CASE STUDY NO . 7
Using Facebook Ads to Recruit Study Participants
Background and Objectives
With 80 percent of individuals going online to learn more about specific diseases or treatments , digital media has become a leading source of health information . 21 More and more , people use mobile devices to find this information , making it easier to gather consumer demographics , such as age , gender and location . 22 This growing population of online users represents an opportunity for clinical researchers to engage with and recruit a broader audience at a lower cost than through traditional marketing channels .
To determine the efficacy of digital marketing as a low cost method of recruitment , The Michael J . Fox Foundation ( MJFF ), in conjunction with the Fox Insight Recruitment Committee , designed a marketing pilot to recruit individuals with late-stage Parkinson ’ s disease ( PD ) to Fox Insight . Fox Insight ( foxinsight . org ) is MJFF ’ s online longitudinal study that collects patient reported outcomes on the daily lived experience of individuals with and without PD . Objectives for the marketing pilot were to : 1 ) increase the volume of enrolled participants through Facebook advertising ; 2 ) target and enroll participants at specific stages of disease ; and 3 ) examine costs of recruitment using digital methods .
Methods
Participants To ensure that Fox Insight accurately captures the daily lived experience of Parkinson ’ s disease , it is imperative that individuals at different stages of disease are equally represented in the study . However , age , and motor and non-motor symptoms make it challenging for individuals with later-stage PD 23 , 24 , 25 to participate in clinical research , and often they are underrepresented . People with late-stage PD were an important target population for the marketing pilot . To be shown an ad , individuals had to meet the following eligibility criteria :
+ + Currently living in the United States + + Age 60 or older
+ + Indicated “ Parkinson ’ s disease awareness ” as an individual interest and selected interests in subject areas related to PD or clinical trials ( e . g ., clinical trials , PD symptoms and PD organizations ) on Facebook
+ + Not already involved in the MJFF online community ( e . g ., had not visited the MJFF website in the past 30 days and had not ever “ liked ” the MJFF Facebook page )
Facebook was selected as the platform for the marketing pilot because of its vast reach , many targeting capabilities , 26 and tracking techniques that enabled referral source attribution for those individuals recruited to Fox Insight .
Materials Two types of Facebook ads were designed for the marketing pilot . One was aimed at individuals (“ me ” language ) and the other emphasized the collective effort of clinical research (“ we ” language ). Two subthemes were tested for each type of ad .
+ + Individual ( me ): Language appealed to users on an individual level , to be empowered to impact research by participating in an online clinical study ( Fox Insight ). An image of an individual participating in Fox Insight on their computer accompanied these ad variations .
–– Subtheme : Research Reimagined ( Figure 1 , opposite page )
––
Subtheme : Lead the way ( Figure 2 , opposite page )
+ + Collective ( we ): Language encouraged the user to contribute to a larger cause by participating in an online clinical study ( Fox Insight ). An image of a family sitting together in a waiting room accompanied these ad variations .
–– Subtheme : Join a Collective Goal ( Figure 3 , page 32 )
–– Subtheme : Impact the Future ( Figure 4 , page 32 )
21 http :// www . pewinternet . org / 2011 / 05 / 12 / the-social-life-of-health-information-2011 /
22 https :// www . mdconnectinc . com / medical-marketing-insights / 2016-trends-for-digital-recruitment-in-clinical-trials
23 https :// www . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov / pmc / articles / PMC2695395 /
24 https :// www . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov / pmc / articles / PMC3038575 /
25
( defined as having been diagnosed for ≥ 10 years , a score of 25 or higher on the MDS-UPDRS ( Part II ) and an NMS quest score of 13 or higher )
26 https :// www . mdconnectinc . com / medical-marketing-insights / digital-marketing-lowers-clinical-trial-recruitment-costs
30 Accelerating Clinical Trials : Best Practices for Recruitment and Retention