Besides Facebook, YouTube is the next most well-known and used social media platform in the world. With over 2.29 billion monthly active users, there is no doubt that YouTube is also the best for social media marketing campaigns.
Many brands are starting to realise that, and most of them have already added YouTube videos as one of their SEO strategies for raising brand awareness. That is not surprising since doing YouTube marketing is worth it. According to Neil Patel, not only can you promote your brand, but you can also get monetisation through ads.
As a business owner, you should take advantage of that fact and start using YouTube for your social media marketing campaigns. Doing so would help you attract more potential customers and nudge them to make a purchase.
To guarantee that you would do well with your YouTube marketing campaign, you should read this YouTube video SEO guide we made. Also, make sure to take note of this YouTube image sizes guide of the digital content creation (infographic) below.
6 YouTube Images & Their Sizes
1. Channel Profile Picture
Unlike other social media platforms, YouTube allows you to choose one among three different borders for your YouTube channel’s profile picture. Here are them below:
But even if that is the case, the dimension used for YouTube channel profile pictures is still the same regardless of the type of border you choose. The recommended size would be 800 x 800 pixels with a maximum file size of 2MB, whether JPG, GIF, PNG or BMP. In terms of aspect ratio, it would be 1:1.
Once you successfully upload the profile picture of your YouTube channel, know that YouTube will automatically resize it to 98 by 98 pixels as its displayed size.
Nevertheless, here is an example of what a YouTube channel profile picture would look like:
2. Channel Cover Photo
Besides a YouTube channel’s profile picture, another thing you should keep in mind to further improve your social media marketing campaign on YouTube is the cover photo of your channel or also known as “channel art”.
Like on Facebook, this one also has a marketing factor since it can grab the attention of any target audience. For example, when someone clicks through your YouTube videos, your cover photo or the channel art will entice them to stay longer since appreciating art does not happen only with a glance.
The only way for your potential viewers to stay longer on your YouTube channel is to make your cover photo more enticing and is in the recommended size of 2560 x 1440 pixels with an aspect ratio of 16:9, and the maximum file size is 6MB. Otherwise, they would not see them clearly at first sight, and they have to click the channel art itself to view everything as a whole.
As you know, nobody has time for that, which is why you should make sure the cover photo of your YouTube channel is within the safe area dimension of 1546 x 423 pixels. With this, your potential viewers will see the channel art regardless of the screen size they use.
To guarantee more the cover photo of your YouTube channel is visible across different devices, you may find more details on YouTube Help Centre.
3. Video Uploads
The most crucial part that you should not overlook when doing social media marketing on YouTube is your video content. Raising your brand awareness and establishing an online presence of your brand would be incomplete without it.
You should know that your video content is something you can use to tell more about your target audience—who you are as a brand and what you offer.
To successfully show off your brand, your video uploads should maintain a recommended size of 1920 x 1080 pixels (maximum HD standard 1080). You could also use the minimum required size of 1280 x 720 pixels (minimum HD standard 720) for faster upload.
Nevertheless, the aspect ratio of video upload for these two sizes is 16:9. The same goes for the safe area for text and logos is 1235 x 338 pixels.
4. Video Thumbnail Image
Before your viewers click on the play button of your YouTube video, the first thing they would see is the video thumbnail image. It is a static image of your video content that can make or break their impression.
If your video thumbnail image successfully impresses them, they will more likely click on the play button and watch the entire thing until the end. To guarantee that, upload a custom video thumbnail image to grab more attention. It is one of the most effective social media marketing strategies for YouTube.
Besides showing your creativity, make sure your custom video thumbnail image is within the recommended size of 1280 x 720 pixels with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and its maximum file size of 2MB.
5. YOUTUBE SHORTS
Even though YouTube Short recently became available and accessible to more than 100 countries, including Singapore, it’s producing over 15 billion global daily views. Many YouTube users are fond of using YouTube Short since it allows them to create short videos from their smartphones, like Instagram Reels and TikTok.
With mobile SEO on the rise, creating YouTube Shorts as your social media marketing campaign is a great opportunity to capture more of your potential customers.
Nevertheless, besides its video length of 60 seconds or 1 minute long, YouTube Shorts also have the same recommended size and aspect ratio as Instagram Reels and TikTok.
Just in case you are not familiar with their dimensions, the ideal resolution is 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels with an aspect ratio of 9:16, which creates the vertical format. In other words, YouTube Shorts would look like this:
Once you have successfully created a YouTube Short, your potential audience will see your social media marketing campaign for this feature here.
And to create YouTube Shorts, you can do it by clicking on the plus sign icon in the middle, below the screen. That is where you can find the home, subscriptions and library icons. As seen on the GIF above, you only need to click the first option for the YouTube Shorts.
After clicking the first option—Create a Shorts, you will automatically open your camera, similar to what Instagram Reels and TikTok do.
6. Ads
Above anything else, you should also take note of the sizes of the ads on YouTube. Since their formatting can be more complex than video uploads, we listed down the points you need to know. We have outlined the key image sizes for each type of YouTube ads that will assist you in optimising your YouTube Ads creatives.
- Standard Display Ads
Whether static or animated images, they often appear at the upper right corner of a YouTube video, like this example below.
The size of this stand display ad is 300 x 250 pixels with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and its maximum file size of 150 KB.
- Overlay Ads
Meanwhile, overlay ads are the static or animated images you see while the YouTube video is playing. Here is an example of it.
If you plan to promote using overlay ads, make sure their dimensions are 480 x 70 with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a maximum file size of 150 KB.
- Skippable Video Ads
Unlike overlay ads, the skippable video ads cover the entire YouTube Video screen that users may click the skip button within 5 seconds before playing the actual video content.
Here is what it looks like below.
When you opt for skippable video ads, you should take note that their dimension is 300 x 60 pixels with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a maximum file size of 1 KB.
- Non-skippable video Ad
As the name suggests, users cannot skip viewing this ad. They must view it until the end before they can see the YouTube video they intended to watch.
If you opt for this type of ad for your social media marketing campaign on YouTube, you should know that its recommended size, ratio and maximum file size is the same as the skippable video ads.
Conclusion
Like in Facebook marketing campaigns, having the right fit for your YouTube marketing campaign can help your target market see them clearly without clicking on to view the whole image. That is why you should consider bookmarking this YouTube image size guide for 2021 to have smooth sailing with your YouTube marketing campaigns.
If you need further help with your YouTube SEO strategies, why not partner with a social media agency?
OOm has a team of social media marketing professionals who have expertise in various social media image sizes. Contact us at 6391-0930!
