An evaluation of paid social media advertising and traditional advertising for addiction research recruitment

Background

Social media advertising may improve efficiency and reduce costs for research recruitment. However, few studies comparing social media-based and traditional recruitment methods aimed to recruit people with a history of substance use.

Methods

Between May 2022 and September 2024, we enrolled people in treatment and/or recovery from an opioid use disorder into a randomized trial of a mobile app-based peer recovery support program with six months of follow-up. We used multiple recruitment strategies including paid social media advertising (Facebook, Craigslist) and traditional methods (trial website, bus advertisements, flyers). We summarized cost per enrollment, enrollments per month, and the percentage of inquiries that were valid, valid inquiries that were from eligible people, and eligible people who enrolled by advertising modality.

Results

All measures of performance differed by modality (each P < 0.01). Cost per enrollment was lowest for the trial website, flyers, and Craigslist ($0–$13.88) and highest for bus advertisements and Facebook ($101.30–$644.26). Recruitment rates were highest for Facebook and Craigslist (10.0–14.7 enrollments/month) and lowest for flyers, bus advertisements, and the trial website (2.9–6.2 enrollments/month). Craigslist was least likely to yield valid inquiries (59.0 % vs. 68.8 %–77.8 %). Valid inquiries from Facebook were least likely to be from eligible people (33.0 % vs. 53.8%–65.2 %), and eligible people identified through Facebook were least likely to enroll (55.2 % vs. 76.3%–91.1 %).

Discussion

Researchers recruiting a national sample of people with a history of substance use may maximize cost-effectiveness and efficiency by using a study website and paid Craigslist advertisements. Flyers may also be highly cost-effective for local recruitment.