For your video ads to stand out in a feed full of curated content on Instagram, understanding the platform’s ad specifications is critical for your ad to deliver its possible maximum output. With its popularity and visually-driven nature, Instagram provides brands an excellent opportunity to reach socially engaged audiences through advertising. However, keeping track of what’s required can be challenging with a wide range of ad types available, each with different recommended sizes and specifications.

Instagram’s visually engaging content has made it a prime platform for advertisers to connect with their target audience. With millions of users, advertisers have an enormous opportunity to leverage Instagram’s inventory to create effective campaigns. According to a recent Hubspot article, it’s estimated that 35% of Instagram users in the US will make purchases on the platform by 2023.

Brands that effectively utilize Instagram’s advertising capabilities have the potential to generate significant sales and revenue from their campaigns. To avoid ad rejection due to a mismatch of design requirements, we’ve created a comprehensive guide to Instagram Ad Specs that breaks down the specifications by ad type. Don’t let ad specifications prevent you from creating visually appealing and effective Instagram ads. Whether new to Instagram advertising or a seasoned pro, this guide provides the best practices and tips for optimizing your Instagram ad campaigns.

Instagram ad types and specs

Feed Image Ads

Image ads are a versatile and powerful tool for advertisers. They showcase products, services, or brands with a single photo and optional footer. Image ads can increase interest, raise awareness, and deliver a clear message that prompts users to take action. They appear on multiple platforms and support various aspect ratios.

Advertisers can use the same image with multiple placements and ratios using Facebook’s recommended image ratios and asset customization feature. In summary, image ads are an excellent way for advertisers to drive engagement and conversions.

Specs:

Image File Type: JPG or PNG
Ratio: 1:1
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels

Primary Text: 125 characters
Headline: 40 characters
Maximum Number of Hashtags: 30
Maximum File Size: 30MB

Minimum Width: 500 pixels
Minimum Aspect Ratio: 400 x 500
Maximum Aspect Ratio: 191 x 100

Feed Video Ads

Video ads effectively showcase a product, service, or brand through a captivating video. Advertisers can create video ads using various tools, including the Ads Manager, or boost a post with a video on their Facebook Page.

The ability to include dynamic visuals and engaging audio makes video ads an ideal choice for brands looking to capture the attention of their target audience. With the right messaging and creative approach, video advertising can effectively drive brand awareness and conversions.

Specs:

File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 4:5
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
Video Captions: Optional but recommended
Video Sound: Optional, but recommended

Primary Text: 125 characters
Maximum Number of Hashtags: 30

Video Duration: 1 second to 60 minutes
Maximum File Size: 4GB
Minimum Width: 500 pixels

Carousel Ads

The carousel ad format displays multiple images and videos with headlines, descriptions, and call-to-action. It’s perfect for showcasing products or services, and users can swipe through on mobile or click arrows on a desktop. Ideal for increasing reach and engagement.

Specs

Image File Type: JPG or PNG
Video File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 1:1
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels

Primary Text: 125 characters
Headline: 32 characters
Description: 18 characters
Landing Page URL: Required

Number of Carousel Cards: 2 to 10
Image Maximum File Size: 30MB
Video Maximum File Size: 4GB
Video Duration: 1 second to 240 minutes
Aspect Ratio Tolerance: 3%

Stories Ads

Stories ads are full-screen ads seen on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger stories that encourage various actions. According to an IPSOS survey, 56% of Americans visited the brand’s website for more information, and 31% checked out the product in-store.

Stories ads are a great way for brands to engage with people, as over half of Instagram users view stories daily. Instagram Stories display video ads for up to 10 seconds, and ads longer than that are split into separate cards. Instagram displays 1-3 cards before prompting viewers to tap “Keep Watching”

Stories Image Ads

Specs:

Image File Type: JPG or PNG
Ratio: 9:16
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels. (See Notes in an asterisk * below)
Primary Text: 125 characters

Maximum File Size: 30MB
Minimum Width: 500 pixels

*Consider leaving roughly 14% (250 pixels) of the top and 20% (340 pixels) of the bottom of the image free from text, logos, or other key creative elements to avoid covering them with the profile icon or call-to-action.

Stories Video Ads

Specs:

File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 9:16
Video Settings: H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps+
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
Video Captions: Optional but recommended
Video Sound: Optional, but recommended. (See Notes in an asterisk * below)
Primary Text: 125 characters

Video Duration: 1 second to 60 minutes
Maximum File Size: 4GB
Minimum Width: 500 pixels

*Videos should not contain edit lists or special boxes in file containers. Consider leaving roughly 14% (250 pixels) of the top and 20% (340 pixels) of the bottom of the video free from text, logos, or other key creative elements to avoid covering them with the profile icon or call-to-action.

Stories Carousel Ads

The Instagram Stories carousel format lets you showcase multiple products in one ad. You can upload up to 10 cards, and viewers can expand to see all of them. Select Instagram Stories as your only placement to display a fixed number of cards when creating the ad.

