Wentzell, Katherine <br/><br/>
Engaging social media influencers to recruit hard-to-reach populations 

<br/><br/> Background <br/><br/>Though clinical researchers have begun to use social media platforms to recruit participants, social media influencers are innovative community connectors to further expand recruitment reach, especially in hard-to-reach populations.<br/>Objectives <br/><br/>The purpose of this methods article is to provide a step-by-step guide for engaging social media influencers for virtual participant recruitment.<br/>Methods <br/><br/>There are multiple steps for researchers to follow, including preplanning, institutional review board approval, engaging with influencers, the pitch, the post, and results dissemination.<br/>Discussion <br/><br/>Engaging social media influencers to recruit for clinical research demonstrates great potential to increase access to hard-to-reach populations. Several methodological considerations remain, and this article shares both opportunities and challenges to guide researchers in this technique.<br/> 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Biomedical Research - standards.<br/>Clinical research.<br/>Influencer marketing<br/>Social Media.<br/>Virtual Reality