SMS marketing KPIs: Key metrics you should track
Are your SMS marketing campaigns performing? To answer that, you need KPIs. Here are the ones you should be tracking.
Without the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), even the best SMS marketing campaigns are hard to scale, optimize, or track.
In this blog, we explain the key metrics that will help you evaluate campaign performance, from delivery to conversion. We’ll cover:
- Delivery rate
- Open rate
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Response rate
- Conversion rate
- Opt-in rate
- Unsubscribe (opt-out) rate
- List growth rate
- ROI
1. Delivery rate
What it is: SMS delivery rate is a metric that tracks the percentage of SMS messages that successfully reach your recipients’ devices.
Why it matters: If delivery is off, every other metric suffers. A high delivery rate indicates a clean contact list and strong infrastructure. Poor delivery impacts every other SMS performance metric.
Formula:
(Messages delivered ÷ Messages sent) × 100
Benchmark: Generally speaking, achieving a perfect 100% SMS delivery rate is impossible due to various technical factors affecting SMS deliverability. Setting a goal of over 90% is realistic, although it may vary based on network conditions in the target market.
For better delivery rates, you should:
- Remove inactive, outdated, or invalid numbers from your database using number (HLR) lookup
- Regularly maintain and clean up your number database
- Use a Tier-1 messaging provider with direct carrier connections
INSIGHT
Why direct connections matter for deliverability
Direct connections give your business a direct line to mobile network operators, ensuring your SMS campaigns are delivered quickly, reliably, and with maximum reach.
By bypassing third-party aggregators, direct connectivity improves delivery rates, reduces latency, and minimizes the risk of message filtering—so your SMS messages get to customers exactly when they matter most. It’s how leading brands achieve consistent results, maintain SMS compliance, and build trusted customer relationships at scale.
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2. Open rate
What it is: SMS open rate is a metric that tells you how many people likely opened your message.
Why it matters: It measures how quickly and often recipients engage with your messages. A high open rate indicates audience interest, while lower rates suggest you should refine your messaging, optimize timing, or change your offers.
But unlike Email, OTT channels or RCS, SMS doesn’t support tracking pixels or read receipts, so you can’t know exactly how many people opened your SMS messages, only estimate.
If your campaign has a trackable SMS link, measuring clicks shortly after sending can indicate open rates and high engagement.
Formula: Since SMS open rates can’t be tracked directly, CTR is often used instead, which shows the percentage of delivered messages that resulted in a link click. A click suggests the message was opened (more on CTRs in the chapter below).
This actually gives you the minimum possible open rate—all those who clicked opened the message, but others may have seen it without clicking. The true open rate may be higher, but it cannot be measured directly.
Benchmark: Marketing stats like a “98% open rate” are often quoted for SMS. These are industry benchmarks based on calculations such as link clicks in a short period of time, user replies, or survey data, but aren’t an exact, direct measurement of open rates.
3. Click-through rate (CTR)
What it is: If your message includes a link, CTR is the metric that tells you whether it was compelling enough to click.
Why it matters: It’s a strong indicator of engagement and interest, especially for promotional or transactional texts.
Formula:
(Messages with clicks ÷ Delivered messages) × 100
Benchmark: 6-10% is typical, depending on offer relevance and targeting. A CTR above 20% would be excellent for promotional SMS messages.
Tips to improve message CTRs:
- Personalize text messages by including names, recent behavior, or location
- Test CTA variations (“View offer” vs. “Shop now”) via A/B testing
Learn how to launch your first SMS campaign with Infobip in just a few easy steps:
4. Response rate
What it is: Response rate is a metric that shows how many recipients replied to your message. It’s especially important for two-way campaigns, like surveys, confirmations, or chat-based flows.
Why it matters: High response rates indicate trust and interest, and are critical for qualifying leads or collecting customer input.
