Discover the Main Advertising Formats and Technical Requirements for Advertising on Vkontakte

In our previous article, we provided an in-depth discussion of the parameters required for placing creatives in Yandex.Direct. Now, let’s shift our focus to the advertising formats available on VKontakte platform.

VKontakte advertisements can be placed in communities or targeted at specific audiences. With the former, the published ads will not deviate much from regular posts on the network, except for the “Advertising” notice beneath the message. Targeted ads can seamlessly blend in with user-generated content, thereby increasing brand awareness and attracting potential customers. Additionally, advertisers have several placement options, including VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, and other sites within the VK network.

It is important to note that creative requirements vary depending on the type of advertising publication and the VKontakte advertising cabinet used. Currently, there are two advertising cabinets available: VKontakte PRO, which has been in operation for several years, and VK Advertising, launched in beta mode in 2022. In the future, VK Advertising could potentially merge with the myTarget cabinet to create a single system. As a result, certain functions of myTarget, such as mobile application promotion, have already been transitioned to the new platform.

Let’s delve deeper into each service to better understand their respective features.

Variety of PRO VKontakte formats

Despite the introduction of a new platform, VKontakte PRO is still functioning normally and its future has not been officially announced by the service developers. Many advertisers are still using VKontakte PRO since VK Advertising is still in its testing phase.

The requirements for advertising creatives on this platform are dependent on the specific format of the promoted publication.

One of the formats available is the Carousel, which can be used on both desktop and mobile versions. This format allows for the upload of several images in a single publication to showcase product advantages or an extensive range of products. The Carousel format is particularly effective when used in retargeting campaigns, as users can view several products in the ad that they had previously viewed. Additionally, the format supports “old-new price” options and multiple links to third-party resources.

Technical Requirements:

• Body text must be no more than 220 characters, including spaces and punctuation marks, without links, emojis, hashtags, or references to other accounts or companies.
• Title for each line should be between 3 to 25 characters.
• Allowed number of images is from 3 to 10 cards with a size of 400×400 pixels.
• Image format can be JPG, PNG, or GIF (without animation).
• Text in the images should occupy no more than 20% of the creative.

Snippet: Advertising Post with Button

This format features a short post with an image or video and a button that takes the user to either a VKontakte community or a third-party resource. It’s suitable for both desktop and mobile versions. The system provides a list of button text suggestions, such as “Register” if you add a phone number, etc.

Requirements:

• Body text should not exceed 220 characters, including spaces and punctuation, and no more than 12 emojis are allowed. Links, hashtags, and references to other companies or accounts are not permitted.
• The title can be up to 80 characters and should be placed next to the button.
• Image format should be JPG, PNG, or GIF (without animation), and the size should be 537×250 pixels.
• Video format should be AVI, MP4, 3GP, MPEG, MOV, FLV, F4V, WMV, MKV, WEBM, VOB, RM, RMVB, M4V, MPG, OGV, TS, M2TS, MTS with an aspect ratio of 16:9.
• Text in the visual component should not exceed 20% of the total creative.

Now let’s look at the universal feed post format:

This format is similar to standard user content, consisting of a text block with an image, video, or GIF animation. It can be used on all devices and allows for an expanded longread-style description of the product or service. While more expensive than other formats, it can effectively target the desired audience.

Technical requirements:

• Body text can contain up to 16,384 characters with spaces and punctuation marks, but no emojis.
• Additional tools include one snippet, GIF animation, video, or up to 10 images.
• Snippet text can have up to 80 characters with spaces and punctuation marks.
• Image format must be JPG, GIF, TIF, or PNG.
• Text in the visual part should not exceed 20% of the creative.
• GIF animation must be a single file with a size limit of 50 MB, 1000 pixels on the long side, and an interval between frames of 0.01 to 1 second.
• Video must not exceed 2 GB with a maximum resolution of 1080 pixels, and can include content from video hosting.
• Video format options are AVI, MP4, 3GP, MPEG, MOV, FLV, F4V, WMV, MKV, WEBM, VOB, RM, RMVB, M4V, MPG, OGV, TS, M2TS, and MTS.

