Alexander Advertising

Menu
Back to blog >

The ultimate media guide for Instagram advertising.

Posted by Stuart Walters on November 26, 2020

So, you’ve probably posted hundreds of times on Instagram already!? You have a small following for your personal brand or product, and now it’s time to start advertising on Instagram. But now that you’re paying, mistakes are costly!


Are you entirely sure exactly what size your images should be? Accidentally uploaded a file too big, or even worse, too small, and it looked terrible? Quick delete normally would be fine, but when you’re spending your precious budget, every penny counts!

Our little guide should help you avoid all future mistakes…
Get this over to your designer, or have this to hand next time you’re on Adobe Spark, or Canva!

 

Instagram Images:

Ok Images can be Square, Landscape or Portrait.

 

What image ratio should I use?

Square – 1:1 (Kind of obvious really!)

Landscape – 1.9:1

Portrait – 4:5

 

What file type should I use?

PNG or JPG

 

What’s the minimum resolution I can upload?

600 x 315 px (1.9:1 landscape)

600 x 600 px (1:1 square)

600 x 750 px (4:5 vertical)

 

What’s the maximum resolution I can upload?

1936 x 1936px

 

What’s the maximum file size I can upload?

30MB

 

How many characters can I use in the caption?

2,200

 

What call-to-actions can I have in my ad?

  • Book Now
  • Contact Us
  • Download
  • Learn More
  • Shop Now
  • Sign Up
  • Watch More
  • Apply Now

 

Instagram Videos:

Like images, videos can be Square, Portrait or Landscape

 

What video ratio should I use?

Hint: They are the same as the images!

Square – 1:1

Landscape – 1.9:1

Portrait – 4:5

 

What file type should I use?

It should be .mp4 but there’s a long list of accepted file types – you can read them here

 

What video codecs can I use?

H.264, VP8

 

What are the supported audio codecs?

AAC, Vorbis

 

What’s the minimum resolution of my video I can upload?

600 x 315 px (1.9:1 landscape)

600 x 600 px (1:1 square)

600 x 750 px (4:5 vertical)

 

What’s the maximum resolution of my video I can upload?

1936 x 1936px

 

What’s the minimum and maximum length of video?

No minimum and 60 seconds is the maximum

 

Is there a maximum frame rate?

30fpd

 

What about Bitrate limit?

There’s no limit to bitrate file if you're using two pass encoding, as long as your file doesn't exceed 1 GB.

Otherwise, 8 megabits per second for 1080p and 4 megabits per second for 720p.

 

What’s the maximum file size I can upload?

4GB

 

What about the image thumbnails?

These are the same specs as images, see above.

Video ads must be uploaded with a thumbnail.

 

How many characters can I use in the caption?

2,200

 

 

 

What call-to-actions can I have in my video ad?

 

  • Apply Now
  • Book Now
  • Contact Us
  • Download
  • Install Now
  • Learn More
  • Open Link
  • Play Game
  • Use App
  • Shop Now
  • Sign Up
  • Watch More
  • Watch Video

 

 

How about Instagram Carousel Ads?

 

Carousel ads enable you to inspire potential customers with deeper storytelling through the use of multiple photos or videos. People who see carousel ads can swipe on the images that appears in their feed. You can select from multiple call-to-action buttons that link out to additional information.

 

Ok Images can only be Square for Instagram carousel ads.

 

What image ratio should I use?

Square – 1:1

 

What file type should I use?

PNG or JPG

 

What’s the minimum resolution I can upload?

600 x 600 px (1:1 square)

 

What’s the maximum resolution I can upload?

1080 x 1080px

 

What’s the maximum file size I can upload?

4GB

 

How many characters can I use in the caption?

2,200

N.B. Each card can drive to a unique URL with a custom caption per card

 

Is there a minimum or maximum of photos or videos in my carousel?

Yes: 2 minimum and 10 maximum.

 

What call-to-actions can I have in my ad?

  • Apply Now
  • Book Now
  • Contact Us
  • Download
  • Install Now
  • Learn More
  • Play Game
  • Use App
  • Shop Now
  • Sign Up
  • Watch More

 

 

What about Ads in Instagram stories?

 

Instagram Stories ads have a full screen vertical format that allows for an immersive experience in both video or photo options. You can upload photos and videos with filters, text overlay and drawing tools. To your audiences, ads appear only between stories when a user is in the immersive viewer and disappear after 24 hours.

 

With deep-linking linking in Instagram Stories, you can engage users on the full-screen, immersive stories surface, and seamlessly send users to the products and content that are most relevant to them.

 

What image ratio should I use?

Portrait – 9:16

 

What file type should I use?

Photo: PNG or JPG

Video: MP4 or MOV

 

What’s the minimum resolution I can upload?

600 x 1067 px

 

What’s the recommend resolution I can upload?

1080 x 1920px

 

What’s the maximum file size I can upload?

Photo: 30MB

Video: 4GB

 

What video codecs can I use?

H.264, VP8

 

What are the supported audio codecs?

AAC, Vorbis

 

What are the available objectives?

  • Reach
  • Video Views
  • Traffic
  • Conversions
  • App Installs

Privacy Policy – Alexander Advertising International Ltd

This website is operated by Alexander Advertising International and whose registered address is Ispden House, Lutpon Road, Wallingford, OX10 9BS. We are committed to protecting and preserving the privacy of our visitors when visiting our site or communicating electronically with us.

This policy sets out how we process any personal data we collect from you or that you provide to us through our website. We confirm that we will keep your information secure and that we will comply fully with all applicable UK Data Protection legislation and regulations. Please read the following carefully to understand what happens to personal data that you choose to provide to us, or that we collect from you when you visit this site. By visiting www.alexander-advertising.co.uk (our website) you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.

Types of information we may collect from you

We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal information about individuals who visit and use our website:

Information you supply to us. You may supply us with information about you by filling in forms on our website. This includes information you provide when you submit a contact/enquiry form. The information you give us may include your name, address, e-mail address and phone number.

Information our website automatically collects about you. With regard to each of your visits to our website we may automatically collect information including the following:

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them see our Cookie Policy.

How we may use the information we collect

We use the information in the following ways:

Information you supply to us. We will use this information:

Information we automatically collect about you. We will use this information:

This information is collected anonymously and is not linked to information that identifies you as an individual. We also use Google Analytics to track this information. Find out how Google uses your data at

Google Analytics Data Usage
Disclosure of your information

Any information you provide to us will either be emailed directly to us or may be stored on a secure server located in the UK. We use a trusted third-party website and hosting provider (Perfect Web Design) to facilitate the running and management of this website. Perfect Web Design meet high data protection and security standards and are bound by contract to keep any information they process on our behalf confidential. Any data that may be collected through this website that Perfect Web Design process, is kept secure and only processed in the manner we instruct them to. Perfect Web Design cannot access, provide, rectify or delete any data that they store on our behalf without permission.

We do not rent, sell or share personal information about you with other people or non-affiliated companies.

We will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that your personal data is not disclosed to regional/national institutions and authorities, unless required by law or other regulations.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

Third party links

Our site may, from time to time, contain links to and from the third-party websites. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.

Your rights – access to your personal data

You have the right to ensure that your personal data is being processed lawfully (“Subject Access Right”). Your subject access right can be exercised in accordance with data protection laws and regulations. Any subject access request must be made in writing to info@alexander-advertising.co.uk. We will provide your personal data to you within the statutory time frames. To enable us to trace any of your personal data that we may be holding, we may need to request further information from you. If you have a complaint about how we have used your information, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Changes to our privacy policy

Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy.

Contact

Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to info@alexander-advertising.co.uk

×