Guide To Instagram And Facebook Ad Image Sizes

Nov 12, 2019 7 min read

After the first digital ad hit in 1994, very few had the idea that advertising would completely change to a whole new concept. Now ads are not limited to search engines, they have spread their wings to almost every social media platform you could think of such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit, Quora and many more.

Amongst the aforementioned social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram stand out from others. They are the perfect platforms for running an advertising campaign because of the more significant number of active users.

According to eMarketer forecasts, brands and companies will spend $32.6 billion on Facebook ads by 2020.

Instagram is also a good choice for advertisers due to its density of 1 billion active users.

A successful ad campaign is not limited to the ad platform you choose. It also depends on how engaging and attractive your ads appear whenever they are first displayed in front of users. Thus, your ad graphics, especially images, play an essential role in an ad conversion.

Thus, it makes it even more important that as an advertiser, you pay attention to:

Where is the ad going to be displayed, i.e., in carousels, shops, articles, or columns?
What is the objective behind the ad, such as awareness, consideration, or conversion?

Considering the above factors, the dimensions of an ad image differ.

Why should one invest time in deciding the size of an image?

Here are a few reasons that can answer the above question:

  • To avoid distorted images
  • Your image size depends on your ad placements
  • Correct image size and right placements of ads help your brand to outreach your target audience

In this article, I'll briefly discuss the types of Instagram and Facebook ads along with the guidelines for images in these ads.

Click here to jump to downloadable infographic of Instagram and Facebook.

Instagram Ad Types

Instagram provides different kinds of ads and gives various spaces where the ads can be placed based on your target audience, goals, and requirements.

1. Instagram Image Ads

Instagram images posted via business accounts for brand promotion fall under the category of Instagram image ads. As an active Instagram user, you may have seen images with 'Sponsored' written over them, that might be displaying some product based on user intent.

Based on different forms of images, we have gathered a complete list of Instagram image ads.

A. Landscape Image Ads

Landscape image ads are ads with standard horizontal images. These are typically wider than the usual full square image. Organizations like travel agencies who want to depict outdoor scenery or an architecture company that needs panoramic shots, use this image format.

B. Square Image Ads

Instagram's square image ads are the perfect choice if the focus is on a single subject. These ads are focused more on the width and try to portray the main product for promotion. Clothing brands are one of the best examples of using square image ads.

C. Vertical Image Ads

The most popular image format is the vertical or portrait image. If an advertiser wants to display vertically aligned products, then these traditional vertical image ads are the best choice.

2. Instagram Video Ads

Videos form 38 percent of the audience engagement on Instagram. Thus, giving advertisers a massive opportunity to showcase their products and services.

Videos are one of the best media to give a brand its voice on Instagram. Following the correct guidelines for the right video type, one can excel in creating a successful ad campaign.

Here is a list of Instagram video ad types according to different ad placements.

A. Landscape Video Ads

Instagram video ads appear in a scenic format as a landscape image. Landscape videos help advertisers to give a more cinematic approach to the target audience.

B. Square Video Ads

No significant changes have to be made when the square format is selected. Instagram Square Video formats are a perfect choice for ads displaying a single object such as shoes and shirts.

Beautify your ad with the perfect CTA and hola! You’re good to go.

C. Vertical Video Ads

As discussed above in vertical image ads, Instagram is by default set to this format. The only thing you need to keep in mind is the video length and resolution.

3. Instagram Story Ads

Inspired by the idea of creating a message that disappears in 24 hours, stories are a perfect choice for ads, as they create urgency in the viewers’ minds. Also, going by the stats that say on an average 400 million people use Instagram Stories every day, makes them an ideal choice for the advertisers.

Here are a few ad types that could be used if Instagram Stories are your choice for running an ad campaign.

A. Story Image Ads

With so many added features such as stickers, GIFs, and markers, Instagram stories are a fun way of advertising products and services. All the mentioned features can help an advertiser to make the ad attractive so that the users get convinced to swipe for more information.

B. Story Video Ads

Videos are a perfect way of creating engagement and develop users’ interest. Videos in stories can be the ideal choice for displaying your brand because they can describe more in just a few seconds and will not be there forever.

If an advertiser wants to showcase more than fundamental aspects of a product or want to showcase many products in a single feed, Instagram carousel ads are best suited for the job.

The carousel lets you post multiple images or videos within a single feed, which gives freedom from creating numerous posts for a similar type of advertisement.

