Facebook advertising remains one of the most popular digital marketing channels for all types of businesses with good reason. They offer quick wins on almost any sized budget with a wide variety of ad placements and formats that include videos, images and text.

Image Size is Key

Having the right-sized images and optimal video content is central to any successful Facebook ad campaign

It does seem like Facebook is forever changing the goalposts when it comes to image size and other requirements so to make it easy for you, we have put together a quick guide to help you create everything you need.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

If you are eyeballing the too hard basket, don’t. We are on hand to assist you with everything you need for your campaign which includes sourcing and resizing images, collating and creating video content and more, plus we have a design team that can whip up all of your design requirements – no sweat.

Whether you need brand new images created from scratch or want to use the ones you have, we’ll sort it.

If you are not keen on organising the images and other collateral yourself, tell us here. If you are ready to proceed with your own image sourcing and sizing, read on.

Why Does any of this Matter?

• A correctly sized image that is optimised for the small screen experience will fit every screen and display without distortion, pixelation (looking blurry) or look like part of it has fallen “off” the screen.

• You want your ad to stand out from the crowd so it is essential that the images look their best to leave a memorable lasting impression for the right reasons.

• Images that are the incorrect size might not be optimally placed to reach your target audience across the range of Facebook and Instagram platforms.

A correctly sized image that is optimised for the small screen experience will fit every screen and display without distortion, pixelation (looking blurry) or look like part of it has fallen “off” the screen.

You want your ad to stand out from the crowd so it is essential that the images look their best to leave a memorable lasting impression for the right reasons.

Images that are the incorrect size might not be optimally placed to reach your target audience across the range of Facebook and Instagram platforms.

Text and Facebook Ads

We recommend only including text as an overlay on top of images if the message is not able to be conveyed adequately in the headline, primary text or description.

Single Image Ads

The single image ad is the original classic. The easy as Facebook ad with minimal to no text.

Ad Image Sizes
Recommended minimum width: 600 px
Recommended minimum height: 600 px
Recommended maximum file size: 30 MB

Facebook and Instagram Stories
1,080 x 1,920 pixels

File and Design Specifications
Supported file types: jpg and png
Image ratio: 1.91:1 to 1:1
Minimum resolution: 1080 x 1080 px

Text Specifications
Headline: 40 characters
Primary text: 125 characters
Description: 30 characters

Carousel Image Ads

• Perfect for showcasing a range of products and features in multiple short posts
• Upload 2-10 images per carousel
• You can link each image to a different URL
• You can use a combination of images and video in each carousel

Image Sizes + Requirements
Recommended image size: 1,080 x 1,080 pixels
Recommended image ratio: 1:1
Max image file size: 30MB

Video Requirements
Length: Maximum of 240 minutes
Maximum video file size: 4GB
Aspect Ratio: 1:1

File and Design Specifications
Supported image file types: jpg and png
Recommended video file types: MP4, MOV, GIF

Text Specifications
Headline: 40 characters
Primary text: 125 characters
Description: 20 characters

Single Video Ads

Facebook video ads are a popular ad option with high engagement and high conversion rates. Mobile-optimised Facebook videos surge in popularity as the percentage of online viewing continues to grow exponentially.

Video Requirements

• Video File Size: 4GB Max
• Length: Minimum of 1 second and a maximum of 241 minutes
• Ratio: 1:1 (for desktop or mobile) or 4:5 (for mobile only)
• Video settings: H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan and stereo AAC audio compression at 128 kbps+
• Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
• Video captions: Optional, but recommended
• Video sound: Optional, but recommended
• Recommended video file types: MP4, MOV, GIF

Videos should not contain edit lists or special boxes in file containers

Source: Facebook for Businesss

Design and Technical Specifications
Video Ratio: 16:9 to 9:16
Minimum width: 120 pixels
Minimum height: 120 pixels

Text Specifications
Headline: 40 characters
Primary text: 125 characters
Description: 30 characters

Tips for Creating Your Own Images and Video

Take your own photos
It costs little or nothing to create images with your own mobile device. Choose or create images that communicate why your business, product or service is unique.

Use high-quality stock photos
This is a great option if you’re just starting out because there are lots of free options and the images are professional-looking.

You can find thousands of free high-quality stock photos on Unsplash and Pexels.
There are also the trusty, true heavyweights of stock images (not free) – iStockphoto and Shutterstock.
If you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription you may be able to access their stock image library from your account.

Or, and this one’s a little hip but maybe you are too! Deathtostockphoto.

It takes a bit more digging but you can also find images for free under a Creative Commons (CC) license on Google Image search and on Flickr.

Use your phone to create videos
Most people view ads on a mobile device, so make sure you create vertical videos for your ads.

If you have now decided after reading through all of this that it is all a bit much, no worries, we can get everything sorted for you. Let us know here and we will handle the rest.