2020 Guide to Optimal Social Media Ad Sizes

Social media marketing and advertising have been vital tools for businesses of all kinds to increase brand awareness, improve customer loyalty, as well as stimulate sales. There are many ways to go about creating content for social media, but one of the most important aspects of any social media platform is visual content. For businesses, visual components of your content is important in order for your followers to make a connection between an image and your brand. In order to ensure the imaging of your content is scaled correctly, follow this guide to various optimal social media ad sizes. 

Facebook

Facebook offers a variety of different styles of ads you can post such as Feed ads, Marketplace ads, Instant Articles ads and more, so making sure the sizing of your ads is important to maintaining visual appeal. The following are ad image dimensions and guidelines for Facebook: 

• Recommended image size: 1200 x 628 pixels 
• Minimum width and height: 600 pixels
• Images with text shouldn’t exceed 20% as this decreases reach 
• Recommended image formats are JPG and PNG 

Character limits:

• Text: 125 characters
• Headline: 25 characters
• Link description: 30 characters 

Profile Picture

Your profile picture on Facebook appears on your timeline and is layered over your cover photo. It will appear on any posts you make or comment on as well. 

• Profile picture must be at least 180 x 180 pixels 
• Photo will appear on your page as 170 x 170 pixels on desktop, 128 x 128 on smartphones, and 36 x 36 on most feature phones
• Photo thumbnail will appear throughout Facebook at 32 x 32 pixels 

Cover Photo

Your cover photo appears only on your timeline, and is bigger than your profile picture. This is a good place for a brand logo or image with text. 

• Cover photo appears on page at 820 x 312 pixels, anything less and it will be stretched
• Minimum size of 400 x 150 pixels
• Displays at 820 x 312 pixels on desktop and 640 x 360 pixels on smartphones
• For best results, upload an sRGB JPG file less than 100 KB 

Event Cover Photo

If you want to share an event you’re hosting, Facebook offers the option to create an event page. It’s different from a regular post in that there’s a date and time, invite list and you can schedule reminders for the upcoming event. The event photo size is important so that it’s displayed well in any format. 

• Current recommended size: 1200 x 628 pixels (2:1 ratio)
• Minimum dimensions: 470 x 174 

View ImageWorks image assets on our Facebook profile  here. 

Instagram

Instagram really changed the dynamic of social media advertising because the platform is centered around photos and videos. It also allows for stories, adapted from Snapchat’s 24 hour story, and live story, where followers can comment and interact with a person’s stream. So similarly to Facebook, there are a few options when it comes to choosing how to advertise on the platform. The following are various ad dimensions for Instagram features: 

Landscape Image ads 

Landscape images are used to show a wider image such as a panoramic picture, and they can stand out against the traditional square image. It’s recommended landscape ads follow these dimensions: 

• Image ad size: 1200 x 628 pixels
• Minimum resolution: 600 x 315 pixels
• The maximum caption length is 2200 characters, but 125 characters is recommended
• Files should either be JPG or PNG 

Square Image ads

A square image is similar to the format of landscape in that it focuses on width, so you want to be sure the square format doesn’t crop your image. 

• Recommended square image ad size is 1080 x 1080 pixels
• Minimum square image as resolution is 600 x 600 pixels 
• Proper aspect ratio is 1:1 

Vertical Image ads

One of the most appealing photo sizes on Instagram is the vertical, or portrait image. Here are the vertical image ad dimensions:

• Recommended image ad size: 1080 x 1350 pixels
• Minimum vertical image ad size: 600 x 750 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 4:5

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the largest professional network, which means it’s a great platform for the business world to connect. LinkedIn offers five types of ads, each designed to provide the opportunity to engage with your audience in various ways. 

Sponsored Content 

Sponsored content ads appear in desktop and mobile device feeds in order to generate brand awareness and leads. The following are dimensions of various sponsored content ad formats: 

Single image

• Image display size: 1.91:1 ratio (1200 x 627 pixels) 
• Ad image type and size: JPG or PNG file that’s 5MB or smaller
• URL length: URLs with 23 characters are automatically converted into short links

Video Ads

• Video ads created with a 1:1 aspect ratio must have a minimum resolution of 600 x 600 pixels and a maximum resolution of 1080 x 1080 pixels
• Video length: three seconds to 30 minutes 
• File size: between 75 KB and a max of 200 MB 
• File format: MP4 

Personal Profile Image 

Your personal profile picture for LinkedIn is important as it represents you, so it’s important to get the size right. Most people try to use a more professional photo as the platform is business oriented. 

• Recommended profile image between 400 x 400 and 20,000 x 20,000 pixels
• Minimum 200 x 200 pixels
• Maximum file size 10 MB
• Image type include JPG, GIF, or PNG

Personal Background Image

Similar to your cover photo on Facebook, the background image is behind your profile picture. It can be trickier to fill that space but it can be a nice touch to your profile if you find a good fit. 

• Recommended 1584 x 396 pixels
• Maximum size of 4MB
• Image types: JPG, PNG or GIF 

Company Logo Image

Your standard company logo should appear right next to your brand name on your business homepage. It will appear in the “companies you may want to follow” section, so be sure it’s the right size. 

• Recommended 300 x 300 pixels 
• Minimum 300 x 300 pixels
• Maximum 4MB (Square layout)
• Image type: PNG, JPG or GIF

Company Cover Image 

Unlike the personal background image, the standard business background takes up the entire top of the page to give businesses more space for brand recognition. 

• Recommended between 1536 x 768 pixels
• Minimum size of 1192 x 220
• Maximum 4 MB 
• Appears as 1400 x 245 pixels 
• Image type: PNG, JPG or GIF

View ImageWorks image assets on our LinkedIn profile here.