Complete Guide For Social Media Video Specs – Tips To Follow

Social media networks have changed the dynamics of marketing. Nowadays marketers are shifting their focus from traditional marketing tools to social media platforms.

Social media video marketing is helping businesses to effectively communicate with audiences, but for marketers, it has become challenging to stay relevant and create engaging content.

Brands prefer to use video content for promotional campaigns. When creating social media video marketing strategy, it is vital to adjust content according to the right advertising video sizes and social media video specs.

So, are you excited to learn about the right video sizes for different social networks? Keep reading this guide, it covers the details of all the social media platforms’ video specs.

Video Specs for Facebook

Facebook has become one of the leading platforms in recent years. Every year users increase significantly on Facebook. Users can upload various types of videos on Facebook but the challenge is that the platform is changing its designs frequently.

Videos come in different specs, dimensions, and formats, which is why people often get confused about choosing the suitable format for their posts.

Consider the following specs to optimize your Facebook post video size.

Video size for Shared Post (Portrait & Landscape)

Brands and users post different videos on Facebook and these videos appear in the Facebook feed. Shared post video is an ideal way to increase the organic reach on Facebook. Users can choose from the two video dimensions portrait and landscape.

Let’s look at the below-listed guidelines for the Facebook video specs for landscape and portrait posts.

Guidelines for Facebook Video

• It allows users to choose the desired width from the minimum range ofis 1200 pixels and the length should be according to the aspect ratio for portrait and landscape.
• The suggested dimensions for portrait and landscape video is1280 x 720.
• Aspect ratio for a portrait is 9:16 (if you wish to add a link then 16:9 is the recommended aspect ratio)
• 16:9 is the aspect ratio for landscape.
• Users can upload a video of up to 4GB in size.
• MOV and .MP4 formats
• the video length can be up to 240 minutes.
• Mobile provides the 2:3 aspect ratio for landscape and portrait videos.
• Maximum video frames of 30fps.

360 Video

Facebook users can watch a 360 video, which gives a unique 360-degree view. The platform shows this video format in feeds, but usually, 360 video appears in Facebook feeds.

Guidelines for Video

The aspect ratio and resolution vary according to the content type:

• Stereoscopic: aspect ratio 1:1, 5120 x 5120 maximum
• Monoscopic: aspect ratio 2:1, 5120 x 2560 maximum
• Users can upload the video up to the size of 10GB in the .MOV and .MP4 formats.
• The allowed maximum video duration is 30 minutes and the suggested framerate is 30 fps.

Video Ad Specs for Facebook

Let’s look at the video size and dimension requirements for the Facebook ads. In-Feed Video Ads

These ads are similar to in-feed posts and have the same Facebook Video Ad Specs requirements. After running an ad campaign on Facebook, you need to consider the Facebook video metrics like impression, video average watch time, CTR, conversion rate, CPC, and other factors that help in analyzing the results.

Video Guidelines

• The aspect ratio should be in the range of 9:16 to 16:9 (Full Portrait: 9:16, Vertical: 4:5 or 2:3, Square: 1:1, and Horizontal: 16:9)
• Users can upload the high-resolution video in 1080×1080 resolution
• .MOV and .MP4 are suggested video formats, user can upload videos in the max duration of 240 minutes in file size up to 4GB.

Around 5 million advertisers use Facebook. It might be confusing for some users to decide the correct specs for ads. Every video ad category is distinctive on Facebook, so let’s get started and learn about the Facebook video specs for different videos.

Carousel Video Ads

Users can use Carousel Video ads on Facebook by using images or videos. It has become one of the most popular platforms because users can scroll and see different content.

Video Guidelines

• Aspect ratio is 1:1.
• The suggested resolution for the video is 1080 x 1080.
• You can upload the video up to the size of 4GB.
• The allowed video formats are MOV and .MP4.
• Video max frames 30fps.
• Video length limit is up to 240 minutes.

Collection Video Ads (Mobile)

In Facebook collection ads users can use various images and a video. Advertisers use collection video ads to promote their product line, different styles, and colors of products.

