With the ever-evolving trends in advertising, it’s not exactly easy to keep up with the new shifts and preferences. For instance, Instagram, which has millions of engaged users, has a bunch of different rules and best practices. One of them is getting the Instagram ad size right.
Thanks to social media, advertisers now have access to a much larger audience.
Instagram alone provides countless opportunities and up to 7 different ad types to choose from. More than 80% of Instagram users also research products and services, which means you can potentially generate more leads and drive more conversions (if you play your cards right).
In this article, we’re going to talk about the ideal Instagram ad size and some actionable advice on how you can create visually appealing content.
Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
How Does Instagram Advertising Work?
Instagram ads look just like any other shared post. advertisers can potentially reach millions of users and a more targeted audience through this platform.
Similar to Facebook ads, Instagram ads consist of paid posts or sponsored content.
According to Instagram, 60% of people discover new products on their social network, whereas 75% of Instagrammers take action after being inspired by a post.
Instagram ads are usually for more brand exposure and generate more leads. They make it easier for you to reach your target audience based on apps they use or accounts they click or follow, both on Instagram and Facebook. One of the benefits is finding new leads who are similar to your existing leads.
It’s very important to stand out from your competitors. To tell you the truth, it’s very easy to create spectacular ads that get the results you want.
Instagram ads are the golden egg opportunity to stay engaged with your customers. Think of it this way, users only scroll through their platform, so you need to get their complete attention to attract the customer with that single ad.
It’s not as easy as it sounds, but by the end of this article, you would have mastered how to create the most eye-catchy Instagram ads.
What is an Ideal Instagram Ad Size?
The Ideal Instagram ad size is 1080 x 1080 pixels for a square image with a 1:1 ratio. You also have different size options such as a vertical image, which has an aspect ratio of 4:5 and should be 600 x 750 pixels. Lastly, landscape images have an aspect ratio of 1.9:1 and should be 1200 x 628 pixels.
There are many ad formats to choose from, and each format has a different recommended size.
Make sure to also keep in mind the official Instagram story size to create stunning stories.
Below, we’ve shared the main ones, along with the ideal Instagram ad size for each:
Instagram Newsfeed Image Ads Size and Specs
Image ads with CTA’s (Call-to-action) are the most popular type of ads used on Instagram.
Newsfeed image ads come in 3 different formats and choosing the right size before you post is a good practice. You can either use a single image or up to 10 images in either of these formats.
The platform lets you know how your post would show up. The last thing you would want is an awkwardly cropped image or video. This could leave a negative impact on your audience.
In addition, make sure that the image is either in JPG or PNG format and doesn’t exceed 30MBs.
Instagram Newsfeed Video Ad Size and Specs
Similar to the Instagram Newsfeed Image ads, you can apply different aspect ratios to your video ads too, but you should use the correct size that the platform recommends.
The ideal is a vertical video with an aspect ratio of 4:5 and should be 600 x 750 pixels.
Other requirements include:
- Maximum File Size: 30MB
- Resolution: 1080 x1080 pixels
- File Format: MP4 and MOV
- Max Video Length: 120 seconds
Stick with these rules and your video ads will perform well.
Instagram Story Ad Size and Specs
The recommended Instagram story ads size is 1080 x 1920 px with an aspect ratio of 9:16.
If you’re using images, stick with the same specs and technical requirements for regular image ad sizes. Same goes for videos.
It’s also best to keep your text short and simple. Your primary text should be around 140 words, whereas the headline can be up to 40 characters long.
Note: If you’re looking to create an attention-grabbing display picture, the recommended dimensions for an Instagram profile picture are 110 x 100 pixels.
How to Create an Instagram Ad in 3 Easy Steps
Designing eye-catchy and compelling content for your brand that can attract your audience might sound difficult and exhausting.
However, with the help of Pixelied, you can create stunning Instagram ads, posts, and profile pictures in seconds. Plus, it’s super easy to use and absolutely free.
With simple drag and drop features, Pixelied makes graphic designing simple..
You get to start with thousands of ready-to-use Instagram ad templates to work on, which you can customize drastically according to your requirements.
Let’s jump right into the steps:
Step One: Select a Template
Once you open the Pixelied free editor, you can specifically select templates for Instagram ads.
Here’s what it looks like (with a template locked and loaded):
All of these templates are set at the ideal Instagram ad size (for image ads).
After you select a template that you like, you can start customizing everything on it however you want, including fonts, text size, and text placements.
Step Two: Customize Your Instagram Ad
As mentioned above, start off by tweaking the text.
You can also adjust borders, shadows, or play around with the level of opacity even.
In addition, you also get access to the free high-resolution stock images, a variety of illustrations, and a bunch of elements to choose from.
The search bar feature makes it much easier to find all sorts of logos and icons, along with images provided by Unsplash and Pixabay.
To demonstrate the customizability that Pixelied offers, here’s what I did to the template we selected earlier:
Keep in mind that I only partially edited it. You can do a lot more with all of those features at your disposal.
Step Three: Download Away!
Satisfied with your design?
The only thing left to do is to download it. Go to the upper right corner of your editor and click the download button.
Here, you can also choose your required quality, file size, or what image format you want it in.
How to Upload your Ad on Instagram?
There are two ways to upload your ad on Instagram:
- By promoting the image/video you have posted
- By creating ads on Facebook ad manager (Instagram’s parent company)
The difference between both is that promoting it will give you limited options to choose your audience. Although boosting a post may be more convenient, using the Facebook ads manager gives you the option to create multiple target audiences for long-term success.
You can decide whatever works best for you.
I’ve explained both below:
Promoting Your Instagram Post
Head over to your Instagram Business Account and follow these steps:
- Tap “Promotions.”
- Tap “Choose a Post” and select your post.
- Select your goals, duration, budgets, and audience to promote to.
- Select your payment methods.
- Tap “Create Promotion” and let Instagram review your post.
Your post will now be shown on your target audience’s newsfeed as a sponsored post on Instagram.
By boosting your Instagram posts, you can reach more people and drive more results.
Using Ads Manager to Create Instagram Ads
Placing an ad through ads manager is a bit more difficult than promoting it, but it comes with more benefits and additional options. Since Facebook owns Instagram, you can use the ads manager to not only publish ads on Instagram’s newsfeed or stories but also on Facebook’s ad network.
Just make sure your Instagram account is connected with Facebook and you’re all set. Once that’s done go ahead and decide which advertising objectives match your marketing goals.
With your freshly created ad all ready, go ahead and upload it. Follow these steps:
- Go to the ads manager and select “Create.”
- Select your objectives to promote that align with your goals and Select “Continue”.
- Fill in all the details for your ad.
- Choose between Manual Placements (for Instagram specifically) or Automatic Placement (for both Facebook platforms and Instagram), whatever fits your requirement, and select “ Continue”.
- Complete it by adding any additional details or links, and preview it.
You now need to wait while the ad manager does its magic. Once your ad is approved, it will start showing up on the feed of your audience. If it’s not approved, make sure that you’ve used the right Instagram ad size and have followed the other recommended specs.
Wrapping it Up
Instagram ads can bring out amazing results and a captivating visual will help it. You have the option to create a variety of assets for your audience. Just make sure that you stick with the ideal Instagram ad size.
Marketing strategies will always be changing, requiring you to have a good understanding of requirements for campaigns, including image sizes.
Keeping a close eye on your audience will help you select relevant elements for your ad image and designing it yourself will give it that personal touch with minimal hassle. It’s important to attract the customer with your message and using all the correct specifications.
As far as designing goes, Pixelied has got you covered.
