Nextdoor Advertising Cost

The COVID-19 pandemic has entirely changed the world of advertising, accelerating the push to digital. This can be a challenge for small local businesses that don’t have a social media team to spread the word about their products or services online.

But whether you’re a digital native (or still running Windows 2000), Nextdoor provides straightforward, cost-effective marketing solutions for SMBs.

On Nextdoor, your neighbors are already asking for recommendations on where to eat or where to shop. This makes Nextdoor one of the best platforms for local businesses to invest their digital marketing efforts.¹

In this guide, we’ll break down your options for how to advertise on Nextdoor, the associated Nextdoor advertising costs, and best practices for businesses on Nextdoor.

What is Nextdoor?

Nextdoor is a local, social media advertising platform organized by your specific neighborhood. 

• This social platform sorts users based on their zip code. Users can then share posts, ask for help, find places to live, volunteer, buy and trade, share important local news, and discover local businesses.
• Nextdoor is a lot like Facebook, but instead of adding friends, users are automatically connected to all the other Nextdoor users in your area via the newsfeed.
• For 27 million active monthly users, Nextdoor is the go-to app to recommend a restaurant they love, announce the loss of a pet, or look for a carpenter.²

Another way Nextdoor differentiates itself from platforms like Facebook and Twitter is by focusing on authenticity and trust. Everyone uses their real names, and all users are verified. 

When you advertise on Nextdoor, you can reach an engaged audience of neighbors who are passionate about strengthening their community and supporting local businesses.

Nextdoor Advertising Options

The cost to advertise on Nextdoor ranges from free posting options to a $25,000/month minimum spend commitment for sponsored posts by national brands. 

There are four main advertising channels on Nextdoor:

• Free business posting
• Local Deals
• Neighborhood Sponsorships⁴
• Sponsored posts by national brands³

Ads on each of these channels come at a different price point and offer different benefits. To choose which works best for you, consider your budget and your goals for connecting with customers from the outset, then identify which of the four main channels you’d like to focus on. 

Free Business Profiles and Posts

Don’t want to devote any of your marketing spend to Nextdoor? You can still benefit from listing your business on the platform.

SMBs from babysitters to local restaurants can set up business pages and post twice a month to neighbors’ newsfeeds for free.

Update your business page with:

• Photos
• Website link
• Description of products and services
• Your story
• Contact information

Once you have one recommendation, you’ll show up in local search results. If you already have loyal customers who love your products or services, they’ll be able to spread the good word on Nextdoor, and you’ll hopefully attain new customers at no cost.

Users are likely to trust these recommendations and reviews because Nextdoor’s verification process ensures that there are almost no spam profiles or fake reviews.⁶

Beyond recommendations, use your business page to make free posts about new products, services, and team members. It can also be helpful to ask questions. Since users can comment and DM you, every post is an opportunity to engage.

Benefits:

• Grab the attention of potential customers
• Share important updates with your community
• Engage with your local neighborhood⁷

Local Deals on Nextdoor

If you’ve had success with your two free posts per month, consider upgrading your Nextdoor advertising strategy with paid posts.

Local Deals are an inexpensive option that’s perfect for businesses looking to dip their toes into the world of paid social. Each ad offers a discount or promotion, thus offering a clear CTA.

These Local Deals can be found both on the Nextdoor newsfeed and in the email bulletins that users receive.

• Unlike traditional paid social ads, on Nextdoor you don’t pay based on clicks or performance. 
• The cost of Local Deal ads is based on the demographics of your target neighborhood and the length of your campaign.
• A Local Deal ad can cost as little as $1.
• Use Nextdoor’s analytics tools to track your ad performance and decide whether to repeat or modify the campaign.

Benefits

• Drive foot traffic
• Generate quality leads
• Increase sales
• Encourage word of mouth referrals⁸

Neighborhood Sponsorships

Nextdoor reserves Local Deals for brick and mortar businesses like restaurants or dry cleaners. Real estate agents, home builders, and other service providers can use Neighborhood Sponsorships instead. 

Rather than paying per ad, neighborhood sponsors pay per month. 

How much does it cost?

• In 2020 Entrepreneur tested out the Neighborhood Sponsorships feature and found several zip codes with rates as low as $32/month. 
• In a prime zip code, the Nextdoor advertising cost for a Neighborhood Sponsorship was still only about $150/month. These prices are surprisingly modest compared to the higher paid social investments of other platforms.⁹

Nextdoor assigns each zip code or neighborhood a limited number of sponsorships for each category. While you may not always be able to sponsor the neighborhood you want, the sponsorships you invest in have great value because Nextdoor doesn’t inundate users with advertisements.