Video Guidelines

• Video max frames 30 fps.
• The suggested resolution for videos is 1080×1080.
• Users can upload videos in up to 4GB size, within the max duration of 120 minutes, and supported video formats are .MOV and .MP4.
• Square aspect ratio is 1:1.

Instant Experience Video Ads

When users click on instant experience ads it opens an ad in full-screen. Social media marketers can add auto-play to the loop and give the viewers multiple video experiences.

Video Guidelines

• The pillarboxing portrait aspect ratio is 9:16
• It allows users to upload video in a max 4GB file size with a minimum resolution of 720p, .MOV and .MP4 are suggested video formats.
• The collective length of all videos should be no more than 2 minutes.
• Video max frames 30fps.

Facebook Stories (Ads & Organic posts)

Social media video marketing trends have been changing rapidly because social networks are launching the latest features for the audience. Facebook has introduced the feature of stories.

Users now can upload short videos or photos in stories that automatically disappear after 24 hours. Marketers can also run story ads to reach a broader audience. If you wish to share stories, consider the following Facebook video specs.

Video Guidelines

• The suggested resolution is 1080×1080, and it allows you to upload video in .MOV and .MP4 formats.
• Aspect ratios should be 1.91 to 9:16, users can upload videos in the duration of 1 second to 2 minutes, and the file size limit is up to 4GB.

Related Article:

• How To Create Facebook Cover Videos (Tips & Examples)

Instagram Video Specs

Instagram introduced its video options in 2013 which was admired by the users. That is why the platform launched advertising features. Many users upload and share videos on Instagram to spend quality time on the platform.

In Feed Video (Landscape, Square & Vertical)

Instagram allows its users to upload videos in vertical, square, and landscape styles. Users can upload videos to interact with their social circle.

Video Guidelines

• It supports different aspect ratios: vertical aspect ratio is 4:5, square aspect ratio is 1:1, and Landscape aspect ratio is 16:9.
• Recommended resolution for videos is 1080 x 1080
• Instagram allows users to upload videos up to the size of 4GB, suggested video formats are MOV. and MP4.
• You can upload videos with a length of 3 to 60 seconds.

Instagram Video Ad Specs

We have seen a significant increase in the revenue of Instagram in the last year. The platform has become a heaven for marketers, they can connect with the audience with video marketing.

In Feed Video Ad (Landscape, Square & Vertical)

An in-feed video ad is similar to organic video options on the platform because Instagram offers the same features for both options. When an in-feed video ad appears, it looks similar to organic posts.

Moreover, Instagram video ad specs are similar for paid and organic content.

Guidelines for video specs and character guidelines for mobile videos are similar to feed videos.

Carousel Video Ad

Marketers can use carousel video ads to promote their products with multiple videos or images. Users can utilize 2-10 cards and call to action for their ads by opting carousel video ads feature.

Video Guidelines

• Users can upload their videos with a max length of 60 seconds, and the suggested video formats are .MOV and .MP4.
• You can upload your videos in the maximum size of 4GB.
• The minimum resolution is 600 x 600 to maximum resolution is 1080 x 1080.
• Instagram users use 2-10 videos per ad.
• Aspect ratio is 1:1.

Instagram Story Feature (Organic Posts & Ads)

Instagram users can utilize the story feature to run ad campaigns that appear in the story feeds. Marketers can use this feature to show their videos to users.

Video Guidelines

• Aspect ratio is 9:16.
• .MOV and .MP4 are suggested video formats, users can upload video for ads in the maximum duration of two minutes, and for organic posts, the duration limit is 15 seconds.
• The suggested resolution is 1080×1080.

Instagram Reels

2 years earlier Instagram launched the ‘Instagram Reels’ feature that helps brands in their video marketing. These reels are similar to the core offerings of TikTok. Users can upload short videos in the reels section and they are easily shareable.

