Attach11_SFTXT_RecruitPlan

SmokefreeTXT Evaluation
Outreach Strategy and Tactics for Recruiting Participants
MMG has crafted a comprehensive online strategy to recruit participants ages
18–29 for the SmokefreeTXT evaluation. The strategy includes implementing the
following tactics over the course of six months.

Email Outreach

Several partners will be engaged and will deploy IRB-approved communication to
individuals who self-reported smoking tobacco. Emails will be targeted based on
demographics and geography. An overall goal of 4,248 registered participants
will be tracked on a weekly and monthly basis, with benchmarks set for each
email and online vendor. Budget may be re-allocated among the tactics to
increase spending and maximize referrals from the best performing tactics.

Online Advertising

The cornerstone of the recruitment strategy is online advertising using multiple
channels. For each channel or tactic, multiple ads are created to appeal to the
varied audience and also allow for optimization (showing a variety of ads to
prevent fatigue or continuing to run the most successful ads). Several tactics will
be implemented, including:
Facebook Ads
The ads appear in the right-hand column of pages throughout Facebook. Ads are
targeted to the content of a profile (demographic, geographic and interest based
information such as music preferences, social activities, sports, etc.) and social
actions (liking a page or group). Outreach efforts will focus on targeting
individuals 18-29 and possibly in select geographic areas with the highest rates
of adult smokers.
Craigslist
This free classifieds/forum service has a presence in all major U.S. markets. An
advertisement can be posted in the community volunteers section in major
markets. Ads will be posted on a rotating basis in 10–20 markets. To prevent
Craigslist from flagging and removing posts, each market will receive no more
than one posting weekly. In addition, posting will be made from several user
accounts and will use multiple rotating headlines. Cities in states with the highest
rates of adult smokers (Charleston, WV (26.8 percent); Louisville, KY (24.8
percent); Oklahoma City, OK (23.7 percent); etc.)* can also be selectively
targeted.
*BRFSS 2010 Data

Google Display Network
Banner advertisements will display on partner sites with relevant content and
search activity. Although initially ads will show for all relevant network sites
(based on smoking or lifestyle-related keywords), the plan will be optimized
weekly based on site-specific performance.
Yahoo! Display Network
Banner advertisements will be displayed on partner sites and optimized as
described above (however, these will not be targeted based on keywords, only
demographics and geography). The banners will initially run on all Yahoo!
partner sites such as Yahoo! Health, Yahoo! News and Yahoo! Shine.
Pandora
This free, personalized online radio will be used to target registered users based
on geography, demographics, and music preferences with banner ads.

Recruitment Goals and Ongoing Assessment

MMG will achieve the overall goal of 4,248 registrants through online advertising
(approximately 70 percent of goal) and email outreach (approximately 30
percent of goal). MMG will monitor and adjust the tactics weekly and monthly
based on performance goals set for each tactic (such as participants registered
through a particular email vendor, click though rates, or registration rates for
banner ads on particular sites).