Why Use Facebook Ads for Clinical Trials?
Facebook remains the largest social media platform with more than 2 billion daily active users. With the global average screen time at 6 hours and 40 minutes per day, Facebook provides an immense opportunity for reaching potential clinical trial participants. It is also one of the most cost-effective advertising platforms, allowing patient recruitment campaigns to achieve substantial reach without requiring massive budgets.
Another key advantage of Facebook is its broad user base. Unlike other social media platforms that tend to skew younger (e.g. Instagram and TikTok) or cater to specific niches (e.g. LinkedIn), Facebook has a diverse demographic spread, making it particularly useful for clinical trial recruitment that targets various age groups.
However, simply running clinical trial ads on Facebook is not enough - you need practical tips used by patient recruitment specialists to get the most out of your ads. Below are key practical tips proven to work in 2025 that will make your clinical trial ads more effective and maximize your recruitment success.
General Tips for Facebook Ads for Clinical Trials
1. Know and Understand Your Patient Population
As with any marketing effort, understanding your target audience is crucial. You need to know not just who they are, but also how they behave online, what motivates them, and what concerns they might have regarding clinical trials.
- Not every trial will have an audience that primarily uses Facebook. If the target population is younger, Instagram or TikTok may be more effective alternatives. However, for conditions that primarily affect older adults, such as arthritis or cardiovascular diseases, Facebook remains a great choice.
- Use Meta’s targeting tools to narrow down the audience based on the trial’s inclusion and exclusion criteria. This includes filtering by criteria such as age, gender, and location.
- Each medical condition has unique challenges - ads should resonate with the patient population. For instance, imagery showing a person clutching their stomach may work well for digestive disorders, while a person struggling to open a jar could be effective for arthritis trials. Using language that reflects the daily struggles and hopes of potential participants can make ads significantly more compelling.
2. Know Your Trial and Use It to Your Advantage
Understanding how the trial benefits participants and how it can better their life will help you resonate more with your target audience and make them more effective. What are the key benefits of joining this clinical trial? Emphasize these in the text and visuals.
- Access to cutting-edge therapies? Make this a focal point. Many patients participate in clinical trials because standard treatments have not worked for them.
- Financial compensation? Highlight it clearly, but ensure compliance with ethical advertising standards. If your trial provides stipends for travel or time, mention this transparently to alleviate concerns about inconvenience.
- Convenience (remote participation, short duration, minimal visits)? Showcase it visually and in the text. If your study offers at-home visits or virtual consultations, this can be a major selling point for participants who struggle with transportation or time constraints.
- Trust and credibility: Patients may hesitate due to concerns about safety or skepticism about clinical trials in general. Consider including endorsements from well-known institutions, brief mentions of FDA oversight, or patient testimonials to build confidence.
While there can be many benefits of joining the study for participants make sure not to overstuff clinical trial ads with too much information and text. Focus on what matters the most to your audience and delivers the best results and adapt to it using Facebooks analytics. The better you understand what matters the most to potential participants, the more engaging and effective your ads will be.
Specific Tips for Facebook Ads for Clinical Trials
3. Use High-Quality Images and Create Professional Designs
Trust and credibility are critical in patient recruitment. Poorly designed ads can create skepticism, making potential participants hesitant to engage.
- Facebook’s algorithm rewards high-quality ads by lowering the cost per click (we suggest paying for clicks rather than impressions). Well-designed visuals tend to get more engagement, leading to better ad performance and lower costs.
- Invest in professional ad creatives that align with the seriousness of a clinical trial. Avoid using cartoonish graphics or overly promotional visuals that may seem untrustworthy.
- Investing in high-quality photos can be well worth the investment but avoid stock photos that look overly generic or fake. Instead, use images that feel authentic, such as real-life scenarios related to the condition being studied.
4. Make Clinical Trial Ads Eye-Catching
The average social media user scrolls around 300 feet (91.4 meters) every day. This is roughly the length of the Statue of Liberty. In such a fast-paced environment, attention-grabbing ads are crucial.
- Use eye-catching colors and contrasting elements but maintain professionalism. Blues, greens, and soft neutrals work well in the healthcare space.
- Select images with people who look like the target demographic. People relate more to visuals that reflect their own age, ethnicity, and lifestyle.
- Ensure the headline is clear, concise, and grabs the attention of individuals living with condition being researched.
- Utilize carousel ads to break down the trial benefits into multiple slides, improving engagement and comprehension.
Learn more tips on how to use other digital tools and plaforms for clinical trial ads
5. Highlight Exclusion Criteria Early
Filtering out ineligible applicants early is a great way to save time and money. If too many unqualified people click on your ad, you will end up paying for leads that do not convert.
- Mention key exclusion criteria in both the text and on the landing page. If your trial is only for people between 18-65 years old, state this clearly upfront.
- This prevents frustration and reduces unqualified sign-ups, keeping recruitment costs low. Many potential applicants drop off when they realize they are not eligible, so pre-qualifying them in the ad itself improves efficiency.
