By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    stress management for healthcare workers
    3 Tips For Healthcare Professionals: How To Stay Beautiful, Healthy, and Happy
    November 2, 2021
    importance of relaxing on the weekend for your health
    Importance of Relaxing During the Weekend for Optimal Health
    March 25, 2022
    LASIK Eye Surgery
    What Is LASIK Eye Surgery?
    May 16, 2022
    Latest News
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    The Hidden Impact Of Stress On Your Body’s Alignment And Balance
    May 22, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    The PCMH and Home Care Data: An Interview with Melissa McCormack
    December 19, 2013
    IT Strategy for Health Plans: Interview with ikaSystems CEO Joe Marabito
    August 11, 2014
    A New Kind of Stress Test
    May 26, 2015
    Latest News
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
    Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
    June 25, 2025
    When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
    June 20, 2025
    Preventing Contamination In Healthcare Facilities Starts With Hygiene
    June 15, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Using Facebook for Clinical Trial Recruitment
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Technology > Medical Innovations > Using Facebook for Clinical Trial Recruitment
eHealthMedical InnovationsSocial MediaTechnologyWellness

Using Facebook for Clinical Trial Recruitment

Jonathan Catley
Jonathan Catley
Share
5 Min Read
facebookcoffee.jpg
SHARE

Facebook’s advanced targeting capabilities and enormous user base make it an ideal tool for effective and efficient clinical trial recruitment. As pharmaceutical companies increasingly turn to digital media for clinical trial recruitment, it’s important they seek out channels that allow for targeted advertising, efficient scaling of ad spend, and advanced campaign performance tracking and optimization capabilities. Facebook’s ad platform checks all three of these boxes, making it an invaluable tool for sponsors and CROs hoping to increase recruitment ROI. Not only does Facebook allow ad targeting based on condition affinity and demographics, but user interactions with ads (such as “likes” and “shares”) direct the same ads to the user’s friends. Additionally, campaign managers can edit their Facebook ad budget at any time — paired with the company’s Ads Manager app, this provides the ability to continuously optimize your ad spend throughout the course of a trial. These targeting capabilities complement the obvious advantage of Facebook’s sheer size and popularity. Worldwide, there are over 1.71 billion monthly active Facebook users and 1.13 billion daily active users. (In the U.S. and Canada alone, the number of daily active users is 167 million.) As of June 2016, there were 1.57 billion active mobile users, and this figure is increasing 20% year-over-year. Unsurprisingly, these users translate into page views: even back in 2012, approximately 1 in 5 of the total number of page views in the U.S. occurred on Facebook.

Contents
Ad TypesProven Results

Ad Types

Facebook provides four placement options for ads — on a user’s Timeline, on their mobile Timeline, on their Instagram account, and in the right column of their desktop or laptop page (see screenshot below). Ads are automatically placed in all four locations, but you can choose to manually place your ads using the Power Editor or Ads Manager. When placing ads manually, try to include a mix of swipe ads and static ads. Since only right column ads are static, marketers should always select this option along with the other placement options. image05.png Ads on Facebook are composed of four elements: a header, an image, a call-to-action (CTA), and user engagement options (specifically, Like, Comment, and Share). The ad header, comprised of a page logo, page link, and headline, accounts for about 15% of user responses. The CTA, which is responsible for the other 85%, links to URLs outside of Facebook such as the trial’s patient portal or a local microsite. image02-2.png

Proven Results

For clinical trial recruitment, the industry standard banner ad response rate, or the ratio of click rate to ad impressions, ranges between 0.1% and 0.3% — by comparison, the Facebook ad response rate is between 0.5% and 1.2%, which, considering that the ratio of initial responses to actual enrolled patients is typically high for clinical trials, is a huge advantage. This uptick is likely a result of Facebook’s advanced targeting capabilities, which can direct ads based on location, age, gender, interests, and other qualities that are highly relevant to clinical trial qualification. Of course, with so much visibility in a public setting, there’s always the concern of negative user comments and misinformation. Luckily, there are a number of ways to avoid such problems, including disabling user comments, setting up comment moderation, or deleting any potentially harmful or misleading comments before they gain significant visibility. It’s also worth mentioning that of the 3.3 million impressions we served for clinical trial campaigns in the example below, not a single known comment has been posted by an actual trial participant. image03.png Quite simply, this platform has it all: a massive user base, advanced targeting capabilities, and a number of ways to effectively vet user generated content and maintain control over the trial’s online presence. With so many upsides and so few drawbacks, Facebook advertising for clinical trial recruitment is a no-brainer.

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

9 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Add Years to Your Life
9 Healthcare Lifestyle Tweaks That can Add Years to Your Life
lifestyle
July 11, 2025
car accident lawsuit
Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
Policy & Law
July 6, 2025
women dental care
What Is a Smile Makeover and How Much Does It Cost?
Dental health
June 30, 2025
HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps
Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
June 25, 2025

You Might also Like

Digital-Marketing-Google-Location-Extensions-Healthcare.jpg
Social Media

Saving Healthcare Digital Marketing Budget With Google’s Location Extensions

January 8, 2016
Health careWellness

5 Reasons Why Very Few Adult Patients with Anxiety Disorders Receive Suitable Treatment

February 9, 2018
A Guide to Healthy and Happy Aging
SpecialtiesWellness

The Connection Between Positive Thinking And Healing In Physiotherapy

February 3, 2019

Big Gaps in Digital Conversations About Cancer

June 1, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?