Horizontal, Vertical, or Square? 2024 Guide to Your Best Marketing Video Format

🎥✨ Have you ever found yourself wondering which aspect ratio to use for your marketing videos? Is horizontal the best? What about vertical or square? Today, I’m diving deep into this topic and sharing my best recommendations for 2024. Let’s get started!

Why Aspect Ratios Matter

Choosing the right aspect ratio for your videos can significantly impact their performance on different social media platforms. Each platform has its unique preferences and requirements, making it crucial to tailor your videos accordingly.

Horizontal 16:9 Videos 📺

Horizontal videos are the classic format, and they’re perfect for several platforms:

•  YouTube: This is the standard aspect ratio and works best for long-form content.
•  Twitter: Ideal for sharing engaging content.
•  Website Embeds: Great for embedding videos on your site to enhance user experience.
•  LinkedIn (Desktop): Performs well for desktop users but not as effective for mobile. 

However, they’re not the best choice for:

•  Facebook and Instagram Reels: These platforms favor vertical formats.
•  TikTok: Horizontal videos don’t perform well here.

Vertical 9:16 Videos 📱

Vertical videos are booming, especially for mobile-first platforms:

•  YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok: These platforms thrive on vertical content.
•  LinkedIn (Mobile): Vertical videos are engaging for mobile users.
•  Pinterest: Surprisingly effective here, as Pinterest is a search engine where your video might be exactly what someone is looking for.

But keep in mind:

•  Facebook and Twitter: They do okay but are not the primary format for these platforms.

Square Videos ◼️

Square videos offer versatility across various platforms:

•  Instagram: Loves square videos, especially for the feed.
•  Facebook and Twitter: Also perform well here.

However:

•  TikTok and YouTube: Not a good fit for these platforms.
•  Creating Square Videos: Can be a bit of a hassle if your primary focus isn’t Instagram.

Simplifying Your Video Strategy

Feeling overwhelmed? You’re not alone! Here’s a simple two-step strategy that I recommend for anyone looking to create effective marketing videos.

Step One: Long-Form Horizontal Videos

Start with a horizontal long-form video for YouTube. Once created, slice it into shorter segments for:

•  LinkedIn
•  Facebook
•  Instagram
•  Twitter

Long-form videos take more time to produce but have lasting impacts, appearing in search results far into the future.

Step Two: Short-Form Vertical Videos

Create many short-form vertical videos for:

•  YouTube Shorts
•  Instagram Reels
•  TikTok
•  LinkedIn
•  Twitter
•  Pinterest

These videos should be authentic and engaging. Don’t forget to add captions, as most platforms play videos silently until clicked. Using a cloud-based tool like submagic.io can make adding captions quick and easy.

Why Publish Frequently?

Publishing frequently might seem daunting, but in today’s video marketing landscape, it’s essential. Different styles of videos (vertical, horizontal, image posts, text posts) allow you to test and discover what resonates best with your audience. Analyze your performance, boost the top-performing posts, and watch your audience grow!

Your Challenge: Create and Analyze

Start creating long-form horizontal videos and short-form vertical videos. Use analytics to boost your best-performing content and grow your audience. And don’t forget to subscribe to stay connected. Let’s have the very most fun creating amazing videos together!