Statistics today show that more than $73 billion is spent on banners annually, and the figure continues to increase as the demand also increases. However, you’ll be surprised to find that more than 99% of these banner ads don’t end up producing any click at all.
This leaves one to wonder why the number continues to go up. It’s because banners are one of the most common strategies used by different brands who are looking to create brand awareness, regardless of their budget or size.
Another reason is that banners are easy to make, and this is done without hassle. However, while they are so easy to make, it’s important to note that there’s no room for errors, especially when it comes to choosing banner sizes.
This is because when you choose the wrong banner size, you won’t get as many clicks as you would expect because only a few people will see it. The worse part is that social media platforms won’t be able to share your banners for the world to see. This means that all the time and money you spend on creating the banner will end up being a waste, which is a big risk you don’t want to take.
In the ultimate guide, we’ll take you through the social banner sizes you should know, so continue reading to find out more about these different social banner sizes.
1. YouTube Banner Size
For many people, YouTube is a platform they go to watch or share videos, but it’d be interesting for you to find out that there’s more to YouTube than just video-sharing. Today, YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google. More than 1 billion hours of videos are streamed on YouTube daily by users from different parts of the world.
From music videos to short films, cat videos, vlogs, and more, you can use the platform to promote a brand and unique content. In addition to the great videos, you also need to ensure that they are of high quality and with relevant icons and art suitable for your channel.
Here’s a summary of the social banner sizes for YouTube:
- Channel icon: 800 x 800 px
- Desktop display: 2,560 x 423 px
- Channel art: 2,560 x 1,440 px
- Tablet display: 1,855 x 423 px
- Video thumbnail: 1,280 x 720 px
- Desktop and Mobile: 1,546 x 423 px
Channel Icon
This is the circular image which is also like a profile photo for your YouTube channel. The best display for this social banner size is 800 x 800 pixels. It’s mostly advisable to set your logo or picture as your channel icon to make it easier for your followers to recognize your work and your channel.
Another thing to note is that by default, the channel icon will be based on the image on your Google Account. However, you can change this image from your Google Account settings.
Channel Art
The channel art you use on your YouTube profile is similar to a cover image or header, and this is where you’ll include images to represent your brand properly. Remember that users watch your brand from different devices, and your channel art will look different according to the devices they use.
If you want the best results, the social banner size to use for your channel art is 2560 x 1440 pixels. The minimum dimension for this is 2048 x 1152 pixels.
Video Thumbnail
With thumbnails, you can give your viewers a quick view of what they’ll get when they visit your YouTube channel. It’s also a great strategy that you can use to attract people to your channel. Whenever you upload a video, you’ll be able to choose from 3 automatic thumbnails.
Alternatively, you can also upload a customer thumbnail, and it all depends on your preference. The recommended social banner size for a video thumbnail is 1280 x 720 pixels.
2. Twitter Banner Sizes
Even though the character count on Twitter is only restricted to 280 characters, it still remains one of the most popular social platforms today. Today, statistics show that Twitter has more than 330 million monthly active users.
Businesses also find it as a useful customer service and communication tool because of the real-time interaction it offers. Another thing to note is that there’s the option to share images and posts on feeds and profiles on Twitter, which is why you need to ensure you use the right social banner size.
Here’s a summary of the social banner sizes for Twitter:
- Summary card image: 280 x 150 px
- Cards image: 800 x 320 px
- Twitter post: 1024 x 512 px
- Profile photo: 400 x 400 px
- Header photo: 1500 x 500 px
Profile Photo
One of the first things to do to your Twitter account is to upload a picture on your profile. For businesses, uploading a logo is the best option. Even though Twitter will display the profile picture as 200 x 200 pixels, it’s best to upload it as 400 x 400 pixels to enhance its quality.
Twitter Header
When followers and prospects click on your profile, the first thing they see is your header, which is a great aspect to pay attention to. In most cases, people tend to add random images, but for businesses, it can be a tagline, product, or service. The ideal social banner size for this is 1500 x 500 pixels, and for the aspect ratio, you might want to use 3:1.
Image Post
It’s now possible to attach media files like videos, GIFs, and photos to post. You can post up to four of these at a time, and for the social banner size, it’s best to use 1024 x 512 pixels.
3. LinkedIn Banner Size
For professionals, this is one of the best social media platforms to grow a formidable network and also find different career opportunities. Companies also utilize the platform to find other professionals to do business with and also share useful content about their products and services.
Basically, your LinkedIn page is the first step to getting the attention of potential employers. This is where you’ll outline your credentials and skills. Also, there’s no harm in including visuals on your page. However, one thing to note is that there are also requirements for the dimensions you use on LinkedIn, whether for a company or business page or a personal profile.
Here’s a summary of the social banner sizes for LinkedIn:
- Shared image: 180 x 110 px
- Cover photo: 1584 x 396 px
- Profile photo: 400 x 400 px
Personal Profile and Background Photo
It’s advisable to include a professional headshot to your profile photo. However, you need to ensure that the profile image meets guidelines and conditions so that your profile is not removed. For this, you’ll need to ensure that the social banner size is between 400 x 400 pixels and 20,000 x 20,000 pixels. Also, the size should not be more than 8MB.
