Have you come up with a great idea for your company’s next paid ad? Before you hit the publish button on your campaign, make sure your ad meets all the right criteria.

If you don’t follow the correct specs, your photo or video ad may not reach your intended audience. Imagine you have a deadline for a big campaign and then when you’re about to submit your ad, Facebook or Linkedin denies your post because it’s not the right image size.

Read on below for basic ad guidelines for Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin.

Instagram

You might think Instagram is only for posting food photos and selfies, but it’s one of the most popular platforms for online advertising. After all, the social media site has 800 million active users.

Here’s a breakdown of the different kinds of Instagram ads and specs for each.

Image Ads: These single image ads appear in your feed as you are scrolling.

• 1080 x 1080px resolution
• 1:1 aspect ratio
• 30MB max for image file
• PNG or JPG file type
• 125 characters recommended for caption length

Video Ads: These are single video ads that appear in your feed as you are scrolling.

• 1080 x 1080px resolution
• 4:5 aspect ratio
• 30GB max for video files
• 2 minutes max length
• MP4 or MOV file type
• 125 characters recommended for caption length

Carousel Image Ads: These ads appear in your feed as you are scrolling and contain more than one image.

• 1080 x 1080px resolution
• 1:1 aspect ratio
• 30MB max for each image file
• PNG or JPG file type
• 2-10 images allowed per ad

Carousel Video Ads: These ads appear in your feed as you are scrolling and contain more than one video.

• 1080 x 1080px resolution
• 1:1 aspect ratio
• 4GB max for each video file
• 60 seconds max length
• MP4 or MOV file type
• 2-10 videos allowed per ad

Stories Image Ads: These are image ads that interrupt your stories by popping up in between users’ stories.

• 1080 x 1080px resolution
• 9:16 aspect ratio
• 30MB max for image file
• PNG or JPG file type
• 125 characters recommended for caption length

Stories Video Ads: These are video ads that interrupt your stories by popping up in between users’ stories.

• 1080 x 1080px resolution
• 9:16 aspect ratio
• 30GB max for video files
• 2 minutes max length
• MP4 or MOV file type
• Sound and captions recommended

LinkedIn

LinkedIn connects you to a community of 690 million professionals where four out of five members drive business decisions. The platform offers several ad placement options, but they can be pricey, so any mistake you make could cost you double.

Here are some ad specs to keep in mind when creating ads for LinkedIn:

Image Ads: These are single-image ads that appear in your feed.

• 1200 x 627px resolution
• 1.91:1 aspect ratio
• 5MB max image size
• PNG or JPG file type
• 255 max characters.
• 70 characters max for headline

Video Ads: These are single video ads that appear in your feed.

• 1:1 aspect ratio
• Between 75 KB and 200 MB max for video files
• 30 minutes max length
• MP4 file type
• Less than 30 frames per second
• 70 characters max for headline

Carousel Ads: These ads appear in your feed as you are scrolling and contain more than one image.

• 1080 x 1080px resolution
• 1:1 aspect ratio
• 10MB max for each image file
• PNG, JPG, or non-animated GIF file type
• 2-10 images allowed per ad

Facebook

​​Facebook has one of the largest social networks on the internet. When you advertise on the site, you have access to over 2.80 billion active users all over the world.

Hot tip: One of the most popular ad formats on Facebook is image ads in the feed. Facebook can boost an existing image post from your feed by turning it into an ad; all you have to do is choose an image on your page that has received significant engagement, likes, comments, or reposts, and promote it to reach a larger audience.

Here are some Facebook ad specs to jot down:

Image Ads: These are single-image ads that appear in your feed.

• 1200 x 628px resolution
• 9:16 – 16:9 aspect ratio
• 5MB max image size
• PNG or JPG file type
• 25 characters max for headline
• 30 characters max for description

Video Ads: These are single video ads that appear in your feed.

• Highest resolution possible
• 9:16 – 16:9 aspect ratio
• 4GB max for video files
• 240 minutes max length
• MP4 or MOV file type
• 25 characters max for headline
• 30 characters max for description

Carousel Image Ads: These ads appear in your feed as you are scrolling and contain more than one image.

• 1080 x 1080px resolution
• 1:1 aspect ratio
• 10MB max for each image file
• PNG or JPG file type
• 2-10 images allowed per ad
• 125 characters max for text
• 40 characters max for headline

Carousel Video Ads: These ads appear in your feed as you are scrolling and contain more than one video.

• 1080 x 1080px resolution
• 1:1 aspect ratio
• 4GB max for each video file
• 240 minutes max length
• MP4 or MOV file type
• 2-10 videos allowed per ad
• 125 characters max for text
• 40 characters max for headline

Stories Image Ads: These are image ads that interrupt your stories by popping up in between users’ stories.

• 1080 x 1920px resolution
• 1:91 – 9:16 aspect ratio
• PNG or JPG file type

Stories Video Ads: These are video ads that interrupt your stories by popping up in between users’ stories.

• Highest resolution possible
• 1:91 – 9:16 aspect ratio
• 4GB max for video files
• 15 seconds max length
• MP4 or MOV file type
• Sound and captions recommended

Twitter

Twitter is where entertainers, journalists, and everyday people give us their bite-sized opinion on the world. Twitter has 206 million active users on their site, so using Twitter to reach your audience is not a bad idea.

Promoted tweets and accounts are two of Twitter’s most popular ad formats, but let’s take a look at a few different Twitter ads and the specs needed for each.

Promoted Image Tweet: A single image ad that appears in your feed.

• 600 – 1200px
• 1:1 – 2:1 aspect ratio
• JPG, PNG, and GIF file type
• 5MB max for GIF files
• 280 character limit. If you add a link to the post, it shortens your limit by 23 characters.

Video Ads: These are single video ads that appear in your feed.

• 1200 x 1200px
• 1:1 aspect ratio
• 1GB max for video files
• 2 minutes 20 seconds max length
• MP4 or MOV file type
• 280 characters max
• Must have closed captioning or text

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin let advertisers post videos, images, GIFs, and carousel slideshows. It’s up to you to decide what platform will best deliver your message and reach your intended audience.

Before you hit send on your big campaign, make sure that your ad follows all the guidelines set by the social media platform. Find out the specific character limit, file format type, and what different types of ad you can run on each site. Otherwise your advertisement may not land right and you could be wasting valuable ad dollars.