Over the years I’ve been involved with recruiting patients for clinical trials, the digital advertising landscape has changed and evolved. Back in the day there was no Facebook advertising capability – whereas now it makes-up the majority of digital outreach activity.

Within Facebook itself, there have also been several changes. There’s been a restriction on targeting by health-related interests – formerly a key element in ad campaigns up until a couple of years ago. And in a more encouraging move, Facebook has relaxed its internal restrictions on the messaging you can use. For instance, it used to be that Facebook didn’t like you asking questions in ads – which has changed over the last 12-18 months, such that questions are now more generally acceptable.

On top of this, newer digital platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok have entered the market – providing a wider range of avenues for digital outreach activities.