Each social network has its own video and image format requirements, and ignoring them can alter broadcast quality: blurred, pixelated or even unreadable content. The main benefits of respecting video size on social networks include an optimal user experience, increased engagement and improved visibility.
Why is the size of videos on social networks important?
The advantages of video in a communication strategy are numerous, but respecting the specific constraints of each social platform will impact the way your videos appear and are read. Why do you need to do this?
Enhanced user experience: by customizing your videos to the recommended sizes, you can ensure that they are clear, high-quality and easily viewed on any device.
Increased engagement: when presented with visually appealing videos optimized for a specific platform, users are more likely to interact with your content, ultimately increasing engagement rates.
Improved visibility: social network algorithms tend to favor videos that respect the sizes and formats optimized for their platform. Respecting them increases their chances of being broadcast to a wider audience, thus increasing your visibility and reach.
Video: the specific features of each social network
With so many social networking platforms out there, it can be hard to keep track of which formats are recommended. Here's the lowdown.
YouTube video sizes
YouTube is still the benchmark for video sharing. It's also the second largest search engine after Google. Long-form video, short promotional clips, movies, TV shows... As the YouTube landscape continues to expand, it encompasses a wide range of formats. This diversity makes YouTube an excellent channel for enhancing the visibility and reputation of your brand or company.
Classic videos on YouTube
- Recommended resolutions: 1920 x 1080
- Proportions: 16:9
- Maximum file size: 128 GB (unless the video is longer than 12 hours)
- Maximum video length: 12 hours
- Video formats supported: .MOV, .MPEG4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP and WebM.
YouTube Shorts
- Recommended resolutions: 1080 x 1920
- Proportions: 9:16
- Maximum video length: 60 seconds
- Video formats supported: .MOV, .MPEG4, .MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP and WebM
- YouTube music duration: If you use music from the YouTube library, it is limited to 15 seconds.
- Maximum title length: 100 characters
LinkedIn video sizes
Although relatively new to video content, LinkedIn has quickly become an essential platform for video sharing. According to one study, 29% of marketers would choose LinkedIn to distribute video content - ahead of YouTube (24%) and Facebook (19%).
Videos shared on LinkedIn
- Proportions: 16:9 (landscape format), 9:16 (portrait format ideal for stories), 4:5 (tight portrait), 1:1 (square)
- Maximum file size: 5 GB
- Video length: from 3 seconds to 10 minutes
- Supported video formats: .ASF, .AVI, .FLV, .MOV, .MPEG-1, .MPEG-4, .MP4, .MKV and .WebM
- Maximum frame rate: 10-60 fps.
Instagram video sizes
Instagram, which boasts 1.4 billion daily active users, first embraced video content in 2013, and over the years videos have not only grown in popularity, but have also become an indispensable part of the platform. Instagram supports three types of video: square (recommended format), vertical and landscape.
Videos in your Instagram feed
Landscape videos in the feed
- Recommended resolution: 1080 x 1080
- Proportions: 16:9
- Maximum file size: 4 GB
- Recommended video formats: .MP4 or .MOV
- Maximum video length: 120 seconds
- Frame rate: 23-60 fps
Square videos in the thread
- Recommended resolution: 1080 x 1080
- Proportions: 1:1
- Maximum file size: 4 GB
- Recommended video formats: .MP4 or .MOV
- Maximum video length: 120 seconds
- Frame rate: 23-60 fps
Vertical videos in the feed
- Recommended resolution: 1080 x 1080
- Proportions: 4:5
- Maximum file size: 4 GB
- Recommended video formats: .MP4 or .MOV
- Maximum video length: 120 seconds
- Frame rate: 23-60 fps
- Recommended number of characters: 125
Instagram Stories
- Recommended resolution: 1080 x 1920
- Proportions: 9:16
- Maximum file size: 4 GB
- Recommended video formats: .MP4 or .MOV
- Maximum video length: 15 seconds
- Frame rate: 23-60 fps.
Reels Instagram
- Recommended resolution: 1080 x 1080
- Proportions: 1:1
- Recommended video formats: .MP4 or .MOV
- Maximum duration: 120 seconds
- Maximum file size: 4 GB
- Maximum frame rate: 23-60 fps
Facebook video sizes
The popularity of Facebook videos continues to grow year on year. The main challenge for marketers is to adapt to the platform's regularly updated design. Each video format comes with its own set of dimensions and specifications, adding to the confusion as to which format is best suited to organic or paid publications.
Classic videos on the Facebook feed
- Recommended dimensions: 1280 x 720
- Minimum width: 1200 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 16:9 (landscape) to 9:16 (portrait)
- Maximum file size: up to 10 GB recommended.
- Recommended video format: MP4 or MOV, but other file types are supported.
- Video length: maximum 240 minutes or less.
Tip: For best results, Facebook recommends importing videos in .MP4 or .MOV format.
Facebook Reels
- Recommended resolution: at least 500 x 888 pixels
- Recommended proportions: 9:16
- Recommended video formats: .MP4 or .MOV
Tips: include a caption for those who watch videos without sound.
TikTok video sizes
If you want to reach Generation Z and millennials, you'll find them on TikTok: the world's most popular social network for short videos. Use this channel to boost your company's growth by increasing your brand's visibility. The advantage: creating and sharing videos on TikTok is relatively simple, so marketers can get started quickly.
- Dimensions: 1080 x 1920
- Recommended proportions: 9:16
- Maximum file size: 287 MB
- Recommended video formats: .MP4 or .MOV
- Maximum duration: 10 minutes
- Character limit: 2,200
To have all the data at hand at all times, download our infographic on the main formats used on social networks.
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