Updates to Facebook Ad Sizes for 2020

It can be a daunting task to stay abreast of all the Facebook Ad size changes, especially since the platform routinely introduces new formats for Ads in addition to constantly making changes to the specifications for existing videos and images. While it might seem like Facebook issues these updates for the sole purpose of keeping digital marketers sharp, the actual reason for the steady flow of changes has more to do with optimal display.Approximately 20% of all advertising dollars are allocated to Facebook Ads, and with good reason. Facebook has around 2 billion users who are active every month, and all of these users spend at least 50 minutes a day logged onto the platform. These statistics put Facebook far ahead of its closest competitors, Instagram and Snapchat, whose users are online for just over 30 minutes each day.This means that digital marketers simply must include Facebook in their marketing strategies, and Facebook actually helps with this by constantly tinkering with achieving the best display for your ads, so as to entice more customers. The difficulty with all this comes from the fact that it's hard to keep up with all those changes, and sometimes you just don't know what the current specifications are for your videos and images.Below you'll find all that information, according to Facebook's most recent pronouncements on the ideal specifications for images and videos.

Video ad sizes

The number one thing to remember about creating videos is that you should always design with mobile devices in mind, and with all other devices being secondary. That being the case, Facebook recommends creating videos with either square or vertical aspect ratios, so as to maximize compatibility on mobile screens as well as on desktop screens. The square aspect ratio should be 1:1, and vertical aspect ratios can be either 2:3, 4:5, or 9:16.A couple of points to remember are that your videos should last no more than about 15 seconds so as to encourage maximum viewership, and they should be effective either with or without sound. Facebook also recommends that when uploading videos, you choose the maximum resolution source video which is available without having to incorporate letter or pillar boxing.As such, Facebook recommends that video resolution should be at least 1280×720 pixels, and that the video ratio should be somewhere between 9:16 and 16:9. The file size for your video should be no greater than 4 GB, with a minimum video length of one second and a maximum video length of 240 minutes. Keep in mind that the videos which receive the best viewership are those which last no longer than 15 seconds.

Facebook in-stream videos

For these types of videos, you should choose the highest resolution which is available, and Facebook recommends that you use a video ratio of 16:9, although it will continue to support ratios from 9:16 on up. The video file size for in-stream videos should not exceed 4 GB, with the minimum video duration being five seconds and the maximum duration being 15 seconds. Be aware that in cases where your video thumbnail is comprised of more than 20% text, the video delivery might be somewhat degraded.

Facebook Marketplace video ads

A couple things to be aware of with these types of ads are that vertical videos having an aspect ratio exceeding 2:3 may be cropped back to 2:3, and any video thumbnail consisting of greater than 20% text could experience degraded video delivery. Apart from these cautions, your Marketplace video ads should use the highest possible resolution, and the video ratio should be somewhere between 9:16 and 16:9. Maximum video file size should be limited to 4 GB, with a minimum duration of one second and a maximum video duration of 240 minutes.

Facebook Stories ads

Again, it should be remembered that any video thumbnail comprised of more than 20% text might experience slightly degraded video delivery. The highest resolution available should be selected for your Facebook Stories ads, and the video ratio should be somewhere between 1.91 and 9:16. Maximum file size for these types of ads should be 4 GB and the maximum duration of any video should not exceed two minutes.

Facebook video feeds

Feeds are different in Facebook than in-stream videos or any Facebook videos you might view from your newsfeed. Whenever a user happens to click on some kind of video in their feed, it will open up in a video player, and other video feeds will be included in the area below. These Facebook video feed ads are the ones which appear in that space below. As for other types of Facebook video, you should choose the highest possible resolution and the video ratio should be between 16:9 and 9:16. The maximum file size for this type of ad should be 4 GB, with minimum video duration being one second and maximum video duration being 240 minutes.

Facebook image ads

Virtually all customers prefer to see any kind of product before making a purchase, which is only natural. For you as a marketer, this means that you'll have to include a number of images with your ads, and these images should somehow display your product advantageously or in an eye-catching manner. The difficulty with preparing image ads for Facebook is that there are a number of different ad destinations such as Messenger and Newsfeeds, as well as mobile and desktop destinations.Fortunately, Facebook has an Ads Manager which allows you to upload images for different display formats, and then preview them before you actually cause them to go live. For feed images, you should stick to a size of 1200×628 pixels, with a minimum width of 476 pixels and a minimum height of 249 pixels. Your aspect ratio should be somewhere between 9:16 and 16:9, and you should always choose the highest resolution available, preferably in JPEG or PNG format.

Facebook Stories images

When you're using still images in your Facebook Stories Ads, you should allocate about 250 pixels at both the top and the bottom of these images, so they don't get covered up. Calls to action and profile icons can get in the way and obscure your images if you don't include this free space. Otherwise, Facebook recommends that your image sizes be 1200×628 pixels, with a minimum width of 500 pixels. The aspect ratio should again be 9:16 to 16:9, with a minimum aspect ratio of 90×160 and a maximum aspect ratio of 191×100.