After the inception of reels on the platform, a new debate on Instagram reel Vs TikTok began. Many people think TikTok is better than Instagram reels because it allows users to upload up to 10 minutes duration video. However, some say Instagram reels are short-length videos but more powerful than TikTok videos.

Some people believe that the Instagram reel feature is more effective than TikTok, whereas some say TikTok is ideal for video marketing.

Instagram reels’ paid feature is in the early phase, so specs for paid content are not available.

Video Guidelines

• The suggested resolution is 1080×1080.
• Users can upload videos in the length of 3 seconds to 15 minutes and .MP4 and .MOV. are suggested video formats.
• You can upload a video in a maximum file size of 4GB.
• The aspect ratio is 9:16.
• Reels appear in the dimensions (1080×1350 or 4:5).

IGTV

Instagram users can utilize IGTV videos for marketing purposes. The platform IGTV videos appear like a story in full-screen view. Instagram TV posts are highly engaging because verified accounts can use up to 1-hour duration of the video.

Brands can leverage their marketing by using an organic story that helps in promoting a product or service.

Instagram has introduced its IGTV feature in some markets, so specs for paid content are not revealed yet.

Video Guidelines

• Minimum resolution is 720.
• The suggested resolution is 1080 x 1920.
• You can upload a video of 1 minute to 15 minutes duration from mobile. Desktop users can upload a video for a maximum duration of 1 hour.
• Recommended aspect ratio is 16:9, or 9:16 is also supported. In-feed videos appear at 4:5.
• For less than 10 minutes of video, the maximum file size limit is 650MB. Users can upload the video in the length of 60 minutes but the file size limit is 3.6 GB.

Related Articles:

• Ultimate Guide To Instagram Video Length For IGTV, Stories, Posts

Video Specs for TikTok

In recent years TikTok has gained immense popularity and marketers are using the platform for promotional campaigns. The best thing about TikTok is that you can easily create and share videos on the platform. In comparison to other platforms, it is easy to create video content for TikTok.

TikTok Organic Videos

TikTok videos easily become viral because the platform provides unique features that help users in creating, share, and edit videos. Many people use TikTok from mobile phones which is why the platform supports mobile phone dimensions.

Video Guidelines

• Aspect ratio: 9:16 is recommended as it covers the mobile screen.
• Suggested resolution: 1080×1920
• The platform allows video formats of MOV or MP4 and you can upload the maximum file size of 287.6MB.
• Users can record 15 seconds to 60 seconds videos from in-app or upload up to 60 seconds duration videos from other devices.

TikTok Feed Ads

TikTok ads are one of the best solutions for the marketing needs of companies. In terms of formatting TikTok feed ads feature is similar to organic content.

Video Guidelines

• Aspect ratio choices are 16:9, 1:1, or 9:16
• Recommended resolution is 960×540, 640×64, or 540×960.
• Users can upload the file in up to 500 MB file size, supported video formats are .AVI, .3GP, .MPEG, .MOV, .MP4.
• Video length can be 5-60 seconds, but the recommended duration is 9-15 seconds.

Twitter Video Specs

Twitter is one of the most popular social media platforms where people can share videos. Marketers use innovative video content on the platform to grab users’ attention. When creating a Twitter video marketing strategy, it is essential to learn about the Twitter video specs and Twitter video metrics. Twitter has some metrics which help in evaluating the results of video marketing.

Twitter Landscape & Portrait Videos

Twitter allows users to upload their video content in two formats such as portrait and landscape. These video formats are only for twitter videos, you cannot share video links of Vimeo or YouTube. Users can easily share organic content on Twitter.

You can consider the following guidelines for Twitter videos ad and Twitter organic videos.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended aspect ratio at 1:1 (square), 16:9 (portrait or landscape). 1:1 is considered as the ideal ratio for the best results.
• Suggested resolutions are 720×720 (square), 720×1280 (portrait), and 1280×720 (landscape).
• It allows a video length of up to 140 seconds and the maximum size limit is 512 MB.
• You can upload videos in the formats of .MOV for mobile and .MP4 for the web.
• Suggested frame rates are 60 or 30 fps.

