Let's explore the importance that image ratio has in WhatsApp conversations.
Using the right size for images in WhatsApp messages is critical to avoid cropping or resulting in unintended zooms. Neglecting this can make it difficult for recipients to fully understand the message, thus risking lost opportunities for your business as customers may not interact or respond to messages that are unclear or difficult to view.
For optimal resolution, the recommended image ratio is 1.91:1.
By following this proportion, you can ensure that images are displayed correctly, improving the overall experience.
Here is a comparison of how a message with a properly sized image at 1:1.91 (left), with a message using a 1:1 image (right), appears in the preview of a WhatsApp communication on magnews.
And here is how the two messages appear on WhatsApp, on the recipient's cell phone, where you can see that in the first case the image does not undergo any cropping or zooming as it does for the second image.
These considerations about 1:1.91 ratio images versus the 1:1 square format actually apply to other types of formats such as 16:9 and 4:3 for which cuts or enlargements could arise, altering the correct display by the contact and compromising visual communication.
However, it is recommended that you always do a test send to make sure the message displays best.
For more information, see the article from Meta's site on the Best practices for proportions.