What is the best size for facebook ads?

Facebook Advertising is a fantastic marketing tool for businesses of all sizes and in almost every industry. Facebook marketing services are great for those wanting to increase awareness of their brand in addition to driving sales. Regardless of your budget size, there’s potential to get great results from this service. Specifically, you will want to consider is- what’s the best size for your Facebook Ads? Just for the record, Instagram Ads are included in Facebook Ads Manager. Those with good campaigns will tend to see high engagement at lower costs compared to alternatives like Google Ads. So when you’re thinking about the best size for Facebook Ads, be sure to account for Instagram as well!  When creating your campaigns, there are some key elements that you will want to give extra consideration to. After considering the goal of your campaign, you’ll want to make sure that your targeting is effective. Of course, as with any ad, you’ll also want to make sure your ad is visually striking.  Here we will discuss what the ideal ad size should be, for the various types of ads that are able to be created. 

The Size of the Facebook Ad Should Depend on the Type

As a user of Facebook and Instagram, you are probably familiar with the different ad formats that you have seen in your own feed. This includes Story Ads, carousel ads, and right column ads. Let’s take a look at each ad format and how to size your ad so you can get the perfect display every time. 

Constants

As we go over everything you need to know regarding the size of your Facebook ad in detail, it should be mentioned that there are some factors that most ads have in common:

• Usage of video files in .MOV and .MP4 formats
• Image files in JPG or PNG formats are recommended
• Images that contain text overlay which covers over 20% of the image are highly discouraged and can be met with penalties such as a higher CPC rate, fewer or even no placements. 
• Maximum file size does vary for each ad type

Marketplace Ads & Single Image Feed Ads

These are the types of Facebook ads you will come across most often. Often they contain a single image, with the important details being found in the text. It is recommended that these ads use a longer dimension. While it should be noted that you can use a square shaped format, ads that use images within the recommended dimensions will generally see better results.  Image size:

• MINIMUM 600 pixels for height and width
• Dimensions of 1200×628 pixel are recommended
• Aspect ratio is recommended to be set between 9:16 to 16:9. It is important to note that if you include a link, it will crop your image to 1.91:1, so it’s important to ensure that this will not affect your image in a way that would influence your ad’s initial performance in an undesirable way. 

 

Facebook Carousel Ads

When used properly, Carousel Ads have a higher CTR and conversion rate. You can add a maximum of 10 scrollable cards. These can be images, video, or a mix of both.    Image Size

• You’ll want the ratio to be set to 1:1, which will give you the perfect square. Failure to do so will result in cropped images
• Image size maximum is 30MB per image
• Height and width minimum of 600 pixels (254 x 133 for Messenger Home Carousel Ads)

Video size

• Recommended length is 15 seconds or less for carousel ads
• The maximum video size is 4GB
• At minimum, the resolution should be 1080 x 1080

Video Ads

When scrolling through Facebook, you will probably notice a large amount of video ads. These are one of the most effective ads on Facebook. The guidelines for the size of these Facebook ad types are separate from the videos seen in Stories, which will we cover later.  Video Size

• Aspect ratio is recommended to be set at 16:9 (Some videos can be cropped at this setting, so take a look carefully, and adjust as needed)
• Maximum file size of 4GB
• For in-feed videos, the length of your video can be up to 240 minutes. In-stream video ads are between 5-15 seconds.
• You will always want the highest resolution possible for your file size
• Include closed captions. 85% of videos are watched while muted 

Facebook Stories Ads

Stories Ads are available for both Instagram and Facebook, and they’re a full-screen experience. Most brands are relying on videos because they’re more effective, given that there isn’t room for a lot of text, choosing the right CTA will go a long way. Images will appear for 5 seconds, and your video ad can be up to 15 seconds. Image & Video Sizes

• As with Instagram stories, the best image ratio is 9:16
• Images must be a minimum of 500 pixels
• Ensuring your video fits the formatting is crucial, as aspect ratio tolerance is only 1%
• It is important that about 14% (250 pixels) at the top and bottom of the image do not have any important info such as text, logos, or important image elements. These areas can be cut off by CTA, action buttons, or the profile icon. 

Right Column Ads

This was the original location of Facebook Ads, and they are still effective. However, the formatting for this is quite a bit different. These ads should be using the full dimensions that are available, as without doing this, the ad has the potential to look odd. You can either use the full dimensions with just one image, or you can choose to place 2 images side by side, which some businesses find preferable.  Image Size

• Width and height minimum is 600 pixels
• Aspect ratio should be between 16:9
• Image dimensions are recommended to be 1200 x 628 pixels

Ads on Facebook Messenger

Ads placed in the Messenger App capture users where they are already actively engaged. This offers great potential for your ad to be viewed a little longer than if a user is just scrolling through their feed. This feature is used specifically for images, and only on the mobile app.  Image

• Minimum height is 133 pixels, and minimum width is 254 pixels. Larger pixel sizes will increase an images quality. 
• The recommended aspect ratio is between 9:16 and 16:9. Keep in mind however that it will be cropped to 1.9:1
• Resolution is recommended to be 1,200 x 628 pixels, which is consistent with Facebook feed posts. 

Facebook Instant Experiences

This is a mobile only feature, where users click the ad to to open a full screen experience. Users will encounter a CTA, which encourages them to click. When they do so, their screen will be filled with scrollable canvases, products, and more. This is a great way to keep users engaged, as they can include various links.  Every product image or individual slide will have certain requirements. This is because Instant Experience and Collection Ads include a make up of image components and slides.  Image Size

• Minimum height and width of 600 pixels
• File size maximum of 30MB
• Ratios are recommended to be set at 16:9 for landscape images, and 1:1 for square images

Video Size

• Maximum file size of 4GB
• Minimum resolution is recommended to be 1200 x 628 pixels, as with images
• Video length is recommended to be 1 minute or less
• Canvas ads are able to use full-screen videos

Important

You’ll want to preview your ad placements before submission. In the process of creating your ads, you’ll see that you can preview how they will look on both mobile and desktop (if applicable). Taking advantage of this will ensure your ad looks exactly the way you want it. Failing to do this is risky, and can result in potential loss of conversions. You want to take the time to perfect your ad. Not doing your due diligence in ensuring that the size of your Facebook ads are correct, and are not cropped in a way that negatively impacts your images can have a major impact on your campaign. Much time, money, and effort have been invested by the end of the process, and it would be a shame for your efforts to result in little to no payoff.  As always, we are here for you if you need someone on one help! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions or concerns you may have regarding this, or any other aspect of your social media campaigns.