Guides

Video ad formats and lengths that fit each platform

The same ad can look made for a platform or look like a leftover from another one. The difference is almost always the frame and the length. Here is how to choose both, and how to adapt one ad to several placements without starting over.

The three aspect ratios you actually need

9:16, vertical

Vertical video fills a phone screen held upright. It is the native shape of Reels, TikTok, Shorts and Stories. If your audience is on mobile and you can only make one version, make this one. It gives your product the most screen area and leaves no room for anything else to compete.

1:1, square

Square video suits scrolling feeds, where it takes more vertical space than a horizontal clip without being cropped. It is a sensible choice for feed placements and for catalogues of product videos shown in a grid.

16:9, horizontal

Horizontal is the shape of YouTube, websites, presentations and screens in shops. Use it for a product page, a landing page or a pre-roll placement. It has the most room for text beside the product rather than on top of it.

Design for the frame, do not just crop

Cropping a horizontal ad into a vertical one usually cuts off the product or the text. A layout that adapts works better:

• In vertical, stack the scene: brand at the top, product in the middle, headline and captions below.
• In horizontal, split it: text on one side, product or phone demo on the other.
• In square, tighten everything and shorten the headline.

Keep text away from the edges. Platforms cover the top and bottom of vertical video with their own buttons and captions, so the safest area for your message is the central band.

How long should a video ad be?

Length follows the job the ad has to do, not a universal rule.

• About 10 seconds: a reminder. One product, one line, one call to action. It suits retargeting people who already know you.
• About 15 seconds: a compact pitch. A hook, one benefit, one proof and the close.
• About 20 seconds: the full short story. Enough for a problem, a solution, a proof and a reason to act.
• About 30 seconds: room for a second benefit or a demonstration, better suited to placements where the viewer chose to watch.

When you shorten an ad, remove scenes instead of speeding everything up. Two readable scenes beat four rushed ones. If a voice-over has to be accelerated to fit, keep the change small or cut a sentence.

Hitting the exact duration

Some placements require an exact length. At 30 frames per second, a 20-second ad is exactly 600 frames, transitions included. Build the timeline to that number from the start. Trimming the end after export often cuts the call to action, which is the one part that must stay.

Resolution: 720p or 1080p?

1080p is the standard for ads and should be your default for anything you pay to promote. 720p is lighter and faster to produce, which makes it useful for drafts and quick tests. Whatever you choose, do not upscale: a sharp 720p video looks better than a soft 1080p one made from low-resolution sources.

Sound, captions and the first second

Format is not only a question of pixels. Vertical placements are watched in short bursts, often without sound, so the opening frame has to make sense on its own. Put the product or the brand on screen immediately, with a headline that can be read in under a second.

Add captions in every ratio. They carry the message for silent viewers and keep attention for the others. Large captions in small groups of words, with the spoken word highlighted, are easier to follow than two full lines of subtitles at the bottom of the frame. Keep the music under the voice so neither fights the other.

A quick checklist before you export

• Is the product or the brand visible in the first second?
• Can every line of text be read on a phone at arm's length?
• Is the call to action on screen for at least two seconds?
• Does the length match the placement, to the frame if it is required?
• Is the file a standard MP4 that every platform accepts?

One ad, several versions

A practical routine is to approve the script once, then produce it in each ratio and in two lengths. Keep the same scenes, text and music so results are comparable, and change only the frame and the duration.

ClipMotion is built for this: you choose 9:16, 1:1 or 16:9, a length of 10, 15, 20 or 30 seconds held to the frame, and 720p or 1080p. The layout rearranges itself for each ratio, and you get a standard MP4 each time.

For what to put inside the frame, read how to turn a product page into a video ad or video ads for SaaS without a film crew.