Tips to improve response rates:
- Use simple, direct questions (e.g., “Reply 1 for Yes, 2 for No”)
- Trigger automated SMS replies to reduce manual work
- Personalize messages and segment by behavior for better resonance
5. Conversion rate
What it is: Conversion rate is a metric that shows how many recipients completed a desired outcome, like making a purchase or signing up.
Why it matters: It links SMS directly to business outcomes and helps evaluate ROI per campaign.
Formula:
(Conversions ÷ delivered messages) × 100
To optimize your conversion rate, try to:
- Align message timing with user behavior or sales funnel stage
- Add urgency such as countdowns, promo codes, or exclusivity
- Streamline post-click experience for mobile users
CUSTOMER STORY
How Rappi drove 150 orders in one hour with segmented SMS campaigns
Rappi, a fast-scaling delivery platform in Latin America, needed a faster and more personalized way to engage their growing customer base and retain loyalty during critical sales windows.
With Infobip, they were able to:
- Reach users instantly via SMS, regardless of device or connection
- Segment campaigns based on user activity, location, or purchase history
- Trigger win-back messages for inactive users
The result? A single Sunday campaign offering a restaurant promo generated 150 orders within one hour from just 2,000 targeted messages, a conversion rate that outperformed all other channels.
6. Opt-in rate
What it is: SMS opt-in rate is a metric that reflects how many people actively subscribed to receive your SMS updates, showing the effectiveness of your acquisition strategy.
Why it matters: A high opt-in rate indicates strong brand value, trust, and the effectiveness of your lead gen funnels. Consent builds trust and ensures legal SMS compliance.
To improve your opt-in rate, you should:
- Offer exclusive SMS-only promotions or first-time discounts
- Promote SMS signups during checkout, events, or account creation
- Use QR codes or short codes to drive mobile-friendly opt-ins
7. Unsubscribe (opt-out) rate
What it is: Unsubscribe rate is a metric that reveals how many users opted out after receiving your messages.
Why it matters: This metric is a key signal of message fatigue or misalignment. A rising opt-out rate signals that your messaging may be too frequent, irrelevant to your recipients, or poorly timed.
To keep users from unsubscribing, you should:
- Segment users more precisely to ensure relevance
- Test content formats (short vs. long, offer vs. reminder)
- Always include clear opt-out instructions
- Set frequency caps to avoid message fatigue
8. List growth rate
What it is: List growth rate is a metric that tracks how your subscriber base is evolving over time, balancing opt-ins and opt-outs to measure healthy momentum.
Why it matters: A healthy list growth rate ensures long-term scalability and indicates that your messaging is resonating.
Formula:
(New subscribers – Unsubscribes) ÷ Total subscribers × 100
Tips for list growth:
- Monitor opt-out triggers and segment based on engagement levels
- Automate reactivation campaigns to re-engage silent users
9. ROI (return on investment)
What it is: ROI is a metric that measures the financial return from your investment in SMS marketing, factoring in revenue vs. cost.
Why it matters: Almost goes without saying, ROI is a key metric to justify your budget and scale.
Formula:
(Campaign revenue – cost) ÷ Cost × 100
To improve your SMS marketing ROI, you should essentially try to improve all of the metrics mentioned above, from delivery to conversion rate.
Conclusion: move from “tracking” to “orchestrating”
Tracking KPIs like delivery rates and click-throughs is just the starting point. The real value comes when you use these metrics to shape your entire marketing strategy.
Instead of just getting answers to “How many clicks?”, use your SMS marketing KPIs to answer high-value questions like:
- “Is my current messaging strategy maximizing conversions and minimizing costs by matching the channel (e.g., SMS vs. email) to each use case?” → Optimize budget and cost by comparing channel performance
- “Does triggering an SMS 30 minutes after an unopened email increase conversion rates?” → Increase engagement and conversions by orchestrating omnichannel flows
- “Are customers who opt-in to SMS actually retaining longer and spending more (LTV) than email-only subscribers?” → Maximize long-term value of customers
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