Social media video has different production requirements by platform. Here is the format reference — aspect ratios, lengths, and opening-frame behavior — built into every campaign we produce.
What You'll Learn
- The correct video specs for each major social platform
- Why social video requires different production approaches than broadcast
- How to capture for multiple platforms in a single shoot day
- What content performs at each stage of the funnel on social
Social media video has its own production requirements, viewer expectations, and performance drivers — separate from broadcast or long-form video. Platform specs, opening-frame behavior, and the relationship between format and funnel stage all matter. These are the variables that determine whether a social video campaign is built right from the first day of pre-production.
Platform specs: what you actually need
Instagram Reels and Stories: 9:16 vertical, 1080×1920 pixels. Maximum 60 seconds for Reels ads, up to 90 seconds organic. Captions strongly recommended — a significant portion of mobile video is watched without sound.
TikTok: 9:16 vertical, 1080×1920. Ad creative: 15–60 seconds optimal. Organic content: 15 seconds to 3 minutes. Safe zones at top and bottom for platform UI overlay — critical text and faces need to stay out of the bottom 20% and top 10% of frame.
LinkedIn video: 16:9 or 1:1 square (both work). 30–90 seconds for sponsored content. LinkedIn audiences are slower to engage and more likely to watch with sound on — platform behavior is different from Instagram.
YouTube: 16:9 horizontal standard. Pre-roll ads: 15–30 seconds (6-second non-skippable available). Organic content: 2–15 minutes for educational/brand content, longer for documentary formats. YouTube Shorts: 9:16, under 60 seconds.
Facebook: 16:9 or 1:1. 15–30 seconds for paid, up to 4 hours for live. Similar to Instagram in ad format requirements but different audience behavior.
The opening frame problem
Social media autoplay is silent, and the scroll decision happens in the first 1–3 seconds. The opening frame of a social video is not an introduction — it's a stop-scroll hook. A talking head who takes three seconds to say their name and title has already lost the viewer.
In production terms: the script needs to open with the most visually compelling or immediately relevant content. In post: the editor should treat the first 3 seconds as the most important creative decision in the cut.
Social video formats that perform by funnel stage
Awareness (top of funnel): Brand film-length content (60–90 seconds) telling a story. Visual quality signals brand credibility. Optimized for completions, not clicks. Works on YouTube pre-roll and Instagram Reels.
Consideration (mid-funnel): Product or service explainer (30–60 seconds). Answers a specific question or handles a specific objection. Works on YouTube, LinkedIn, paid social retargeting.
Conversion (bottom of funnel): Short testimonial or product demonstration (15–30 seconds). Strong CTA. Works on paid social, landing page embeds, retargeting.
How to produce for multiple platforms in one shoot day
The asset list needs to be defined before the shoot. If the campaign requires a 16:9 YouTube hero, a 9:16 Reels cut, and a 1:1 Facebook square, all three can come from one shoot day with the right DP framing — capture in 4K with enough headroom to reframe, plan b-roll in vertical native, brief the talent on where to look for each format.
Adding formats after the shoot produces worse results and costs more than planning for them from the start. We lock the full format list in the brief so every format is captured intentionally on set, not retrofitted in post.
At LOOK, social media video production is built into how we approach campaign work — format variants, aspect ratios, and platform requirements defined in the brief before day one. If you have a social campaign to produce, the brief link below is the right starting point.
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Author
James Hunt
CMO, LOOK Studios