Ad placement, formats & Specs on Social Media- the complete guide

As I mentioned earlier on my blog, social media advertising (paid promotions) could help you to promote your brand and get your contents in front of your followers easily.

Let’s have a look at the ad formats available on different social media and the specifications for each format.

Facebook and Instagram

Facebook and Instagram support multiple ad formats with varied specs such as dimensions, file sizes, and character limits.

Ad placement

Choose where you want to place your ad. When you create an ad facebook lets you show your ads in places where it could get more performance. Facebook feed, right column, Facebook instant articles, marketplace, Instagram stories, Instagram feed, messenger, etc. are the ad location available for Facebook and Instagram ads.

The availability of these placements depends on the objective you choose for your ad. The different ad placements are:

• Facebook feed — allow the audience to see your ad on their desktop and mobile News Feed.
• Right column— This is the desktop only format. Such ads mostly appear on the right side column of Facebook pages. They may appear in other areas of the site.
• Instant articles — Mobile-optimized format that enables publishers to distribute fast-loading interactive articles to Facebook’s app
• Marketplace — Allow users to see your ad in Facebook’s marketplace.
• In-Stream videos — Allows your ad to appear in Live video and video on Demand
• Suggested videos — Your ads will be seen in the suggested videos in the Feed.
• Instagram stories — These ads appear between Instagram user stories.
• Instagram feed — This placement helps your audience to see your ad on their Instagram app feed.
• Audience Network — Allow your ads to appear when your audience views approved Audience Network sites and apps.
• Sponsored message — Sponsored Messages are targeted ads to re-engage people who have an existing conversation with your business. Targets people you have an existing conversation within Messenger.
• Messenger — allow your audience to see your ad within the Messenger app home screen.

Ad Formats

You can create ads with the formats like image, video, slideshow, carousel, collection, canvas and leads on Facebook. You should keep your texts minimum. Facebook doesn’t want your ad to be loaded with text. It is Suggested that you keep your texts up to 20% of your content.

Instagram has & ad types which are, single image, carousel, video, slideshow, lead, stories image, and stories video ad with each having size, format specification. Instagram limits its characters for the ads up to 125.

These specifications vary depending on the location of your ad placement.

Ad specs for each format

1. Single Image

• File type: jpg or png
• Image ratio: 9:16 to 16:9
• Recommended resolution: Upload the highest resolution image available.
• Text: 125 characters
• Minimum Image Width in Pixels: 600
• Minimum Image Height in Pixels: 600

With Link

• Images cropped to 1.91:1
• Recommended resolution: at least 1,200 x 628px
• Headline: 25 characters
• Link Description: 30 characters

2. Single Video

• Video Ratio: 9:16 to 16:9
• Video File Size: 4GB Max
• Recommended Resolution: Upload the highest resolution video available that meets file size and ratio limits.
• Video Length Minimum: 1 second
• Video Length Maximum: 240 Minutes
• Video Captions: Optional but recommended
• Video Sound: Optional but recommended
• Text: 125 characters (Video thumbnail images should not consist of more than 20% text)
• Bitrate: If your file is under 1GB and uses 2-pass encoding there is no bitrate limit. Otherwise, the limit is 8 megabits per second for 1080p and 4 megabits per second for 720p.
• Videos with aspect ratio taller than 2:3 may be masked to 2:3

With Link

• Headline: 25 characters
• Link Description: 30 characters

3. Carousel

• Minimum number of cards: 2
• Maximum number of cards: 10
• Image file type: jpg or png
• Video file type

Recommend: MP4 or MOV formats

Supported : 3g2, 3gp, 3gpp, asf, avi, dat, divx, dv, f4v, flv, gif, m2ts, m4v, mkv, mod, mov, mp4, mpe, mpeg, mpeg4, mpg, mts, nsv, ogm, ogv, qt, tod, ts, vob, wmv formats

• Video maximum file size: 4GB
• Video length: up to 240 minutes
• Image maximum file size: 30MB
• Recommended resolution: at least 1080 x 1080 px
• Recommended ratio: 1:1
• Text: 125 characters
• Headline: 40 characters
• Link Description: 20 characters

4. Slideshow

You can even create a slideshow ad out of stock images available in the ad creation process or use an existing video.

5. Collection

A collection includes a cover image or video followed by several product images. When someone clicks on a collection ad, they’ll land on Canvas.

• Image or Video: The cover image or video that displays in your collection ad uses the first media asset from your fullscreen Canvas
• Headline: 25 characters
• Text: 90 characters

Twitter

The Twitter card helps you to get visitors from twitter to your website.

Ad placement

There are several places where you can display twitter ads.

