Using Google Adwords to recruit family carers of people with dementia

Abstract

Aim: Online advertising is a new frontier in research recruitment and Google Adwords (GA) is one method of online advertising. Only a handful of studies, however, have described its cost and effectiveness and none have focused on older adults. The aim of this paper is to describe a GA campaign used to recruit family carers of people with dementia and provide insight for researchers planning to use GA to recruit other older adults. Method: A GA campaign was used to recruit family carers of people with dementia to a cross-sectional study of wellbeing. Results: The ads were viewed more than 450,000 times in a six-week period, but only 49 surveys were completed, at a cost of $122 per survey. Conclusion: GA has promise, but much remains to be understood about how to maximize its potential in ageing research. Recommendations for the design of future GA campaigns are provided. © 2013 ACOTA.