engagement with residents is key to fulfilling its strategic objectives of listening to communities and ensuring that “no one is left behind”. Its comms team constantly engages with communities on Nextdoor alongside other social media channels. Having all channels within one platform enables them to boost efficiency and save time manually switching between platforms when engaging.

Merseyside Police

Merseyside’s pilot was a huge success – the comms team gained some key insights within their three months of usage, and plan to roll out Nextdoor across the entire force between October 2024 and May 2025. The selected officers made 151 posts within a three month period, either posted to the entire service area or geotargeted to specific wards. The content that worked well included:

The Nextdoor trial was a success for officers, with users reporting that it was easy to use, and that they appreciated being able to engage directly with local residents. Positive engagement with communities encouraged officers to post more, as they were able to witness first-hand the benefits of open communication with community members. Residents were also complimentary regarding the officers’ presence on Nextdoor, often taking time to thank individuals for their posts and replies.

The comms team will extend Nextdoor usage across the force in a staggered process, in order to ensure adequate training and support for police officers. While rolling out a new platform requires an investment in time and resources, Merseyside’s pilot has proven that its presence on the platform will contribute significantly to delivering on the force’s wider objectives.

Surrey County Council

Using Nextdoor on Orlo allows the team to compare their performance with other social media channels and uncover invaluable insights. Surrey’s comms team reports that it’s easier for them to gain better organic reach on Nextdoor versus other platforms – especially for certain topics that appeal to a specific local demographic. Public sector organisations automatically appear prominently in neighbours’ newsfeeds, as their content is deemed relevant to local communities. For example, 87 posts on Nextdoor delivered over 400,000 impressions – and a post about the council’s home equipment service performed excellently on Nextdoor, delivering over 300 clicks. Surrey County Council therefore plans to migrate its fire service account to Nextdoor imminently, due to the impressive organic results and engagement potential the organisation has seen.

It’s clear that whether you work for a police force, a local authority, a healthcare organisation or a central government organisation – Nextdoor is a compelling tool for engaging in a meaningful way with hyperlocal communities, uncovering what matters most to them, and building long-term trust. Each social media platform offers unique features and caters to specific demographics, and so public sector comms teams must consider how each channel helps them to best deliver on their organisation’s specific strategic objectives.