Top Tips for Using Social Media to Recruit Study Participants

This two-part interactive blog will share our lessons learned in successfully recruiting, screening, and enrolling participants into our two research studies.

Ever wondered how recruiting for a research study through social media works? Or maybe you tried but did not see the results you expected?

Over the last six months, Healthy Teen Network has recruited over 1,700 young women across the United States to participate in two randomized controlled trials to test our two new mobile apps. We primarily used social media to recruit participants and enrolled them through a website portal.

After considering various social media channels for launching our recruitment ads, we selected Facebook and Instagram. Facebook owns Instagram, and they use the same ads manager platform to create, deploy, and monitor campaigns. You can select on which channel you want your ads to be displayed. This also allows you to test on where they perform better without recreating your ads.

Click on the orange + signs on the images to learn more about each aspect of our campaigns.

Click on the orange + signs on the images to learn more about each aspect of our campaigns.

Click on the orange + signs on the images to learn more about each aspect of our campaigns.

Click on the orange + signs on the images to learn more about each aspect of our campaigns.

Click on the orange + signs on the images to learn more about each aspect of our campaigns.

This post is Part 1 of a 2-Part Series. Part 2 provides information about screening and enrolling your participants.

Genevieve Martínez-García, PhD, is the Healthy Teen Network Director of Innovation and Research and is committed to shaking things up and bringing innovation to our field. If her kids grant her any downtime, you can find her on her yoga mat, planning a trip, or working on a house project. Read more about Genevieve.

Nicholas Sufrinko is a Creative Direction and Product Design Manager at Healthy Teen Network and is the brand and creative lead behind many of our projects. You can often find him hiking, biking, or stargazing. Read more about Nick.

Milagros Garrido, MS, PMP, is the Associate Director for our Innovation and Research Department at Healthy Teen Network. Always ready for a challenge, she is at her best when she is finding clever and new ways of using technology to make the seemingly impossible a reality. Read more about Mila.