Website advertising and personal page advertising look like short posts with a button and a snippet. The difference is that one leads the user to third-party resources while the other leads the user to a personal profile or a post from a personal profile.

The requirements for advertising in clips and stories are similar to other formats:

• Title and subtitle near the button should have 3 to 25 characters, the description for site advertisements should be 3 to 90 characters, and the description for personal page advertisements should be 3 to 220 characters.
• Additional tools include a logo with a minimum size of 256×256 pixels and a snippet from a video or image.
• The image should have a size of 1080×607 pixels with an aspect ratio of 16:9, a maximum file size of 5 MB in JPG, PNG, BMP, TIF, or GIF formats without animation.
• Videos should have a minimum width of 600 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:9, 4:3, or 1:1, with a maximum file size of 1 GB in formats VI, MP4, 3GP, MPEG, MOV, FLV, F4V, WMV, MKV, WEBM, VOB, RM, RMVB, M4V, MPG, OGV, TS, M2TS, MTS, and a duration of 3 seconds to 5 minutes.

Advertising in clips and stories

These ads are only available to users of the mobile version of VKontakte and feature a vertical format with various AR effects. You can place ads in two sources simultaneously or choose one of them.

Technical requirements for advertising mini-applications and games:

• You can use up to 3 images or videos, and it’s recommended to place labels and graphic elements in the central part of the ad due to the application interface.
• Images should be vertical with a size of 720×1280 pixels in JPG, PNG, or GIF formats.
• For video ads in stories, the minimum resolution is 720×1280 with a ratio of 9:16, the maximum file size is 10 MB, and the duration can be up to 15 seconds. Accepted formats are AVI, MP4, 3GP, MPEG, MOV, FLV, F4V, WMV, MKV, WEBM, VOB, RM, RMVB, M4V, MPG, OGV, TS, M2TS, and MTS.
• For video ads in clips, the video should be vertical with a mandatory audio track, minimum resolution of 720×1280 in a ratio of 9:16, and the file size should not exceed 2 GB. The duration of the video can be from 2 to 60 seconds, and accepted formats are AVI, MP4, 3GP, MPEG, MOV, FLV, F4V, WMV, MKV, WEBM, VOB, RM, RMVB, M4V, MPG, OGV, TS, M2TS, and MTS.
• You can write a description of up to 200 characters with spaces and punctuation marks, and hashtags are allowed.

The mini-application and game ads are available only on VKontakte and have four placement options: the main format for promoting local applications and games, a square image with a button, an application showcase (only for a separate auction section), and a special format for the “For You” tab in the “Games” section.

The following are the essential technical requirements for the Teaser format:

• Title: Should be between 3 to 25 characters, including punctuation marks and spaces.
• Description: Should be between 3 to 220 characters, including punctuation marks and spaces.
• Body Text: Can contain from 3 to 25 characters, including punctuation marks and spaces, without emojis.
• Application Icon: Should have a minimum size of 256×256 pixels.
• Images: Should have a 16:9 aspect ratio, with a minimum size of 1080×607 pixels and a maximum file size of up to 5 MB in JPG, PNG, BMP, TIF, or GIF formats (without animation). Additionally, the text on the image should not occupy more than 20% of the total area of the photo.
• Video: Should have acceptable aspect ratios of 16:9, 4:3, or 1:1, with a minimum width of 600 pixels and a maximum file size of up to 1 GB in AVI, MP4, 3GP, MPEG, MOV, FLV, F4V, WMV, MKV, WEBM, VOB, RM, RMVB, M4V, MPG, OGV, TS, M2TS, or MTS formats. The video should have a duration between 3 seconds to 5 minutes.
• Additional Requirements for Application Showcase: The advertised application should have at least 50,000 installations, with a budget of 5,000 rubles/500 VKontakte votes, and a banner size of 560×315 pixels up to 5 MB.