- Consider using a short pre-screening questionnaire within Facebook’s lead form to further refine candidates before they reach your landing page.
6. Give Meta’s Algorithm Multiple Text Variations
Facebook ads have multiple text elements: Primary Text, Headline, Description, and Call-to-Action (CTA). Each of these fields provides an opportunity to test different messaging styles and to see what works best.
- Provide several variations for each section. For example, one version of the primary text may focus on treatment access, while another may highlight financial incentives.
- Meta will automatically prioritize the best-performing texts, optimizing results in real time.
- Testing different phrasing can significantly improve conversion rates. Even small changes, such as switching "Sign Up Today" to "See If You Qualify," can impact performance.
- Test one variable at a time. This allows you to see what works best for your audience and refine your strategy based on concrete data. If you test multiple factors simultaneously, it can be difficult to determine which change made the most impact on the ad’s performance.
Learn more about how to use social media ads for patient recruitment
7. Test Often in General – But Only One Variable at a Time
Testing is a crucial part of optimizing Facebook ads, but it is important to approach it methodically. Testing multiple elements at once can lead to confusion about what is actually driving performance – or lack thereof.
- Test one variable at a time. This allows you to see what works best for your audience and refine your strategy based on concrete data. If you test multiple factors simultaneously, it can be difficult to determine which change made the most impact on the ad’s performance.
- Focus on one element per test - whether it is overlay text, targeting, images, or placements. This helps you isolate the specific elements that need refinement and leads to better long-term results.
- Monitor and adjust continuously. Running tests consistently will allow you to optimize your ads over time, which is crucial for maximizing cost effectiveness long term and your return on investment.
8. Listen to Your Comments
Engagement with your audience is not just about clicks or sign-ups – it is about understanding and addressing their needs. Pay attention to the comments on your ads.
- Respond to questions and concerns. Potential participants may be confused about the trial or how to sign up. If there are recurring questions, use them as an opportunity to improve your ads and the user experience.
- Improve clarity and usability. If users are unsure of how to sign up or navigate the process, consider adjusting the flow, making it more intuitive or simplifying the language on your landing page or form.
- Use feedback to refine your approach. Listening to comments and improving the process based on user input helps increase trust and engagement, ultimately improving conversion rates.
Learn more about 7 tips for social media clinical trial recruitment
9. Use Lookalike Audiences
Once your ads have generated some traction and you have a solid pool of sign-ups from eligible participants, leveraging Meta’s lookalike audiences can be a great way to amplify your efforts.
Lookalike audiences are made up of people who share traits and behaviors with your current participants, making them more likely to be interested in your clinical trial.
- Set up a Conversion Pixel for Eligible Participants. To make the most of your lookalike audiences, ensure your conversion pixel is properly set up not just to track landing page visits, but specifically to track eligible participants - those who meet the criteria for your clinical trial. This allows Meta’s algorithm to optimize your ad targeting, ensuring you reach people who share similar traits with those who are likely to enroll in the trial.
- By creating lookalike audiences based on your highest-quality leads, you ensure that your ad budget is used more effectively.
- Test different audience sizes. Experiment with different levels of lookalike audience sizes (1%, 2%, etc.) to see which works best for your campaign. Larger audiences might give you more reach, while smaller, more specific ones can yield higher engagement rates.
10. Optimize Continuously
Optimization is not a one-time task – it is an ongoing process. Constantly review and refine both the creative and targeting aspects of your campaign.
- Review ad performance regularly. Monitor which images, texts, and demographic groups are yielding the best results. This will help you make informed adjustments.
- Focus on what drives high-quality conversions. For example, by analyzing the data you might notice that certain age groups, locations, or behaviors have higher enrollment or randomization rates. Adjust your targeting accordingly to maximize efficiency. While some leads may be cheaper and generate more engagement at first, they may not necessarily be as likely to reach randomization in the end.
Learn more about strategies to improve patient recruitment in clinical trials
Final Thoughts on Effective Facebook Ads for Clinical Trials
Facebook ads, when used correctly, can be a game-changer for clinical trial recruitment. With its ability to target highly specific audiences and provide data-driven insights, Facebook can help streamline your recruitment process and maximize results. Remember, successful Facebook ads for clinical trials are a balance of creativity, testing, and constant optimization.
We hope this list has given you some practical and actionable tips that you can use to cost-effectively recruit patients. Clinical trial recruitment can be challenging and time-consuming. In the U.S., more than 80% of clinical trials fail to achieve targeted patient enrollment, and 30% of study participants discontinue participation.
At Patiro, we have a proven track record using Facebook ads as part of our patient recruitment plan and we have collaborated with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, assisting them with patient recruitment. Our patient recruitment strategies have led to 65% less patient dropouts and 40% faster recruitment timelines based on case studies. Patiro has supported trials with patient recruitment in 44 countries and across 2,000 diseases, including including rare diseases, oncology, CNS, psychiatry, pediatrics, and a lot more.
If you believe Patiro could be the right partner for your clinical trial, schedule a demo today to learn more about how we can help you.