Here is a list of carousels options that could be used as ads:

Instagram carousel image ads help in keeping the audience engaged by letting them swipe through multiple contents. Carousel images also aid the advertisers to display different product options available with them.

Clothing brands displaying images of top wear, bottom wear, and footwear in a single advertisement are a great example of this ad type.

There is a way by which the carousels can be made more interactive, and that is an Instagram carousel video ad. Yes, one can use multiple videos instead of images within a single advertisement with the help of carousel video ads.

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Facebook Ad Types

Let's move ahead with another massively popular social media advertising platform, Facebook. As a result of its vast user database of 2.4 billion monthly active users, it is the ideal choice of about 92 percent of the advertisers.

Similar to Instagram, Facebook has different ad types according to the target audience and ad placements. Here are their types, dimensions, and specifications listed below:

1. Facebook Feed Ads

The primary location to display advertisements for an advertiser is the user's Facebook feed. It is the most classic form of ad available for advertisers.

Feed ads are used in both video and image form and are available for both mobiles and computer screens. Just pick an image or video, type your content, add links, and you are ready to go.

A. Feed Image Ads

Images are the most convenient form of feed ads; they are easy to create and do not require any extra effort.

Tip: Design images by keeping in mind your target audience.

B. Feed Video Ads

If you want to give voice to your products and make your ads more engaging, Facebook feed video ads are a better choice over images.

Facebook Feed Ad Specification

If the advertisers want to showcase multiple images within a single ad, then carousels are tailor-made for this purpose. Especially for retailers and store owners, it’s the perfect way to display various aspects of the products (e.g., colors, shapes, sizes).

Similar to feed ads, carousel ads can be in the form of videos and images. Carousel ads are available in almost all types of ad placements such as:

  • Feed (Image and Video)
  • Right Column
  • Instant Articles
  • Marketplace
  • Audience Network - Native, Banner, and Interstitial
  • Messenger Inbox

3. Facebook Right Column Ads

These are a desktop-only ad format mostly appearing in the right-hand column of Facebook pages conventionally but might appear in other areas also.

As compared to any other ad format, right column ads have better click-through rates and are found to be more interactive and engaging.

4. Facebook In-Stream Video Ads

Unlike other video ads, Facebook in-stream video ads are short (5 to 15 seconds) and are placed within users' ongoing video.

How are these videos better than the standard feed video ads?

Firstly, in-stream video ads are more focused on the target audience. Secondly, more than 70 percent of in-stream video ads are watched till completion — most with sound on.

5. Facebook Instant Article Ads

Instant article ads are a mobile publishing format that lets advertisers place ads as an interactive piece of content. These are quick-loading pieces found across the channel's mobile application.

The ad format is available for both videos and images

6. Facebook Marketplace Ads

Facebook, along with being a social media channel that connects people from around the world, also provides a hub for connecting buyers and sellers. Ad placements in the Facebook marketplace are ideal if an advertiser wants to display ads according to the users' search query.

Marketplace ads can target audiences for both specific products and locations. Also, the ad format is flexible for both images and videos.

7. Facebook Sponsored Message Ads

Sponsored Message ads are a boon for advertisers that help in re-engaging customers with whom a relationship was already built, but they did not convert.

One can send relevant offers and discounts directly to the user engaged in the messenger chat.

8. Facebook Messenger Ads

With the second-most popular form of communication, Facebook’s Messenger mobile application is an opportunity for marketers to start a conversation with a user and drive sales. The Facebook Messenger ads appear on the home screen of the app and are available only in image format.

9. Facebook Collection Ads (Instant User-Experience)

Facebook Collection Ads are a mobile-only format that is powered by Instant User-Experience (called canvas) in the post-click. The ad format allows cover images or videos. The advertisers can showcase several products in the ad format, and users can click on the ads to know more about the brand.

Now, it’s your turn!

Social media channels are leading advertising platforms that allow marketers to showcase their brand with the help of graphical information (images and videos).

Thus, using these image and video opportunities of advertising with correct specifications and guidelines become a necessity to run a successful PPC advertising campaign.

Statusbrew allows you to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns and identify the best source to drive more visitors to your website by adding custom UTM parameters to your link posts on social media.

Give your business a boost, improve brand presence, discover new leads, and engage with them to increase your sales by using an automatic social media tool that can help you manage your online performance from head to toe.

Himanshu Rauthan

Himanshu Rauthan is an entrepreneur and co-founder at MakeWebBetter. He is a programmer, researcher, writer, and strategist. He is passionate about building and scaling eCommerce development.

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