Key Takeaways:
- Creative must match platform, placement, and funnel stage.
- Messaging and landing pages must tell one consistent story.
- If your agency isn’t proactively asking for full specs and testing opportunities, performance will suffer
- Go Directly to Platform Resources
- Agencies Should Provide Clear Ad Creative Requirements
Creative That Works Harder (And Smarter)
Have you recently signed up to work with a marketing agency and aren’t sure what ad sizes you should be providing or expecting? Or have you not seen the performance from your ads that you were projecting?
Well, the world of digital marketing placements are vast and always the slightest bit different. It almost seems like these platforms, who will not be called out directly, switch up ad sizing, requirements, and placement options just to stress out marketers and creatives.
Due to these vast differences and constant platform changes your digital marketing campaigns could be lacking in performance, because who has time to keep up with all the changes. Well we have time to share some tips to help you understand the differences of ad sizing in 2026 to maximize your marketing budget, and campaign performance.
Why Sizing Matters More Than You Think
Do you remember those days of playing little league sports or having a chore chart as a kid, and that feeling of not quite hitting the mark that your elders expected? You may have beat yourself up, your coach or parent may have scolded you for not hitting the mark.
On the other hand, remember that feeling of hitting the home run, or getting the whole house cleaned before mom came home? You got ice cream after the game, got extra time outside with your friends, or cash in your pocket.
Well the social platforms and algorithms can be very similar to these childhood lessons. Platforms like Meta and Youtube reward you/your advertising campaigns when you provide the right sizing for the specific placements. If you’re creating only a square image for your meta campaign, you’re likely being “scolded” and missing out on important placements where your audience is actually more likely to engage with your brand.
Static vs. Video: Why Format Mix Matters
Similarly, if you are only creating static images rather than investing in video or gifs. Your ads are not reaching their fullest potential. One reason is because most if not all platforms nowadays allow both types of creatives to be used within a campaign that is striving to reach the same goal. Additionally, WYZOL recognizes that “audiences are around 17% more likely to buy a product or service as a result of watching a video ad, than as a result of seeing a static ad.”
Most of what you will read today says investing in video is critical in 2026, and we aren’t saying much differently. But we would say that you should invest in both, if your creative budget is not ideal yes invest it all in video. However, if you can use free tools or invest more to support that video with static images in all the possible sizes do it. Your CMO, agency, and the platforms will reward you for it.
If you are handling creative in house
What Your Agency Should Be Asking You For
So you did just sign up to work with an agency, first of congrats that relieves many hours from your team to focus on other things! However, you are not sure what creatives you should be providing them. Well it all depends on the strategy, and what platforms and tactics they will be using.
Onboarding Guides and Size Requirements
The first thing you should ask from your agency is an onboarding guide with all the platform access guides and creative sizes plus requirements they will need. They could even break this down to have the bare minimum and what is ideal per platform.
Platform Differences and Funnel Strategy
Secondly, ask if there should be any differences in creatives based on the platforms. This could be due to general differences on each platform. Which, many of the known platforms (Google, Meta, TikTok, etc.) all have resource guides.
The need for creative differences could also be a part of the strategy. Your agency could be utilizing different types of targeting which match where your audience is within your sales funnel. You wouldn’t want to constantly be sharing awareness or brand introductory messaging with a loyal customer.
You soon will start sounding like Tom from fifty first dates, or like a toddler asking for moms attention. It gets old real fast, and your customer no longer feels connected to the brand if you don’t understand where they are in the “relationship”.
Red Flags to Watch For
Finally, if your agency isn’t asking for all the available sizing per platform that is a red flag. An agency is supposed to be the experts and if they are not being PROSPONSIVE with your campaign. There is a high likelihood that your performance will lack luster.
If They’re Not Bringing It Up
What to Ask Your Agency
If your agency is producing your creative or not it still is valuable to ask the questions we spoke about above. But in addition, here are some things you should be asking your agency when you’re setting up a new campaign, checking in during reporting, or grabbing coffee.
- Are we running the right creative sizes for each placement? IE: vertical images are in vertical placements. Not square images in vertical placements.
- Are there additional formats we’re not using that could expand our reach?
- Does this ad’s message match the page it links to?
- Can we test vertical or short-form video in this campaign.
By getting curious and asking these questions you also will be able to test things together, and continue to build the partnership that working with an agency should be.
Messaging and Landing Pages: The Other Half of the Equation
Remember Tom? Yea that guy we just mentioned from fifty first dates. Well Tom knew his message and it was a very informative message, but it stopped connecting with his audience in the first 60 seconds.
Message, Audience, and Destination Alignment
When you start a campaign connecting the correct message, to the right audience, and directing them to the right information is how you get the best business results. Its really easy to get the picture across to an ecommerce shoe business trying to increase sales on red heels.
The message would be “we have sparkly red heels for sale” and have an image of said heels to go with it. With an audience that is likely ladies, and a landing page is the page specific to those sparkly red heels.
But if that same shoe business shared the same message of “we have sparkly red heels” to everyone looking for shoes and send clicks to their business’s home page the performance of the campaign would likely miss the mark. Additionally they could see a lack in red heel sales, plus total show sales.
All because the customer experience wasn’t tailored, the story wasn’t consistent so the audience started to feel a lack of credibility from the brand, and finding the correct product once landing on the page was too difficult. The audience wasn’t defined, the message was specific, and the landing page was generic.
No matter if you’re an ecommerce business, a university, or a B2B your creative messaging, audience targeting, and landing page all tell a very important story about your business. Be sure that you are connecting the messaging of your creative to the correct landing page. If you are sharing specific degree programs, link to that specific program.
Maximize Performance and Eat Your Ice Cream Too
To ensure your paid media creative is utilizing the best practices, dig into the platforms you are utilizing in your strategy. We could spit out various ad sizes and spec requirements for each platform, but we all know they will change by the time you read this anyway.
Go directly to the source, if you’re running Google ads go find a Google resource guide. Do not read the next blog who has the list of sizes either, because it is likely outdated by now too. If you were to go sky diving for the first time, would you trust your friend who has gone and did some training but hasn’t proven the hours to truly take you?
Or would you rather go with someone who is paid and building the course guides now because they have done it a thousand times before. Exactly, go to the experts and create everything possible. Your campaign, business, and wallet will thank you later.