Teaser ads are available only for the desktop version of VKontakte and consist of a small image with a title placed to the left of the user’s main menu.

Technical requirements:

• For the “Image+Text” option: the title should be between 3 to 33 characters, the description should be up to 70 characters, and the image should be 145×85 pixels in size.
• For the “Large Image” option: there should be a title but no description, and the image should be 145×165 pixels in size.
• For the “Community promotion” option: only a 145×145 pixel image is required, and the community name is automatically added to the text.
• Images should be no larger than 5 MB and in JPG, PNG, BMP, TIF or GIF formats without animation.
• Text in the visual part of the creative should not take up more than 20% of the space.

The advanced features of Vkontakte PRO are apparent, resulting in varying technical requirements for advertising creatives that differ not only by their type (title, text, images, video) but also within each category. For instance, the size of images may vary according to the ad format. However, these diverse specifications are no longer applicable in VK advertising since the developers have consolidated all parameters for increased ease of use.

VK Advertising versatile format

One of the main distinctions between VK Advertising and PRO VKontakte is the ability to work with a versatile ad format. This enables the service to automatically choose the most appealing ad placement for users and platforms.

The tool operates in the following manner: during the “Ads” stage, the advertiser needs to upload all potential image and video options within a single advertising campaign. Following this, the system generates feasible ad formats for websites across VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, projects, and VK networks.

The Feed is a form of advertising post that displays an image within the newsfeed of VKontakte and Odnoklassniki.

Native advertising is designed to closely resemble the main content of the website and can be presented in various formats such as text, graphics, and video.

In-Stream video is an advertising format that appears in the video advertising units of VKontakte and Odnoklassniki.

Fullscreen video has two formats. The first format is a video of up to 30 seconds that offers a reward to the user, such as in-game currency. This type of ad cannot be skipped or closed. The second format is Fullscreen interstitial, which is a full-screen ad unit that can have a video or multiple images. It is available on mobile and mini-applications, as well as on the web version. The video length is up to 30 seconds, but unlike rewarded videos, interstitial videos can be closed or skipped.

Clips and Stories advertising have a vertical format and are exclusive to VKontakte. The video length varies depending on the section: up to 12 seconds for Stories and up to 1 minute for Clips.

When uploading an ad, automatic placement is enabled by default, but advertisers can manually limit the range of placements. Technical requirements for all ad formats are the same.

Here are the requirements:

• Icon size: 256×256 pixels. The store name is loaded by default.
• Title: The app store name is automatically loaded and can have a maximum of 25 characters.
• Subtitle: Can have up to 30 characters and is placed next to the button.
• Body text: A short description of up to 90 characters, and an expanded text of up to 220 characters (displayed only on VKontakte and Odnoklassniki). If both fields are filled, only the expanded text is shown.
• Button: Selected from a drop-down list with the default text “Install.”
• Company information: Shows legal details and has a maximum limit of up to 115 characters.
• Images: Can have a maximum size of 5 MB in JPG or PNG formats and an aspect ratio of 1:1 (600×600 pixels) / 4:5 (1080×1350 pixels) / 16:9 (1080×607 pixels).
• Video: Can be up to 30 seconds long, weigh up to 90 MB, and have a resolution of 640×360 pixels (recommended: 1280×720, 1920 x 1080) and aspect ratio 1:1 / 4:5 / 19:9 / 9:16 in mp4, mpeg, avi, mov (H.264, AAC) formats. Videos with buttons or misleading elements will not pass moderation, as well as low-quality and highly compressed videos.

VKontakte offers a wide range of ad formats for any campaign goals, and the effectiveness of your ad will depend on well-developed creatives and competent targeting settings. Ad targeting can also be set using the myTarget service. Stay connected and sign up for our newsletter for more relevant information on marketing and advertising.