Does It Feel Like The “Suggested” Sizes For Social Image Dimensions Are Moving Targets?
After almost five years of running pay per click ads on Facebook and other platforms, this is a question that consistently comes up from new marketers.
“I just saved some templates, and why is “it” asking me to change my image size again?”
Let’s dig in a little and review what’s working right now for 2019 in social media image sizes.
Keeping Up With The Trends
I first noticed it back in December of 2018. When creating an ad with a video for the creative, Facebook was “recommending” that I use a 1:1 ratio, or square…
Then, the same recommendation popped up when using a static image a little while later.
Now, I’ve found that nearly all posts and ads are working with SQUARE creatives – whether images or videos.
This is especially true for videos – as it works great for Stories on both Facebook and Instagram – two of the hottest ad placements right now. Square images also look great on all devices.
What Does All This Mean For You?
Well, that depends on how trendy you want to be with your marketing and advertising.
And, at the same time, keeping up with trends can be critical to keep in flow with the various algorithms that determine who sees your content.
When a social media platform is promoting a specific format or social image dimensions that it’s favoring, you may want to jump on that bandwagon for extra exposure.
Typically when any platform is favoring a new format or size, you can expect higher visibility to those accounts that follow the suggestions of the platform.
What exactly Is Working In 2020 For Social Image Dimensions?
Here’s a “super-quick” run-down of what I know – and I will strive to update this post if there are drastic changes.
1. It’s HIP to be SQUARE! Square (1:1) images and videos are working great across all Facebook placements and Instagram (owned by Facebook). You can also test this social image dimension on Pinterest to see how it works versus the recommended 2:3 ratio.
2. TALL is also COOL! Next, think about taking up more of the vertical span on someone’s phone or tablet? Vertical (portrait versus landscape) images and videos are also working really well. These are the BEST choice for Stories on both Facebook and Instagram.
HINT: If you want one social image dimension that you can use across platforms and placements, then go with the square and drop a different background color for the Stories.
What About My Links?
For Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, the WIDE (horizontal) 1.9:1 is still best practice when inserting links with images.
Simply multiply your image height by 1.9 or multiply the width by 0.524.
You can still use the SQUARE image here – I just recommend leaving a buffer margin at the top and bottom as it may get cropped in the feed.
How About Some Specifics?
You got it! Below are some suggested sizes for the most popular social images…
SQUARE 1:1 images sized at 1200 x 1200 pixels will work on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn (and Google+ if you have a Business page).
WIDE 1.9:1 which is still the recommended image size for Facebook Newsfeed ads, with a recommendation of 1200 x 628 pixels for these images.
Facebook for Business is a great resource, and their Facebook Ads Guide is always up-to-date with image and video dimension recommendations for every type of placement and ad.
In addition to the Facebook For Business link above, here are recommended social image dimensions for LinkedIn.
As a comprehensive resource, Sprout Social has an “always updated” resource for all social platforms that can be handy to bookmark as well.
How Will This Help My Posts And Ads?
As a general rule, when any social platform is promoting a specific image size or shape or “suggesting” certain social image dimensions, those using that suggestions will likely be rewarded in reach and impressions.
Test the square image and try posting more regularly to your Facebook or Instagram Stories…see how it works for you – and let me know.
I’m constantly testing everything Facebook recommends and I’ll let you know how it works out here.
In a recent test, I chose the square crop for a video ad and the engagement was improved, with the cost per 10 second view reduced by 30%. That’s pretty staggering.
Now, it’s all relative, the cost went from $0.03 to $0.02 – it was already pretty good, but that’s a third more performance from your budget. I’ll take it.
Need A Short-Cut?
There are tons of tools out there to help with this dilemma…
The two I see the most are Canva.com and Snappa.com.
I use the Business Plan from Canva.com in my own business, so that’s what I recommend. What’s cool about Canva is that THEY do all the work for keeping your images the “right” size for sharing on different social networks.
Anytime you click on a template size, you know your social image dimensions are spot-on for the current guidelines of that platform.
Conclusion
Test those social image dimensions mentioned above and try some of the new placements.
You can also take Canva and Snappa for test-drives – both have free options.
Check out my Page HERE. (@MarketingProfitSchool on Facebook).
Join the conversation…let me know what you think or what you want to learn more about on my Facebook Page or in the comments below…
Cheers!Penny
