13 Jun Size Matters- A Guide to Social Image Sizing
We live in a digital world where images and information is constantly at our fingertips, readily available with nothing more than the push of a button. For those who work in social, this 24/7 access can provide the ability to expand our brands reach and increase awareness—or make it harder to stand out. In the quick-scroll world of social, you only have mere seconds to capture the audience’s attention—what can you post that will catch their attention? While we can’t offer a foolproof method for creating thumb stopping content (though we can offer a few pointers) one of the simplest ways to get more eyes on your content is to optimize it for each platform.
Whether you’re looking to attract new followers, create brand awareness or grow your online presence, compelling Facebook ads can help you achieve it. As the largest (and, arguably, the most popular) social network, brands have come to use Facebook as the main channel for their social content. Though Facebook is more flexible than other platforms when it comes to image sizing, there are a few recommended image guidelines that you can utilize to make your content look its best.
The ideal dimensions for a Facebook link post or ad are 1200 x 628. Though it appears small, these narrow dimensions are in place to enable text, headlines, and links to help promote your content.
The cupcakes look beautiful, but the crop is a bit too close, cutting off the majority of the image.
This horizontal shot works perfectly within the narrow constraints of the FB ad/link post.
When it comes to regular Facebook posts, the best image size is 940 x 788. Resembling a square, these dimensions are one of the least restrictive in social, allowing you to post photos with minimal cropping.
In this day and age, everyone and their grandmother can snap a pic, slap on a filter, and upload their creation to Instagram. Photo editing software has made it easier than ever to produce beautiful photos, but what does it take to really capture moments people will engage with and share? How do you balance promoting your brand and engaging fans without being too promotional?
Users flock to Instagram to be inspired—not sold to. This playfulness makes Instagram the ideal place to showcase your brands creativity and drive engagement through vibrant visuals.
The neat, square dimensions of Instagram photos act almost like a frame, featuring the most important or eye catching aspect of an image in a contained box. The ideal dimensions here are 1080 x 1080. Due to the nature of Instagram photos, try to keep any focal points contained within these parameters to avoid awkward or unwanted cropping. (This is especially true for product photography, where a crop could mean losing your subject entirely).
Cool car. Unfortunately, it’s a little less cool now that you’ve cropped it.
Perfectly framed and eye-catching.
With 313 million active users, Twitter is one of the major players in social media marketing. This high number of active users makes the platform ideal for attracting and engaging with fans, but how do you increase engagement in the first place? Simple: add a visual element. The moments you share on Twitter are made better by adding photos—so much better, in fact, that it’s possible to see an 150% increase in retweets just by posting them!
Small size and narrow dimensions make Twitter images some of the hardest to size. When shooting or choosing images for Twitter, consider using horizontal shots, or those that can be easily cropped down without losing too much of the focus.
The image is framed nicely within the constraints of the image, making for an eye catching design.
The tulips are being cut off in the frame, leaving the image without a focal point.
Want to learn even more about image sizing for social? Check out this master guide here, or bookmark the image below.
