Short-form ad specs for TikTok, Reels, Shorts and Meta

Getting specs wrong costs you reach before the creative is ever judged. Text lands under a UI overlay, the frame gets letterboxed, or the placement is skipped entirely. This is the short version we keep on hand — verify against each platform's current ad help centre before a large launch, since limits change.

Aspect ratios

• 9:16 — TikTok, Reels, Shorts, Stories. The default for paid short-form.
• 1:1 — Feed placements where vertical gets cropped.
• 4:5 — Meta feed's tallest supported ratio; more screen than 1:1 without vertical cropping.
• 16:9 — YouTube in-stream and landing page embeds.

Resolution and file guidance

• Master at 1080×1920 for 9:16; 1080×1080 for 1:1; 1080×1350 for 4:5.
• H.264 MP4 with AAC audio is accepted everywhere.
• Target 30fps unless the creative genuinely needs 60.
• Keep files comfortably under platform upload caps; heavy re-compression softens detail.

Duration

For direct response, 15–30 seconds is the working range. Under 10 seconds rarely leaves room for a call to action; over 45 seconds needs genuinely strong storytelling to hold. Build in scenes so you can trim without re-rendering everything.

Platform maximums are far longer than what performs. Treat the maximum as a boundary, not a target.

Safe zones and captions

• Keep text out of the bottom 20% and top 10% of a 9:16 frame — UI overlays sit there.
• Burn in captions. Most viewers watch muted on first exposure.
• Keep on-screen text under seven words per card.
• Put the brand or product in frame within the first three seconds.
• Check the right edge of vertical frames too; action buttons stack there on TikTok.

Placement notes

• TikTok — native, unpolished framing outperforms studio-perfect composition.
• Instagram Reels — audio matters more; a strong first line carries the ad.
• YouTube Shorts — viewers tolerate slightly longer setups; the loop rewards clean endings.
• Meta feed — 4:5 or 1:1 with captions; assume muted autoplay in a scrolling feed.

Exporting once, publishing everywhere

Render the master concept, then export each ratio rather than reshooting the idea per platform. Recomposition is a formatting job, not a creative one — but compose the 9:16 master first, because upscaling a horizontal crop into vertical always looks like a crop.