Facebook/YouTube Video Advertising Guide

In recent years, the growth of digital video advertising expenditures has increased year by year, and advertisers have spent an increasing proportion of their money on video advertising. However, major platforms release new video ad formats and update old video ad formats frequently and irregularly, so it has become a challenge to tailor videos for each platform and ensure that their content is in optimal condition.

Today, we have compiled for you the video specifications for each of the most popular social platforms.

Facebook Video Specs:

Optimizing video content for Facebook isn’t easy, primarily because of the many ways it delivers video to users.

Facebook video ads appear in a number of different formats (in the mobile news feed, in the sidebar on the desktop version of Facebook, and even in the Facebook Messenger inbox, to name a few).

Regular Facebook Video:

Recommended size: 1280 x 720 pixels.

Minimum width: 600 pixels;

Supported aspect ratios: 16:9 (horizontal), 9:16 (full screen), 2:3 (vertical), 4:5 (vertical), square (1:1).

Tip: For best results, Facebook recommends uploading videos in .MP4 and .MOV formats with H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps+. Videos can be up to 240 minutes long, 4GB in size, and have a maximum frame rate of 30fps.

Facebook 360 Video:

Maximum size: 4096 x 2048 pixels, 2:1 aspect ratio;

Minimum size: 600 pixels wide;

Recommended specs: .MP4 format, maximum file size 1.75GB, maximum length 40 minutes, maximum frame rate 60fps.

Tip: If the camera you recorded your video with automatically includes 360 video metadata in the video file, you can upload the video like any other video. If not, click the Advanced tab when uploading to bring up Facebook's 360 Controls tab, which lets you convert unformatted footage into 360 video.

Facebook In-Stream Video Ads:

Recommended size: 1280 x 720 pixels.

Minimum size, landscape video: 600 x 315 pixels (aspect ratio 1.9:1);

Minimum size, square video: 600 x 600 pixels (1:1 aspect ratio);

Recommended specifications: .MP4 or .MOV format, maximum file size 4GB, maximum length 120 minutes, maximum frame rate 30fps.

Facebook Messenger Video Ads:

Recommended size: 1280 x 720 pixels.

Supported aspect ratios: 16:9 to 1.91:1;

Tip: Facebook recommends uploading "the highest resolution video that meets the file size and ratio limits." Videos can be up to 240 minutes long and up to 4GB in size, with a maximum frame rate of 30fps.

Facebook Carousel Video Ads:

Recommended size: 1080 x 1080 pixels (aspect ratio 1:1);

Minimum size, landscape video: 600 x 315 pixels (aspect ratio 1.9:1);

Minimum size, square video: 600 x 600 pixels (1:1 aspect ratio);

Recommended specifications: .MP4 or .MOV format, maximum length of 240 minutes, maximum frame rate of 30fps, maximum file size of 4GB.

Tip: A carousel lets you showcase up to 10 images or videos in one ad without requiring users to navigate to a new page. For best results, use a video that is 1080 x 1080 pixels square (1:1).

Facebook Collection cover video:

Recommended size: 1200 x 628 pixels.

Minimum size, landscape video: 600 x 315 pixels (aspect ratio 1.9:1);

Minimum size, square video: 600 x 600 pixels (aspect ratio 1:1);

Recommended specifications: .MP4 or .MOV format, maximum file size 4GB, maximum length 120 minutes, maximum frame rate 30fps.

Tip: Collections are a new ad type that makes it easier for users to browse and purchase products directly in their Facebook feed. You can choose to have your videos automatically play as users scroll through your collection, and clicking on a video will open Canvas, a full-screen experience designed to drive traffic directly to your product pages.

Instagram Video Specs

Instagram supports three kinds of videos: square, vertical, and horizontal.

If you're unsure which format to go with, it's best to go with the square format because square videos are better suited for viewing on desktop and mobile devices, and they take up more space in a user's feed than horizontal videos, but don't crowd the entire screen like vertical videos do.

Instagram regular video, Instagram feed video ads:

Square video: 600 x 600 pixels (aspect ratio 1:1);

Horizontal video: 600 x 315 pixels (aspect ratio 1.9:1);

Vertical video: 600 x 750 pixels (aspect ratio 4:5);

Recommended specifications: .MP4 or .MOV format, maximum file size 4GB, maximum length 60 seconds, maximum frame rate 30fps.

Tip: Upload the highest resolution video that meets file size and ratio limits, with H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps+.

Instagram Carousel Video Ads:

Recommended size: 1080 x 1080 pixels.

Minimum size: 600 x 600 pixels.

Recommended specifications: .MP4 or .MOV format, maximum length of 60 seconds, maximum frame rate of 30fps.

Tip: Like the Facebook carousel, the Instagram carousel lets you showcase at least two and up to 10 images or videos in one side-scrolling ad.

Instagram Stories Video Ads:

Recommended size: 1080 x 1920 pixels.

Minimum size: 600 x 1067 pixels.

