Finding eligible patients on time is critical for clinical trials. While traditional, site-based recruitment remains the foundation of most efforts, supplementing this channel with digital strategies can be key to meeting goals related to timelines, cost, and patient diversity. In fact, social-media recruitment has been often leveraged in mental health trials, performing comparably to, or better than, traditional recruitment in 70% of cases [1]. Performance is, of course, case-dependent and affected the trial’s requirements and measures used to optimize the campaign.
Timeline Impact: Social media is 2.7 times faster in a depression study
Social media enables rapid outreach to large audiences, accelerating patient engagement and site activation timelines. With advanced targeting capabilities, recruitment teams can reach very specific populations based on age, gender, language, and behavioral signals—such as users who have interacted with mental health-related content.
In our recent recruitment effort for a validation study of a suicidality assessment questionnaire, online recruitment yielded 46% of all participants (231 enrollments) within six months, while traditional recruitment accounted for 54% (282 enrollments) over thirteen months [2]. Online recruitment was 2.7 times faster. Half of the online recruits (116 of 231) came from Facebook, with the remainder from Instagram, TikTok, Google Ads, or unattributed digital sources.
Cost Efficiency: On Par with Site-Based Recruitment
According to literature, social media recruitment is more cost-effective than traditional patient recruitment channels—such as television, radio, direct mail, and healthcare provider referrals— in 56% of cases [1], enabling the lowest cost per lead. With real-time performance tracking, campaigns can be continuously optimized dynamically. The ability to efficiently test messaging, visuals, static v. video, and calls to action further enhances ROI over time.In our depression campaign, video ads performed 50% to 70% more cost-efficiently than the best image advertisements. [2] The best-performing image depicted a sad woman, with 20% and 40% lower cost per lead than a sad male face in the male and female audiences, respectively. Ultimately, we achieved cost parity with the compensation paid to physicians (cost per enrollment: €29 online vs. €30 traditional)
Diversity: Online Recruitment Can Boost Patient Representation
One of the most powerful advantages of social media in patient recruitment is its ability to reach populations traditionally hard to engage with—such as the undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, underrepresented minorities, individuals in medically underserved regions, and those affected by socially often stigmatized conditions like mental health. In our depression study [2], online recruitment helped reach individuals from the “under-the-radar” population—those experiencing mental distress but with minimal or no contact with the healthcare system. Regarding age groups, TikTok primarily recruited individuals aged 20 to 30, while Facebook reached mostly those aged 35 to 55. Instagram showed a broad reach, from ages 25 to 55, essentially combining the age demographics of Facebook and TikTok.
Digital recruitment represents a complementary strategy in mental health clinical research. Digital platforms not only accelerate enrollment—in the above case, it outperformed traditional methods in speed by a factor of nearly three—but also achieve comparable cost-efficiency and expand access to more diverse, often underrepresented populations. As mental health conditions require timely, inclusive, and patient-centered engagement, leveraging online recruitment offers a scalable, data-driven way to enhance the reach and equity of future studies without compromising quality or budget.
For more information, you can view the full peer reviewed paper here: Efficient Online Recruitment of Patients With Depressive Symptoms Using Social Media: Cross-Sectional Observational Study in JMIR Publications
[1] Sanchez C et al. (2020) Compr Psychiatry 103: 152197
[2] Haas C, Klein L et al. (2025) JMIR Ment Health 12, e65920
Dr. Matthias Roos
Matthias Roos is the Director of Scientific Affairs at SubjectWell, where he leads global research initiatives and thought leadership programs that help transform clinical development for sponsors, CROs, and clinical sites. With a strong background in clinical trial technology and strategic consulting, Matthias brings a unique blend of scientific and operational expertise to the patient recruitment space.
Before joining SubjectWell, Matthias served as Director of Strategy at Climedo, spearheading solutions for Real-World Evidence and non-interventional studies. He also previously worked at McKinsey & Company as a Senior Consultant, advising top-tier clients across pharmaceuticals, engineering, and enterprise technology. Matthias holds a Ph.D. in Physics and has authored 15 scientific papers with over 600 citations.
