83% of marketers leverage social media advertising, and it isn’t hard to see why – 3.6 billion people use social media for an average of 144 minutes every single day. With the right expertise and social media specs, savvy social campaigns have the power to serve your ads to the right customers exactly when they’re ready to buy – and you’ll be able to learn about them, so you can market even better to them next time.

Good visuals are key – our brains process images 60,000 times quicker than words. With the right creative, you’ll convert highly engaged customers and build brand loyalty.

But your advertising won’t be effective unless you use the right social media ad specs for each platform.

Social Media Ad Specs for Facebook and Instagram

To ensure your images get as much attention as possible, every piece of creative should stick to the following requirements:

Instagram Ad Specs

A third of Instagram users have bought something directly from an ad – so visuals on this photo-based platform are of utmost importance. Inspire your customers to imagine themselves wearing your clothes and making your brand a part of their life.

Instagram feed resolution: 1080 x 1350; 4:5 aspect ratio

Facebook Ad Specs

Facebook ads often display in small spaces, and should be as simple as possible to that they “read” properly to the user. Images should pop off the screen and attract a click by sparking curiosity in the user.

Facebook right column placements: 1200 x 628 pixels; 1.91:1 aspect ratio

Instagram and Facebook Ad Specs

As sister platforms, ads in both the Instagram and Facebook feeds share certain qualities.

Most placements, especially Facebook feed resolution: 1080 x 1080 pixels; 1:1 aspect ratio

Instagram and Facebook Stories full portrait and vertical resolution: 1080 x 1920; 9:16 aspect ratio

Key Technical Specs

Beyond the pixels in your images, there are more details technical specifications to keep in mind, particularly with video social media advertising.

How to Improve Your Images

Make sure that you keep your target customer in mind with your creative assets. If your service is luxe, pixelated or grainy imagery won’t attract the right audience. If you’re all about sustainable materials, make sure the lighting and setting feel natural and fun. And remember – if you have shots of real people using or wearing your products, they tend to get clicked on more than images of the standalone products.

When you resize images to fit the appropriate specifications, crop them properly – you’ll want to maintain space around the subject of your social advertisement and draw the customer’s eye to the product or activity you’re trying to promote. Also remember to avoid stretching or shrinking your images inadvertently.

Here at Sandhill Digital, we know that if you make sure the creative is strong, and your images keep your customers in mind, you’ll be able to tap the full power of social media advertising.

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