Supported aspect ratios: 16:9 to 4:5 and 9:16;

Recommended specifications: .MP4 or .MOV format, maximum length 15 seconds, maximum file size 4GB.

Tip: These videos appear between Instagram user stories for a maximum of 15 seconds and take up the entire screen. Since stories are tailored to the size of the device, the exact dimensions are difficult to predict. Upload the highest resolution possible, and consider leaving the top and bottom 14% (about 250 pixels) of any important information blank so it’s not obscured by a profile icon or call to action.

Twitter Video Specs

For best results, upload the highest resolution video that can fit under the file size limit (512MB).

Twitter Horizontal Video:

Recommended size: 1280 x 1024 pixels.

Minimum size: 32 x 32 pixels.

Maximum size: 1920 x 1200 pixels;

Supported aspect ratios: between 1:2.39 – 2.39:1;

Recommended dimensions for 256K bitrate: 320 x 180 pixels;

Recommended dimensions for 768K bitrate: 640 x 360 pixels;

Recommended size (at 2048K bitrate): 1280 x 720 pixels;

Recommended specifications: .MP4 (for the Web), .MOV format (for mobile devices), maximum length 140 seconds, maximum file size 512MB, maximum frame rate 40fps, must use progressive scan, must have a 1:1 pixel ratio, audio should be mono or stereo.

Twitter vertical video:

Recommended size: 1200 x 1900 pixels.

Minimum size: 32 x 32 pixels.

Recommended size at 256K bitrate: 240 x 240 pixels;

Recommended size at 768K bitrate: 480 x 480 pixels;

Recommended size for 2048K bitrate: 640 x 640 pixels;

Recommended specifications: Same as above.

Snapchat Video Specs

Snapchat’s 10-second video ad:

Recommended size: 1080 x 1920 pixels (aspect ratio of 9:16);

Recommended specifications: .MP4 or MOV, H.264 encoding, 3 to 10 seconds long, maximum file size 32MB;

Audio specs: 2 channels, PCM or AAC codec, 192 kbps minimum, 16 or 24 bit only, 48 KHz sampling rate.

Tip: These ads appear in Discover, in Live Stories, or after a user’s own story, and can link to an app install page, an article, or a long-form video. Make sure to avoid placing your brand logo or any other important elements within the top and bottom 15% of the video to prevent them from being cut off.

Snapchat long video ads:

Recommended size: 1080 x 1920 pixels.

Supported aspect ratios: 9:16 or 16:9;

Recommended formats: .MP4 or MOV, at least 15 seconds long (no maximum length), maximum file size 1GB

Audio specs: 2 channels, PCM or AAC codec, 192 kbps minimum, 16 or 24 bits only, 48 KHz sampling rate.

Tip: Long-form videos must contain "live and/or motion graphic video", and although horizontal videos are allowed, Ueeshop recommends using only vertical videos.

YouTube Video Specs

YouTube Video Player Specs:

Recommended sizes: 426 x 240 pixels (240p), 640 x 360 pixels (360p), 854 x 480 pixels (480p), 1280 x 720 pixels (720p), 1920 x 1080 pixels (1080p), 2560 x 1440 pixels (1440p), and 3840 x 2160 pixels (2160p);

Minimum size: 426 x 240 pixels.

Maximum size: 3840 x 2160 pixels;

Supported aspect ratios: 16:9 and 4:3;

Recommended formats: .MOV, .MPEG4, MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP or WebM, with a maximum file size of 128GB and a maximum length of 12 hours.

Tip: YouTube encourages users to upload videos "in a high-quality source format that is as close to the original as possible." Videos should be uploaded in their native aspect ratio, as YouTube "auto-frames" videos to ensure they are displayed correctly, without cropping or stretching, regardless of the size of the video or player.

YouTube Video Ads:

Skippable video ads: Maximum length is 12 hours and can be skipped after 5 seconds;

Non-skippable video ads: Maximum length is 15, 20 seconds (depending on the region);

Interstitial video ads: minimum length is 30 seconds;

Bumper video ads: Maximum length is 6 seconds.

Linkedin Video Specifications

Linkedin Share Video:

Maximum size: 4,096 x 2,304 pixels;

Minimum size: 256 x 144 pixels.

Supported aspect ratios: 1:2:4 to 2:4:1;

Recommended formats: .ASF, .AVI, .FLV, .MOV, .MPEG-1, .MPEG-4, .MKV, and .WebM, with a maximum file size of 5GB, a maximum length of 10 minutes, and a maximum frame rate of 60fps.

Pinterest Video Specs

Pinterest Video Ads:

Minimum size: 240p;

Recommended size (square video): 600 x 600 pixels (1:1 aspect ratio);

Recommended size (vertical video): 600 x 900 pixels (9:16 aspect ratio);

Recommended specifications: .MP4 or .MOV, maximum file size 2GB, maximum length 30 minutes, maximum frame rate 25fps.

The above is the specification guide for videos on major popular platforms.

Author: Ueeshop

Source: Ueeshop