Using Social Media for Clinical Trial Recruitment
The role of social media as a recruitment tool for clinical research has become one of many methods study teams use to recruit participants. However, there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration before deciding to use social media as a method of recruitment. In this article, I will discuss the “do’s and don’ts” of using social media in clinical trial recruitment.
Do: Know your institution’s social media policy
The first step is to research your institutions and study sites’ social media requirements. Research teams should work with their own marketing department because each institution has a different policy around using social media for study recruitment. Some are fine with study teams creating their own social media presence (e.g. page), others want to run the recruitment campaign through their institution’s social media page. Each situation is very institution-specific and varies by site, so it’s best to learn your institution’s requirements before any official submission.
Do: Prepare for Institutional Review Board (IRB) review and approval
Submitting social media requests to the IRB requires some preparation:
- Develop a social media “package” to submit to the IRB which outlines using social media as a new recruitment method, and the messaging/ads that would be run.
- Describe your target demographic, any filtering you’re using, and how you will respond back to messages on Facebook or in comments to ads so they know how this will be handled.
- Submit all images that will be used and get them approved.
- If you are developing a study website “landing page” — this also needs IRB approval.
- Evaluation metrics — if you are asking people how they heard about the study (such as in a screening form) — social media should be a response option. This question would need IRB approval as well.
Click here to learn more about IRBs and their role in research.
Read about “On the Ethics of Using Social Media Data for Health Research.”
Do: Know your audience
Next, research your audience. Without knowing exactly who your audience is and what platforms they use most, it’s difficult to select the most effective social media platform. For example, Facebook offers a huge potential audience for advertisements. However, it’s pertinent to laser-target your ads to reach users most likely to engage with them. Check out this fact sheet that breaks down the different audiences and their preferred social media channels.
Every social media platform caters to a wide variety of organizations by offering them the option to “filter” their audience. The ability to filter your audience is extremely advantageous for clinical trial recruitment, because this allows study teams to hone in on the exact demographic characteristics, interests, and related activities. Print or traditional media, such as posters, flyers, and brochures, do not allow this level of specificity in reaching your target audience.
With advertising shifting online, ads for clinical trials need to have creative elements tailored to the demographic you are seeking — just like print media. Tailoring your ads include choosing images of your target demographic, specific messaging that grabs the attention of specific age groups, gender, medical illness, etc., and audience appropriate language. Selecting language is one of the most important factors to pay attention to because you do not want to incorporate language that is offensive; be sure to follow guidelines and double check your images and language before publishing the ads.
Do: Explain how to contact your study team
Alongside the ad itself, make sure the audience has information on how to get in touch with you about the clinical trial. Offer a phone number and/or email address. People who are interested may also reach out to you by direct messaging you on the social media site. Be sure there is a designated person to respond to messages. If you have a landing page for your study, you can direct them there to learn more about the study and possibly fill out a screen form.
Do: Test your ads
Creating social media content can be a lot of fun, but make sure you are testing a couple of content pieces or ads against each other — A/B test. This type of testing lets you know which ad out of the 2, 3, etc. is working best and attaining the most results. Facebook’s automated A/B tests use the same underlying technology to compare a different creative, audience or placement and determine a winner. All your test results will be available once the test is finished. If you have never used social media for your clinical trial, start out with two ads so it is easier to compare. These two ads should be mostly similar with one main differentiating factor, which will let you know how the audience relates to it. For example, both ads could have the same language, but ad “A” would have an image and ad “B” would not. If one ad gets more traction over the other, you know right away the reason for one ad’s success over the other.
Do: Build an appropriate social media budget
Once IRB has approved your ad submission and you’ve done research on your audience, budgeting for social media recruitment is the next step. How much you spend on social media recruitment should depend on the sample size and characteristics of the target study population. Two strategies to consider when budgeting:
- Strategy #1: Check whether your target population has been recruited on social media and whether cost data have been published.
- Strategy #2: Set up an ad campaign on Facebook and see what Facebook suggests as the spending amount.
Do: Evaluate your social media strategy
Now that you have put in all that hard work to prepare, the fun begins — collecting data! Social media platforms offer analytics for ads on their platform. This is a good starting point to:
1. See how many people your ads reached
2. How many people engaged with the ad
3. How many clicks your ad received
Although this data does not directly tell you how many people turned into actual participants, you could ask your participants how they heard about the clinical trial after they enroll. Most social media platforms offer informative data to assess the effectiveness of your ads, so be sure to use each platform’s resources. Check out this great guide that explains the different social media metrics.
While social media offers a great space to connect with people who would be considered “hard-to-reach”, there are “don’ts” to keep in mind.
Don’t:
1. …Limit yourself to just one social media site. Pick the platform(s) that will be most effective in reaching your target audience.
2. …Ask your audience to share personal information on the platform. Encourage those who are interested to submit information through your institution’s secure form, preventing them from posting about personal experience and personal health information.
3. …Forget about your ads. Monitor your ads and make sure you are responding to any inquiries or referrals. You do not want to miss opportunities to connect with potential participants!
4. …Lose sight of your goals. Although one of the aims of using social media is to reach a vast audience pool, another goal should be to create awareness of your trial with the hope that those who see the ad will be eligible for the trial and enroll. Creating awareness about your study has a better chance of more people being aware and sharing it with their family and friends, who may also be eligible to enroll.
For many research teams, social media may serve as an additional route to accompany more conventional recruitment strategies. By considering these social media “do’s” and “don’ts”, you’ll soon be on your way to running a successful social media campaign!
References:
- FDA. “IRB-FAQs.” Fda.gov, Jan. 2019, www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/institutional-review-boards-frequently-asked-questions. Accessed 2 Jan. 2022.
- Gonzalez-Hernandez, Dr. Graciela Gonzalez-Hernandez. “On the Ethics of Using Social Media Data for Health Research.” NLM Musings from the Mezzanine, 25 June 2019, nlmdirector.nlm.nih.gov/2019/06/25/on-the-ethics-of-using-social-media-data-for-health-research/. Accessed 2 Jan. 2022.
- “Demographics of Social Media Users and Adoption in the United States.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 11 Jan. 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/.
- A/B Tests Types Available on Facebook. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1159714227408868?content_id=hm7ZSCLtFLb3oQs&ref=sem_smb&utm_source=GOOGLE&utm_medium=fbsmbsem&utm_campaign=PFX_SEM_G_BusinessAds_US_EN_Brand_Exact_Desktop&utm_content=Ads-Testing_Evaluating&kenid=_k_Cj0KCQiAmKiQBhClARIsAKtSj-kxwfBfOGASwobCCSQ70iH8-YNN-OP1YY0DgCwfdHnw0MZFnlms98oaAglhEALw_wcB_k_&utm_term=facebook+a%2Fb+testing&utm_ct=EVG&gclid=Cj0KCQiAmKiQBhClARIsAKtSj-kxwfBfOGASwobCCSQ70iH8-YNN-OP1YY0DgCwfdHnw0MZFnlms98oaAglhEALw_wcB. Accessed February 2, 2022.
- Chen, Jenn. “The Most Important Social Media Metrics to Track.” Sprout Social, 26 Mar. 2021, sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-metrics/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2022.