Snapchat Video Specs

Snapchat is popular among the younger generations. They love to share video content on the platform. Users use the various filters in their videos and share them with friends. If you wish to use it for marketing, it is crucial to learn the correct Snapchat video specs.

Single video ad

The platform allows its users to use single video ads to communicate with the audience. Brands can utilize its story features to promote their product or services.

Consider these Snapchat video ads specs:

Video Guidelines

• Snapchat accepts .MOV and .MP4 formats.
• Suggested dimension is 1080 x 1920.
• Aspect ratio is 9:16.
• Users can upload videos in a max file size of 32MB.

Video duration should be 3-10 seconds.

Long-Form Video Ad

Snapchat provides users with the single video ad format the long-form video. Most video dimensions on the platform are the same. Snapchat has a lot of marketing potential, which is why marketers prefer to use Snapchat for marketing purposes. Long-form video ads appear in users’ stories.

Video Guidelines

• Aspect ratio is 16:9 or 9:16.
• The suggested dimension is 1080 x 1920.
• It allows users to upload videos in formats .MOV and .MP4.
• You can adjust your video length in 3-180 seconds.
• Users can upload the video in a maximum of 1GB size.

YouTube Video Specs

YouTube has become the second-largest search engine after Google. Marketers use YouTube to promote their brands or products through videos. YouTube is an ideal platform that helps brands to share videos promote content and educate audiences.

After uploading videos on YouTube, you can evaluate the success of your videos by checking the YouTube analytics metrics. The analytics gives you an idea about reach, engagement, and audience, which help in measuring the success of your videos.

Video Player (Standard YouTube Video)

Users can upload videos in different media formats and upload videos in various dimensions, organically. The recommended ratio for organic videos is 16:9 ratio, but you can also upload in 4:3.

Just follow these instructions for YouTube video sizes:

       Video Guidelines

• Aspect ratio is 16:9
• Suggested dimensions: 3840 x 2160 (2160p), 2560 x 1440 (1440p), 1920 x 1080 (1080p), 1280 x 720 (720p), 854 x 480 (480p), 640 x 360 (360p), 426 x 240 (240p).
• It accepts video formats: WebM, 3GPP, .FLV, .MPEGPS, .WMV, .AVI, , MP4, .MPEG4, and .MOV.
• Users can upload videos in a file size of up to 128GB and a maximum duration of 12 hours.

YouTube Video Ad Specs

Let’s look at the following guidelines for the YouTube video ads:

Skippable, Non-Skippable, Mid-roll & Bumper Video Ads

Users can use a standard YouTube video player for these four types of video ads. YouTube video ads specs for these are similar to organic videos, but video duration requirements are different.

Let’s look at these YouTube ads type:

Skippable Video Ad: YouTube run these ads at the start, during, or after the video, and users can skip them after 5 seconds.

Non-Skippable Video Ad: These ads are played before the video and force the viewer to watch the 15 seconds ad.

Mid-roll Video Ad: This ad is like a TV commercial and appears in the video for more than 8 minutes duration.

Bumper Video Ads: This ad appears before the video. It is a non-skippable 6-second video ad.

Video Guidelines

• The minimum video dimension is 426 x 240 and the Max dimension is 3840 x 2160.
• Suggested dimensions: 3840 x 2160 (2160p), 2560 x 1440 (1440p), 1920 x 1080 (1080p), 1280 x 720 (720p), 854 x 480 (480p), 640 x 360 (360p), and 426 x 240 (240p).
• Users can upload maximum file size of 128GB.
• It support video formats: WebM, 3GPP, .FLV, .MPEGPS, .WMV, .AVI, MP4, .MPEG4, and .MOV.
• Aspect ratio is 16:9

Display Ad

YouTube display ads appear when a user searches for queries and sometime it is displayed on the right side of the platform. These ads don’t play automatically, they play once you click on the video. The guidelines for display ads are similar to standard video player as we discussed above.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended dimension for videos are: 3840 x 2160 (2160p), 2560 x 1440 (1440p), 1920 x 1080 (1080p), 1280 x 720 (720p), 854 x 480 (480p), 640 x 360 (360p), and 426 x 240 (240p).
• For static image, the suggested dimension is 300 x 250 and 300 x 60.
• Maximum file size upload limit is 128GB.
• Aspect ratio is 16:9.
• You can upload video formats in WebM, 3GPP, .FLV, .MPEGPS, .WMV, .AVI, .MP4, .MPEG4, .MOV.

