The Best Video Formats on Instagram [New Data]

As a millennial, it’s no surprise that Instagram is one of my favorite social media platforms. This network is the third most popular social media site for Gen Z and millennial audiences.

While scrolling through the site is the easiest thing to do, posting the right content for your audience isn’t.

As a marketer, you’ve probably wondered what type of Instagram content would perform the best for your audience. To help you, we decided to ask consumers what type of video formats they watch the most.

In this post, you’ll learn what video format users like to watch on Instagram, and what size, length, and aspect ratio those videos should be.

Best Video Format for Instagram

Instagram is extremely popular, but did you know there is more than one kind of video format you could use for your content?

To find out which is the most popular we surveyed more than 300 people to see which videos they watch the most.

Ultimately, Instagram Story videos were the most popular video format to watch on the social media site, with 43% of those surveyed watching this type of video content the most.

Besides survey respondents who didn’t use Instagram, the next highest video format to watch were live videos and then videos shared directly in the feed.

The least popular video formats to watch on Instagram were Instagram Reels and IGTV, with only 19% and 13% of respondents watching them respectively.

To view the results, see the graphic below.

Data Source

Now that we know what kind of video formats users like to see, let’s find out how you can post the best video content on Instagram.

This is the proper video quality for a post on the Instagram feed. It will look something like the screenshot below.

For an Instagram Story, the video should be 1080 x 1080 pixels, with an aspect ratio of 9:16. The maximum file size should be 250MB.

It will look something like this screenshot:

While these are the main types of videos to upload on Instagram, you can explore other spec requirements on the Instagram site.

While all these stats are important, one of the ways to keep file size down is to shorten the video. You can’t just upload 24 hours of video content on the platform. Now you might be wondering, “How long can my Instagram videos be?” Let’s dive in below.

How Long Can Instagram Videos Be?

• Instagram Feed — 60 seconds
• Stories — 15 seconds
• Livestream Videos — 60 minutes
• IGTV — 15 seconds – 10 minutes. Verified accounts can post up to 60 minutes of video on IGTV.
• Instagram Feed ads — 2 minutes
• Instagram Carousel Video ads — 60 seconds

Instagram videos are a great way to reach Gen Z or millennial audiences. However, it’s important to think about the type of video content that performs best on the platform. Additionally, knowing the right size and video specifications before filming your videos can help you reach success quicker.