Specs:

Image File Type: JPG or PNG
Video File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 1:1
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1920 pixels. (See Notes in an asterisk * below)

Primary Text: 125 characters
Headline: 40 characters
Landing Page URL: Required

Number of Carousel Cards: 2 to 10
Image Maximum File Size: 30MB
Video Maximum File Size: 4GB
Video Duration: 1 second to 15 seconds

*Consider leaving roughly 14% (250 pixels) of the top and 20% (340 pixels) of the bottom of the image or video free from text and logos to avoid covering these key elements with the call-to-action.

Slideshow Ads

Slideshow Ads on Instagram allow up to 10 images in a looping video with music. Users can choose a thumbnail, music, and captions for the ad in the Facebook Ads Manager.

Slideshow Ads are easy to set up and provide a creative way to display visuals. They differ from Carousel Ads, which display up to 10 images or videos with interactive swiping.

Slideshow Ads Mock up - Instagram Ad Specs

Image File type: jpg or png for images
Audio File type: wav, mp3, m4a, flac and ogc
Image size: 600 x 600 pixels, max. 1080 x 1080
Text limit: Two rows of text will be displayed
Image Duration: max of 50 secs per image
Caption: 125 characters maximum
Media type: audio and images

Reels Ads

Instagram Reels ads provide a mobile opportunity to reach high-intent audiences with unique and authentic brand stories. The fullscreen vertical video ads are up to 15 seconds and inserted between organic Reels content. Ads can be viewed, liked, shared, and skipped.

Reels ads are shown in popular places to access Reels content, such as Stories, Feed, Reels Tab, and Explore.

Specs:

File Type: MP4, MOV
Ratio: 9:16
Video Settings: H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps+
Resolution: At least 500 x 888 pixels
Video Captions: Optional, but recommended
Video Sound: Optional, but strongly recommended
Primary Text: 72 characters

Video Duration: 0 seconds to 15 minutes
Maximum File Size: 4GB

Note: Reels ads should not contain:

Reels published before October 15, 2021.
Licensed music. We recommend using original audio or royalty-free music available in our Meta Sound Collection instead.
Media that has a face or camera effect.
Media with a GIF.
Media with product tags.
Videos that contain edit lists or special boxes in file containers.
Consider leaving roughly 14% of the top, 20% of the bottom, and 6% on each side of your asset free from text, logos, or other key creative elements to avoid covering them with the profile icon or call-to-action. To learn more, visit our guidance on text overlays and safe zones.

Explore Ads

Explore is a discovery feature on Instagram where users can access content based on their interests. Advertisers can use it to showcase their ads to people looking to engage with new content. Advertisers can reuse feed ad creative, extend their campaign reach, and target the same audience. Explore offers two ad placements and provides an opportunity for efficiency gains.

Explore Image Ads Specs

Image File Type: JPG or PNG
Ratio: 9:16
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
Primary Text: 125 characters

Maximum File Size: 30MB
Minimum Width: 500 pixels

Explore image ads specs Strike Social Instagram Ad Specs

Explore Video Ads Specs

File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 4:5
Video Settings: H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps+
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
Video Captions: Optional but recommended
Video Sound: Optional, but recommended (Videos should not contain edit lists or special boxes in file containers)
Primary Text: 125 characters

Video Duration: 1 second to 60 minutes
Maximum File Size: 4GB
Minimum Width: 500 pixels

Collection Ads

The collection format creates an immersive shopping experience with a cover image or video and multiple products. It drives product discovery, provides seamless browsing on mobile, converts demand into sales, and showcases product catalogs. It can be delivered on various platforms and adjusts the number of products displayed based on placement.

Specs:

The cover image or video displayed in your collection ad uses the first media asset from your Instant Experience.

Image Type: JPG or PNG
Video File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 1:1
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels

Primary Text: 125 characters
Headline: 40 characters
Landing Page URL: Required

Instant Experience: Required
Image Maximum File Size: 30MB
Video Maximum File Size: 4GB

Shopping Ads

Instagram Shopping Ads allow businesses to sell products efficiently on the platform, and the tagging feature drives traffic and increases sales. Users can purchase products without leaving the app, and Shopping Ads take them directly to the product description page. Advertisers need to set up their Instagram Shopping catalog to run these ads.

Specs

File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 4:5
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
Video Captions: Optional, but recommended
Video Sound: Optional, but recommended
Primary Text: 125 characters
Maximum Number of Hashtags: 30

Video Duration: 1 second to 60 minutes
Maximum File Size: 4GB
Minimum Width: 500 pixels

Instagram ads made easy

Advertisers must know the Instagram ad specs to optimize their advertising efforts for the platform. Testing different ad sizes, formats, and specifications can help determine which ones produce the best results and are preferred by the target audience.

By doing so, advertisers can create a well-informed advertising strategy that resonates with their audience. Utilizing tools such as Meta Ads Manager simplified the process of creating Instagram ads.

You’re equipped with the technical knowledge provided here; try incorporating it into your Instagram advertising efforts and see what it can do for you.

Social media ad dimensions

by Ligia Aguilhar