Remember that your background photo will also be a cover image, and for this, you’ll need to keep the dimensions at 396 pixels tall and 1584 pixels wide.
Logo and Cover Image
Brand or company pages are different from a personal profile, and their social banner sizes also differ. If it’s for a company, it’s best to use the company’s logo as a profile photo. This makes it easier for other businesses and professionals to locate you.
The best way to display logo images is to use 300 x 300 pixels. In addition, you can also use the logo as your cover image or use a highlight of your business tagline, products, and services. Again, for the cover image, the best dimension to use is 768 pixels tall and 1536 pixels wide.
Overview Tab and Life Tab Images
Another interesting thing about LinkedIn is that visitors can toggle through the overview and life tab. This is the part that contains the “About Us” where useful information can be found. The ideal social banner size for this is 360 x 120 pixels.
You can also use the Life tab section to attract different interests to your organization. One option to utilize is the hero image option, and the recommended dimension for this is 376 pixels tall and 1128 pixels wide.
4. Facebook Banner Size
Facebook is currently the largest social network in the world, and people use it in different ways. This includes getting in touch with people, reaching out to customers, and finding long-lost friends. It’s also possible to start a movement on Facebook, and for this, you only need to create an event.
However, it’s also important to ensure that you use visual and compelling posts, ads, and pages to stand out. For this, you need to know the right elements to use, which include the right social banner sizes.
Here’s a summary of the social banner sizes for Facebook:
- Facebook ad: 1200 x 628 px
- Event image: 1200 x 1080 px
- Tab images: 111 x 74 px
- Shared link images: 1200 x 628 px
- Image post: 1200 x 630 px
- Cover photo: 820 x 312 px
- Profile photo: 180 x 180 px
Profile Photo
Profile photos make it easier for customers, fans, family, and friends to recognize your Facebook profile. This can be a portrait or the logo of your business. After uploading an image, Facebook will crop it to a square, but you have control over the area to be cropped.
The ideal social banner size for best display on Facebook profile photo is 180 x 180 pixels for computers and 128 x 128 pixels for smartphones.
Cover Photo
They are like banners placed at the top of a Facebook timeline. This ideal size for this is 820 x 312 pixels for computer devices, while for smartphones, it’s 640 x 360 pixels.
Event Covers
The sizes for Facebook event covers are so much different compared to the regular cover photo on pages. If you’re planning an event soon, you’ll need to ensure that you use the right social banner size, and this should be 1200 pixels wide and 628 pixels tall.
Image Posts
When uploading single images to your Facebook timeline, you might want to consider sticking to a square photo or image. We advise that you keep the aspect ratio for this at 3:2 since Facebook will automatically scale it to a thumbnail.
Facebook Ads
Businesses also use Facebook to promote their products and services and reach a wider audience. This is with the aid of Facebook ads, which can be carousel ads, video ads, or single-image ads. All these have their respective social banner sizes, and it’s always advisable to use the correct sizes.
5. Instagram Banner Sizes
We live in a visual world, and Instagram today is one of the most used social medial platforms. This is because of how easy it is to share videos and photos on the platform. The interesting thing is that you can use Instagram to post landscape, portrait, and square-oriented videos and images. For a platform that is this visual, it’s important to use the right social banner sizes.
Here’s a summary of the social banner sizes for Instagram
- Stories: 1080 x 1920 px
- Image: 1080 x 1350 px
- Square Images: 1080 x 1080 px
- Profile Photo: 110 x 110 px
Profile Photo
This is the first thing people look out for when searching for your Instagram account to follow. The right social banner size to use when uploading an image on your profile photo is 160 x 160 pixels. However, the minimum requirement is 110 x 110 pixels.
Square Images
Before now, only 640 pixels of square images were allowed on Instagram. However, it’s now possible to upload images up to 1080 x 1080 pixels. There’s still the option to upload smaller images, and it depends on your preference.
Landscape and Portrait Images
In addition to square images, you can also post portrait and landscape images on Instagram. In both cases, it’s advisable to keep the width at 1080 pixels. However, for landscape images, the ideal social banner size is 1080 x 566 pixels, while that of portrait images is 1080 x 1350 pixels.
Stories
It’s also possible to post stories on an Instagram account. These are images, text, or photo posts that only last 24 hours. They are mostly displayed in portrait, and the recommended display is 1080 x 1920 pixels. However, you can scale this down, depending on your preference. You can use 720 x 1280 pixels or 900 x 1600 pixels.
Conclusion
We have gone through the different social banner sizes that you should know. Before you post anything on your social platform or run any ad or campaign, it’s important to check and ensure that you are using the right banner size. One interesting thing to know is that you can get templates for each of these social media online. For this, we recommend checking illustAC now. Here, you’ll find illustrations in the right sizes for each of the social media platforms above. These illustrations are available for both commercial and personal use, depending on your preference.
