Don’t Let Your Content Sit on the Shelf

Making video content is often only half the battle. It’s great to have something to promote, to inform, or to tell a story, but if you haven’t thought about the content’s purpose, what platform it’s going on, and how it’s going to be distributed, you can often end up with a video that resembles an old book on a dusty shelf.

Think of it this way: if a blockbuster movie spent millions making the film, but didn’t have a plan for where to release it in cinemas, which TV channels to show the trailers on, or which streaming services it would land on, then no one would see it, and those millions spent would all be for nothing.

The same goes for any piece of content we make. We help brands think not just about what the content is, but where it’s going to live, so it can actually be seen and do the job it’s meant to do.

Part of that is knowing which aspect ratio suits the platform the content is going on. Here’s our little cheat sheet, so when you next need a piece of content, you know exactly which deliverable formats you need for the best performance:

9:16 - Best for reach. Full-screen, mobile-first, built for attention (TikTok, Instagram Reels, Stories, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat, vertical ads, digital screens)

4:5 - Feed sweet spot. Takes up more screen space, making it harder to scroll past (Instagram feed, Facebook feed, LinkedIn posts, Meta ads)

1:1 - Safe and versatile. Clean, balanced, works almost everywhere (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Google display ads, ecommerce)

16:9 - Weaker on mobile feeds, but best for landscape viewing (YouTube, website video, TV advertising, streaming platforms, presentations, desktop viewing)

We believe content should do more than just exist; it should be set up to get results.