TikTok video length & video formatting guide

TikTok is the newest promising frontier in video content marketing. As of early 2019, it was the third-most-downloaded app globally, growing to 500 million users in its first year. The platform is also becoming a great place for influencers to grow.

TikTok is a more fun, informal, and relaxed social media platform than many of its predecessors, and that means you can get away with more spontaneity in your videos. Read here on when the best time is to post TikTok videos.

However, if you want your videos to truly engage, it’s important to ensure that they are formatted optimally for TikTok. That way, viewers will see your videos exactly as you want them to be seen.

TikTok video length

The first thing to consider is length. At first, TikTok videos could only be up to 15 seconds long, but the company recently extended the limit to 60 seconds when you string 4 15-second segments together.

However, this only applies to videos recorded natively on the app. If you upload a video that was created elsewhere, it can be longer than 60 seconds.

Video formatting for TikTok

Here are some other specifications to consider:

• File size: The video should be up to 287.6 MB in size for iOS, or 72 MB on Android. For ads, it can be up to 500 MB.
• Orientation: TikTok is formatted to be viewed on a smartphone, so vertical video is best, though horizontal is also allowed.
• Dimensions: TikTok video dimensions should be 1080x1920.
• Aspect ratio: The aspect ratio should be that of a standard smartphone screen, 9:16. 1:1 is also possible, but it won’t take up the whole screen.
• File type: TikTok supports .mp4 and .mov files. For ads, it also supports .avi and .gif files.

Why use a third-party app to create your TikTok video?

TikTok does have an excellent native recorder with some very cool effects. However, you may want to consider using an app like Videoleap to create your video and then upload it to TikTok.

Here’s why:

• You can adapt content you’ve used on other platforms for TikTok instead of reinventing the wheel.
• You’re less restrained by the time limit (since, as mentioned above, your uploaded video can be longer than 60 seconds).
• VideoLeap has exclusive effects and templates that can help you make a creative, beautiful video with very little effort.

Action Items:

1. If you’re planning to upload a video to TikTok rather than use the native recorder, make sure the specifications are optimized for TikTok.
2. If your video needs some adjustment — or if you’d like to tweak it to get it just right — use Videoleap to edit and perfect it.