The availability of the placements depends on the objective of the ad.

• All on Twitter: All possible placement types on Twitter
• Twitter search: On the search results on Twitter
• Twitter timeline: On the timelines on Twitter
• Publisher network: On the Twitter Audience Platform
• Twitter profile: On the Twitter user profiles

Ad formats and specs

There are several types of cards you can use to create your ad on Twitter. Below you can see a complete list of Twitter card formats and the specifications for each.

1. Plain text tweet

• 280 characters (Each link used in the tweet reduces the count by 24 characters).

2. Image Website card

• 256 characters (24 characters are used for images).
• Website title length: 70 characters.
• Image size: 800 x 418 pixels for 1.91:1 aspect ratio, 800 x 800 pixels for 1:1 aspect ratio (max 3mb)
• Aspect Ratio: 1:91:1 or 1:1. (1x1 aspect ratio is not available to self-serve advertisers at this time.)
• File types: PNG, JPEG

3. Image app card

• 256 characters (24 characters are used for images).
• Image size: 800 x 800 pixels (max 3mb) for 1:1 aspect ratio. 800 x 418 pixels (max 3mb) for 1.91:1 aspect ratio
• File types: PNG, JPEG are recommended. GIFs will render as an image.
• Call to action: Install, Open, Play, Shop, Book, Connect, and Order.

4. Promoted video

• 280 characters.
• Title (under video): 70 characters.
• Description (under video): 200 characters.
• File type: MP4 or MOV.
• File size: 1GB Max
• Max time: 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
• Video codec recommendation: H264, Baseline, Main, or High profile with a 4:2:0 color space.
• Frame rate recommendation: 29.97FPS or 30FPS. Higher is acceptable.
• Video bitrate recommendation: 6,000–10,000k (recommended 6,000k) for 1080p. 5,000k — 8,000k (recommended 5,000k) for 720p).
• Audio codec recommendation: AAC LC (low complexity).
• Recommended aspect ratio: 16:9 or 1:1

Thumbnail

• Supported file types: PNG or JPEG.
• Recommended aspect ratio: 16:9 or 1:1
• Minimum size: 640 pixels by 360 pixels.
• Max size: 5mb

5. Single Image Tweets and GIFs

If you are about to use the same image on the desktop and your mobile, you should use the specifications recommended for mobile as the desktop specifications will be cropped on mobile.

Mobile

• 280 characters
• Image width/height: Minimum 600 X 335 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 16:9.
• Image file size: Max 15mb on twitter.com and 3mb on ads.twitter.com.
• File types: PNG, JPEG, or GIF

Desktop

• 280 characters
• Image width/height: minimum width 600 pixels. If the height exceeds the width, it will be cropped to 1:1.
• Aspect ratio: Any aspect between 2:1 &1:1. Others will be cropped to 1:1
• Image file size: Max 15mb on twitter.com & 3mb on ads.twitter.com.
• File types: PNG, JPEG, or GIF

6. Multi-image tweets

Mobile

• 280 characters
• Image width/height: Minimum 600 X 335 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 7:8 for two images tweet, 2:1 for four images and for three images tweet, there will be one 7:8 aspect ratio image on the left, with two 4:7 aspect ratio images on the right side.
• Image file size: Max 3mb on twitter.com & 1048kb on ads.twitter.com.
• File types: PNG or JPEG

Desktop

• 280 characters
• Image width/height: minimum 600 X 600 pixel images
• Aspect ratio: Multi-image Tweets will always be cropped to a square (1:1 aspect ratio). For two images, the images will be side by side horizontally. For three images, there will be one large square image on the left, with two square images running up the right side of the image. For four images, there will be one large square image on the left and three smaller square images along the side.
• Image file size: Max 3mb on twitter.com & 1048kb on ads.twitter.com.
• File types: PNG or JPEG

7. Video app cards

• 280 characters (while Ads Manager allows only 256 characters. 24 characters are used for images).
• Video ratio: 16x9 and 1x1.
• Title: Shortened to 70 characters.
• Description: Shortened to 200 characters.
• File size: 1GB Max
• File types: MP4 or MOV.
• Max time: 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
• Video codec recommendation: H264, Baseline, Main, or High profile with a 4:2:0 color space.
• Frame rate recommendation: 29.97FPS or 30FPS. Higher is acceptable.
• Video bitrate recommendation: 6,000–10,000k (recommended 6,000k) for 1080p. 5,000k — 8,000k (recommended 5,000k) for 720p).
• Audio codec recommendation: AAC LC (low complexity).