YouTube Shorts

YouTube allows its users to upload short videos by using this feature. You can capture and edit a short video from your mobile phone or upload it from a desktop computer.

Video Guidelines

• Aspect ratio is 9:16.
• Suggested dimensions: 2160×3840 (2160p), 1440×2560 (1440p), 1080×1920 (1080p), 720×1280 (720p), 480×854 (480p), 360×640 (360p), and 240×426 (240p).
• Users can upload video in formats of 3GPP, WebM. ,. MPEGPS, .FLV, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEG4, MP4, and .MOV.
• Maximum video duration limit is 60 seconds.

Related Articles:

• The Best YouTube Intro Maker Tools – Free & Paid
• Top YouTube Video Ideas for Content Creators
• YouTube Banner Size & Dimensions

LinkedIn Video Specs

As compared to other social networks LinkedIn is in the phase of video content adoption. However, still many people share videos on the platform. Usually, business executives prefer to watch and share corporate videos on the platform.

Shared Video

LinkedIn only offers a single video format and that is shared video. Users can share YouTube links in their posts.

Video Guidelines

• Users can upload videos in formats of WebM, .MKV, .MP4, .MPEG-4, .MPEG-1, .MOV, .FLV, .AVI, and .ASF.
• Aspect ratio is 1:2.4 to 2.4:1.
• You can upload a video in 3 seconds to a max of 10 minutes, and the maximum file size limit is 5GB.

Video Ads

LinkedIn has launched video ads in 2018. The guidelines for video ads are different from shared videos, so consider them when creating video ads.

Video Guidelines

Required dimensions are:

• Landscape video: Maximum: 1920 x 1080, minimum: 640 x 360.
• Square video: Maximum: 1920 x 1920, minimum: 360 x 360.
• Vertical video: Maximum: 1080 x 1920, minimum: 360 x 640.

Aspect ratios are:

• Users can upload videos in the format of .MP4, and the maximum size limit is 200MB
• Square: 1:1, Landscape: 16:9, Vertical: 9:16
• Frame rate should be less than 30fps.
• The maximum video length is 30 minutes

Related Articles:

• 15+ Amazing LinkedIn Video Ad Examples

Video Specs for Pinterest Video

Users having business accounts can upload videos on Pinterest. So, brands can use this platform to share their content with the audience.

Shared Video

Pinterest users who have business accounts can also upload organic videos on the platform.

It allows two video formats max and standard width.

Video Guidelines

• Aspect ratio for width video: 16.9 (widescreen) or 1:1 (square)
• Suggested standard video aspect ratio: 9:16, 4:5, or 2:3 (vertical) or 1:1 (square)
• Allowed video length is 4 seconds-15 minutes
• It accepts .MOV, and .MP4 video formats, and you can upload the file in up to 2GB file size.

Promoted Pinterest Video

Pinterest users can choose between the two video formats: max and standard width. Both video options require similar specs to organic videos. Users can pick the desired style from the ads manager, these ads are shown on users’ boards. Video guidelines for promoted Pinterest videos are the same as the shared video.

In a Nutshell

Social media video marketing has become the first preference of businesses. Companies must create a digital footprint on social networks. Nowadays people search for brands on social media platforms before purchasing a product or service.

So, if you are not doing marketing on these platforms, it gives a negative impression. Now you have learned about the video specs about all the social networks, it will help you in creating a powerful video marketing strategy. All you need to do is choose the right video platform.