Video ads by channel / Facebook
Video ads for Facebook.
4:5 for the feed, 9:16 for Reels and Stories, silent-first, and never loud by surprise.
The medium
Since September 2025 every video on Facebook is a Reel, but the feed itself has not changed its manners. Meta's own account is that most video ads in mobile feed are viewed without sound, that in one study of Facebook video ads 41 percent were meaningless without it, and that 80 percent of people react negatively, to the platform and to the advertiser, when a feed video plays loudly by surprise.
Reels is the exception: it starts with the sound on unless the viewer has switched it off, and ads load only once someone is inside the Reels viewer. Stories are tapped through and show an ad of fifteen seconds or less in full, splitting anything longer into cards. In-stream ads are mid-rolls inside someone else's video of three minutes or more, and Meta's recommendation there is a fifteen-second maximum.
Meta's research with Nielsen puts up to 47 percent of a campaign's value in the first three seconds, and its mobile guidance asks for the message inside fifteen and the brand shown early. One more quirk shapes the layout: on awareness campaigns the headline, description and button do not appear on mobile feed at all, so the frame has to carry the name itself.
The specs
Quoted from the platforms' own pages. The source and the date each was read are under the table.
| Placement | Ratio | Resolution and file | Length | Sound and captions | Safe zone and rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feed | 4:5 recommended; 16:9 to 9:16 supported | 1440 x 1800, MP4, MOV or GIF, 4 GB | 1 second to 241 minutes; Meta's mobile guidance: 15 seconds or less | Optional but recommended; captions optional but recommended | Mostly watched muted; on awareness campaigns the headline, description and button are not shown on mobile feed |
| Reels | 9:16 | 1440 x 2560, 4 GB (official sheet unreachable on the read date; values from Sprout Social, updated 2026-10-16) | Not stated | Starts with sound unless the viewer has turned it off | Keep 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side clear |
| Stories | 9:16 | 1440 x 2560, MP4, MOV or GIF, 4 GB | 1 second to 3 minutes; ads of 15 seconds or less show in full, longer ones split into cards | Optional but recommended | Same 14 / 35 / 6 safe zone; aspect ratio tolerance 1% |
| In-stream | 16:9 or 1:1 on the sheet; up to 9:16 accepted, landscape recommended | At least 1080 x 1080, 4 GB | Desktop 5 to 15 seconds; mobile 5 seconds to 10 minutes; Meta recommends a 15-second maximum | Optional but strongly recommended; the help article says all in-stream ads should include sound | Mostly mid-roll inside videos of 3 minutes or longer; the first ad break is at the 1-minute mark; skippable and non-skippable options |
| Marketplace | 1:1 | At least 1080 x 1080, 4 GB | 1 second to 241 minutes | Optional but recommended | Captions not supported on Meta's chart |
- Meta Ads Guide, Facebook Feed video, read October 27, 2026
- Meta Ads Guide, Facebook Stories video, read October 27, 2026
- Meta Ads Guide, Facebook In-stream video, read October 27, 2026
- Meta Ads Guide, Facebook Marketplace video, read October 27, 2026
- Meta, video ad format recommendations, read October 27, 2026
- Meta, updated features for video ads (sound and caption research), read October 27, 2026
Meta's Facebook Reels sheet returned no page on the read date; that row is from a third party and is marked. Where Meta's own pages disagree on in-stream length and sound, both readings are shown.
How we build an ad for it
Directed by people, made with AI, finished by hand. You approve the script and the sound before any footage is made.
Composed twice: 4:5 and 9:16
The feed wants a 4:5 frame at 1440 by 1800; Reels and Stories want 9:16 at 1440 by 2560. We compose both from the source scenes so the product keeps its edges in each, and the 16:9 master is kept for in-stream and for your website.
Silent first
Meta found 41 percent of Facebook video ads meaningless without sound, and most feed viewing is muted. The story is told in picture and in captions, which Meta's tests found add about 12 percent to view time, and the sound is layered on top as the reward.
Never loud by surprise
Eighty percent of people react badly to a feed video that starts loud. Our mix opens below the level of speech and grows, the first beat is visual, and a Reels viewer who arrives with sound on hears an entrance rather than a shock.
Fifteen seconds, shown in full
Stories cuts after fifteen seconds and Meta recommends a fifteen-second maximum for in-stream. We write the fifteen as a complete story, and the thirty-second feed version is a second film with more to show, not the same film running longer.
The name lives in the frame
On awareness campaigns the headline, description and button are not displayed on mobile feed. So the brand is on screen within three seconds, the offer is in the picture, and the last frame holds the name and the next step long enough to read.
In-stream is an interruption, so it is cut like one
A mid-roll arrives inside a video the viewer was already watching. We open on the strongest image, keep it to fifteen seconds, and give the interruption a reason to be forgiven: something useful, funny or beautiful inside the first two seconds.
Films that fit
Finished Filmito films, labeled with what each one is. Hover or tap to play.
What to order
Facebook campaigns are tested, not launched: four different ads a month give the media buyer hooks to compare, and the fifteen is the length every placement shows in full.
15 seconds. One idea, one hook, one clear ask. First cut in 3 days, 2 revision rounds, 16:9 and 9:16 included.
Launch on the pricing page4 unique ads every month. Different angles, not shorter cuts.
Growth on the pricing pageQuestions about Facebook ads
What size should a Facebook video ad be?
Meta recommends 4:5 at 1440 by 1800 for Feed, 9:16 at 1440 by 2560 for Stories and Reels, 16:9 or 1:1 at a minimum of 1080 by 1080 for in-stream, and 1:1 for Marketplace. Files are MP4 or MOV up to 4 GB. We deliver 16:9 and 9:16 in every plan and compose the 4:5 feed version for Facebook campaigns.
How long should a Facebook ad be?
The sheets allow very long files, up to 241 minutes in Feed, but Meta's own guidance is fifteen seconds or less on mobile, Stories shows only ads of fifteen seconds or less in full, and in-stream is recommended at a fifteen-second maximum. We write the fifteen first.
Do Facebook Stories ads need burned-in captions?
Yes. Stories has no caption track, so any words have to be in the picture. For Feed and Reels we supply a caption file or let Meta generate captions; on Marketplace, Messenger Stories and the Audience Network, Meta's chart lists captions as not supported.
Can our Instagram ad run on Facebook as it is?
The 9:16 Reels and Stories versions can, with the same safe zone. Facebook Feed recommends 4:5 rather than 9:16, so that version is composed again for the feed. The Instagram page covers the Reels and Stories side.
Can our television commercial run on Facebook?
A 16:9 spot can run in-stream and in Feed, but it was built for sound on and a distant screen. We recompose it 4:5 and 9:16 from the source scenes, add captions, bring the brand forward to the first three seconds and soften the opening level so it is never loud by surprise.
What is a Facebook in-stream ad?
A mid-roll inside a longer video on Facebook, usually one of three minutes or more, with the first break at the one-minute mark. Desktop in-stream runs five to fifteen seconds; mobile allows up to ten minutes; Meta recommends fifteen as the maximum.
Keep planning
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Six short questions about your brand and where the ad will run. A person replies within one business day with the idea, the price and the date.
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