Abstract
BackgroundDespite youth's shift from Facebook to Instagram, the literature on how to use Instagram to recruit youth for clinical trials is scant. This paper reports procedures and comparative metrics on the use of Facebook and Instagram to recruit a nationwide sample (N = 1216) of LGBQ youth, aged 15 and 16 years, for an online drug abuse prevention trial. MethodsOur recruitment campaign used ads on Facebook and promoted posts on Instagram. Ads and posts shared common images, headlines, and captions. Ads and posts directed youth to a study recruitment website for informed consent and enrollment procedures. ResultsOur campaign ran for 48 non-consecutive days, yielded N = 1216 participants, had a total cost of $25,400.31, and an average cost per participant of $20.89. Facebook ads and Instagram promoted posts ran for a similar number of days. However, compared to Instagram, Facebook ad costs more twice as much (115 %), 51 % fewer clicks, and had an average cost-per-click that was 338 % higher. Furthermore, despite being shown more than 4 times as often to users and garnering more than twice as many unique views, Facebook ads had a click-through-rate that was 90 % lower than Instagram promoted posts. ConclusionInstagram promoted posts outperformed ads on Facebook by driving more potential participants to the study recruitment website and for less money.
Published Version
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