8. Video website cards

• 280 characters
• Headline (under video): 70 characters (less than 50 recommended)
• File type: MP4 or MOV
• Aspect Ratio: 16x9 or 1x1
• URL: begin with http:// or https://
• File size: 1GB Max.
• Video Codec: H264, baseline, 4:2:0 color space
• Frame rate: 29.97FPS or 30FPS
• Video bitrate recommendation: 6,000K — 10,000K for 1080P and 5,000K — 8,000K for 720P

9. Conversational Ads

• 256 characters (24 characters are used for the Conversational Card).
• Hashtag: 21 characters.
• Pre-populated user Tweet: 256 characters.
• Headline: 23 characters.
• Thank you text: 23 characters.
• Thank you URL (optional): 23 characters.
• Video (if used): Same specifications as in the “Promoted video” format in 16:9 aspect ratio.
• Image Specs (if used): File size: 3 MB, Aspect ratio: 5:2, Image width / height: 800 X 320PX, File formats: JPEG, PNG, non-animated GIFs.

10. Direct Message card

• 256 characters (24 characters are used for the card).
• Button text(call-to-action): 24 characters.
• Image specs (if used): File size: 3 MB, Aspect ratio: 5:2 or 1.91:1. Minimum image width: 800 pixels. File formats: JPEG, PNG, non-animated GIFs.
• Video specs (if used): Same specifications as in the “Promoted video” format in 16:9 aspect ratio.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn provides unmatched targeting options and easy ad creation.

Ad placement

Your ads can be shown on different places in LinkedIn based on the Ad format you choose.

• Profile Page
• Home Page
• Inbox
• Search Results Page
• Groups

The ads in Text Ads format can appear in any of these places also including,

• People You May Know page
• Who’s Viewed My Profile page

Ad formats and specs

You can use the article, link, image or video format to create your campaign based on your Ad product and objective of advertising.

1. Sponsored Content

Run native ads in the News Feed. This ad format allows you to deliver your company updates to people beyond your followers. You can target a specific audience and reach and engage with members on desktop, mobile, and tablet.

• Image Size: 1.91:1 ratio (1200x627px)
• Image max weight: 5MB
• Recommended PPI: 72 pixels per inch.
• Image types: JPG, GIF, PNG
• Introductory Text: 150 characters or less, including the landing page URL (On desktop you can add 600 characters. Characters above 150 will be displayed in the read more section).
• Ad Headline: 70 characters max to avoid truncation.
• Landing page URL: All URLs must have the “http://” “or https://” prefix.
• URLs longer than 23 characters are shortened by the LinkedIn shortener.
• Video Link Sharing: YouTube and Vimeo URLs are supported (Upload video from desktop, mobile upload not supported)
• Video Length: 3 seconds to 30 minutes (recommended less than 15 seconds)
• Video Layout: Horizontal
• Video size: Between 75 KB and 200 MB
• Video format: MP4
• Frame rate: Less than 30 FPS (frames per second)
• Pixel and aspect ratio requirements: 360p (480 x 360; wide 640 x 360), 480p (640 x 480), 720p (960 x 720; wide 1280x720), 1080p (1440 x 1080; wide 1920x1080)
• Audio format: AAC or MPEG4
• Audio size: Less than 64KHz

2. Sponsored InMail

Target your audience with relevant content delivered through LinkedIn messenger. Messages are delivered only if the members are active on LinkedIn and they ensure the Call-to-Action button get noticed on any device. These are highly targeted personalized messages and could drive more conversions.

• Sender’s Name: 30 characters (including spaces and punctuations)
• Subject Line: 60 characters (including spaces and punctuations)
• Body Text: 1500 characters (including spaces and punctuations)
• Clickable Links: up to 3 links
• Hyperlinked Text In Body: 70 characters (including spaces and punctuations)
• Call-to-Action (CTA): 20 characters maximum (including spaces)
• Custom T&Cs: 2500 characters (including spaces and punctuations)
• Banner Ad dimensions: 300x250
• File Type: JPG, PNG or GIF(non-animated)
• File size: 40kb

3. Text Ads

Text ads are the text link advertisements viewed under the section ‘Ads you may be interested in’. These ads appear only on the desktop. Depending on the placement images and logos might be removed. You only need to pay depending on the clicks and impression ad gets.

• Headline: 25 character (including spaces)
• Description Text: 75 character (including spaces)
• Image Size: 50x50 (Images are optional)
• Ad Size: Varies depending on the placement (300x250, 17x700, 160x600, 728x90, 496x80)
• All URLs must have the “http://'' or “https://” prefix.

Experiment

You have to try out different formats and find out which one works best for your profile.

Keep up with the changes and provide for your followers regularly.

Click here to read on how to select your budget and target audience.