Benefits

• Secure your position as a neighborhood expert in your field
• Communicate with future customers
• Increase brand awareness¹⁰ 

Sponsored Posts by National Brands

Nextdoor has one final advertising option for larger regional or national businesses.

Unlike Neighborhood Deals and Sponsorships, sponsored posts appear directly in the newsfeed.

• The minimum spend is $25,000/month
• Directly contact Nextdoor’s ad sales department to take advantage of the opportunity.¹¹

Nextdoor Advertising Best Practices

Whether you only utilize Nextdoor’s free advertising options or you invest in Neighborhood Sponsorships or Local Deals, craft your ads to optimize their performance.

With each post:

• Focus on tone. Ads that are kind, community-focused, and informative do better than sales-y posts.
• Tell a story. Nextdoor is a community-based platform, and providing updates can foster a deeper sense of engagement. Talk from your perspective as a person, not as a business or brand.
• Use photos. Posts with graphics receive more replies. Consider reusing photos or graphics you’re already implementing on social media or in your email marketing campaigns.
• Stay engaged. When users reply to your post, reply back! If you’re speedy, it’s that much easier to keep the conversation going. Create a list of responses to frequently asked questions so that you can quickly respond to customers’ messages. You should also respond to recommendations that customers leave for you on Nextdoor.

How to Ask for Recommendations

Beyond your posts, talk to your existing customers about Nextdoor and ask for their recommendations.

Encouraging your customers to leave you recommendations is an invaluable tool to extend your organic reach. In fact, 76% of Nextdoor members say they were influenced by a recommendation they saw on Nextdoor.

• Ask your customers to share recommendations on Nextdoor by posting a sign in your storefront, emailing customers, or requesting a recommendation through social media or your website.
• Customers want to help the businesses they value, but you need to make it easy for them. Provide a link on their receipt or on a hand-out that gives them directions if they want to create a recommendation. You can add prompts to this handout so that customers write more detailed recommendations. 
• You can’t pay someone to write you a recommendation on Nextdoor, but you can offer a Local Deal or another discount that encourages customers to leave a review.

The Nextdoor Favorites Competition

Beyond recommendations, Nextdoor lets users vote on their favorite businesses.

Top businesses enjoy:

• Better search ranking
• A spot on the Nextdoor Favorites list
• One free Local Deal ad

According to Nextdoor, winners have 30 times more recommendations on their business page compared to the average. These profiles also enjoy three times the number of page views and four times the number of saves on their Local Deals. 

Make sure to encourage your customers and neighbors to vote so you have a chance to win one of these invaluable spots.¹²

How We Can Help You Become a Nextdoor Neighborhood Hero

As of September 2020, Nextdoor covered 90% of U.S. neighborhoods.¹³ With that kind of reach, the cost to advertise on Nextdoor can definitely be worth it.

Want to make the most of your campaigns?

At PDM, we see Nextdoor ads as one part of your holistic social media marketing strategy. The assets you generate for Nextdoor can also be used to create engagement on Instagram, Facebook, and the other platforms your users frequent.

Get in touch to learn more about creating a strategy for Nextdoor and maximizing your ROI as you connect with your local community.

Sources: 

1. Entrepreneur Media. (2020, September 21). Are Nextdoor Ads the Best New Way to Gain Local Customers? Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/356282 
2. (2019, October 17). Nextdoor Platform: Connecting Neighbors. Digital Innovation and Transformation. https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-digit/submission/nextdoor-platform-connecting-neighbors/#:~:text=In%20eight%20years%2C%20Nextdoor%20has,236K%20neighborhoods%20defined%20%5B2%5D
3. Nextdoor. Nextdoor for Local Business Marketing & Advertising. nBusiness. https://business.nextdoor.com/advertising-with-nextdoor 
4. Nextdoor. About advertising on Nextdoor. Nextdoor Help. https://help.nextdoor.com/s/article/About-advertising-on-Nextdoor?language=en_US 
5. Nextdoor. How to create a business post. Nextdoor Help. https://help.nextdoor.com/s/article/How-to-post-as-a-business?language=en_US 
6. Sehl, K. (2020, July 28). How to Use Nextdoor for Business: The Complete Guide. https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-use-nextdoor/