SMS campaigns with tracked links: how to measure clicks and conversions

What SMS campaigns with tracked links are

An SMS campaign sends the same message, often personalised with a name or other details, to a list of contacts. SMS campaigns with tracked links add an address to the text that records who opens it. The message stops being a shot in the dark and becomes something you can measure: how many people received it, how many opened the link, how many became customers.

SMS behaves differently from email or social media. It reaches any phone without an app, nearly always gets read and has very little room. That makes it a good fit for short messages with one clear action: a reminder, a time-limited offer, a request to confirm, an invitation to get a call back.

The link is that action. Tracking it properly tells you which wording works, which list performs, what time is best to send and what each result costs you.

How a tracked link works: unique links or UTM parameters

There are two main ways to track a link in a text message, and they measure different things.

The first is a unique link per contact. Every recipient gets a different short link, usually a hard-to-guess string of letters and digits. When someone opens it, the system knows exactly who it was, because that code belongs to them alone. It's the method that lets you say “Mary Smith opened the link at 6:42 pm” and act on that contact: call them, move them to another list, flag them as interested.

The second is a link with UTM parameters. Everyone gets the same address of a page on your website, with parameters such as utm_source=sms and utm_campaign=sale tacked on. Your web analytics tool records the visits and, if you've set it up, the purchases or form submissions that came from that campaign. You know how many clicks and conversions the campaign brought, but not who clicked.

SMS campaign metrics and their formulas

Once your links are tracked, there are only a handful of numbers to follow. What matters is calculating them the same way every time, so you can compare one campaign with the next.

• Delivery rate = SMS delivered / SMS sent × 100. A low figure points to invalid numbers, phones switched off for long periods or stale lists.
• Click rate = contacts who opened the link / SMS delivered × 100. Measure it against delivered messages, not sent ones, or you'll mix list quality with message quality.
• Conversion rate = converted contacts / SMS delivered × 100, where converted means whatever you decide: a purchase, an appointment, a contact request.
• Cost per click and cost per conversion = total campaign cost / clicks or / conversions. This is the number that tells you whether the campaign pays.
• SMS per message: how many SMS each text needs. A message split in two usually costs twice as much.

Real clicks and fake clicks: previews, scanners and repeat opens

Not every link open is a person. Some messaging apps generate a link preview when a message is forwarded, some corporate security systems open links to check them, and the same contact might open a link three times over two days. Count everything and your click rate goes up, along with the odds that the decisions you base on it are wrong.

There are two fixes. First, count unique contacts rather than total opens: what matters is each person's first open. Second, filter out requests from bots and preview services, which can be recognised by how they identify themselves to the server.

In Robottino's SMS campaigns, the short link only counts each contact's first open and ignores previews generated by bots and messaging apps. No filter is perfect, though: if you see opens a few seconds after delivery on lots of contacts at once, check before you celebrate.

Sender name, length and personalisation

Before the link comes the message, and three choices make a difference. The sender: a recognisable name, such as your company's, earns more trust than an unknown number. Alphanumeric sender IDs are usually limited to 11 characters, and many countries have registration or approval rules for them. In Italy, for example, a custom sender of 3 to 11 letters or digits must be validated by the provider under AGCOM resolution 42/13/CIR before use. Build that time into your campaign plan.

Length: one SMS holds 160 characters in the standard GSM alphabet, but drops to 70 if you use emoji or certain special characters, because the message switches to Unicode encoding. Longer messages are split into parts, and each part loses a few characters to the data that reassembles the message on the phone. One emoji too many can turn one SMS into two. A counter showing characters, number of SMS and encoding as you type saves surprises.

Personalisation: the contact's name at the start and a relevant detail, such as an appointment date or the nearest store, make the message more credible. With variables such as {firstName} or a lead note, everyone gets their own text from a single send. Remember that variables lengthen the message differently for each contact: a long name can tip it into an extra SMS.

From click to conversation: call interested contacts straight away

A click is a sign of interest, and interest fades fast. If someone who opened the link hears from you days later, they often don't remember the message at all. The most effective way to use a tracked link is to act right away: pass the contact to an agent, add them to a call campaign or have them called back automatically.

The short link in Robottino's SMS campaigns is built for exactly this: it doesn't lead to a page on your site, it records the response. Whoever opens it sees a confirmation page and is marked as converted. With “Mark the conversion and call”, the phone system calls them straight away, once, from the line you choose, and connects them to a queue, an agent, an IVR menu or an AI voice agent. If you'd rather send people to a page on your site, put your own UTM-tagged link in the text and measure conversions in your analytics tool.

That way a click becomes a conversation with someone who has just shown interest. You can then work the contacts who didn't open the link with a call campaign on the same list, perhaps after a second message.

Testing, send times and comparing lists

The point of measuring is to get better. Every campaign is a chance to learn something, as long as you change one thing at a time.

1. Start with a test group

   Send to part of the list first and watch deliveries and clicks over the first few hours.

2. Compare two texts

   Split the list into two similar groups and send two versions, changing just one thing: the opening, the offer or the call to action.

3. Pick your timing

   Set the windows when messages may go out. A message asking people to request a call should go when someone can actually pick up the phone.

4. Control the pace

   Sending everything in the same minute can swamp whoever handles the responses. Spread sends out, especially if a click triggers a call.

5. Read results by list

   Put two lists in the same campaign and compare deliveries, clicks and conversions: you'll find out which source of contacts is worth more.

Consent, privacy and opting out

As a general rule, promotional SMS campaigns need recipients' consent to receive marketing, and handling their data must comply with data protection law such as the GDPR in Europe. Tracking who opens a link is processing personal data, so it has to be consistent with the privacy notice you gave your contacts.

A few practical principles: only text people who have given consent or have a relationship with you that justifies it, keep proof of that consent, say clearly who you are and give an easy way to stop receiving messages. Remove anyone who asks straight away. For the details that apply to you, talk to a professional: this is general guidance, not legal advice.

Following these rules also pays off in results. A list of people who asked to hear from you delivers better, clicks more and complains less.

Common mistakes in SMS campaigns with links

Most disappointing campaigns have one of these problems, and nearly all of them show up in the reports within the first few hours.

• Old lists, or bought ones that were never checked: low delivery and high complaints.
• Working out click rate on messages sent instead of messages delivered.
• Counting every open, previews and repeats included.
• Emoji or special characters that double the number of SMS.
• Links with no explanation, which look suspicious.
• Clicks with no follow-up: nobody calls the people who showed interest.
• Sending to everyone at once at a time when nobody can respond.

Frequently asked questions