Sign inBook a setup callStart tracking
Product
Product overviewHow it worksLive demoFree tools
Product
DashboardsClient reportsAutomationsProfilesAssistant
By what you run
Online storeServices and leadsCreatorsAgencies
Platforms
Meta adsGoogle AdsTikTokInstagramEmailSMS
Resources
DocsGuidesGlossaryWalkthroughsEvents APICompareSecurity
PricingSign in
Start trackingBook a setup call

Campaign tracking

How to track SMS link clicks and the sales they bring

Tag text message links so clicks and sales have a source, keep links short and on your own domain, and tell real taps from link preview clicks.

By the Sporetag teamUpdated 4 min read

On this page

A text message link is the shortest path from a phone to your site, and one of the hardest to measure. Messages apps send no referrer, so an untagged text click lands as direct traffic. Long tagged links look like spam in a text. And phones open links on their own to draw a preview.

This guide covers tagging, short links, the clicks no person made, and how to read sales by message.

Use the same tags on every text, in lowercase:

Code

GA4 puts a visit in its SMS channel when the source or the medium is exactly sms (Google). text, SMS-blast or the tool's name will not match. Put the tool's name in utm_content if you want it.

Use a new utm_campaign for each send, with a date. "flash-sale" sent three times is three campaigns you can no longer tell apart.

A single SMS segment holds 160 GSM-7 characters, or 70 when the message contains characters outside that set, such as most emoji (Twilio). A tagged address can use half of that. Longer messages are split and billed as several segments.

A short link fixes the length, and it keeps the tags out of sight:

Code

Which domain matters. The US wireless industry's messaging guidelines ask senders who use a URL shortener to use one with a web address and IP addresses dedicated to that sender, and links that clearly identify the website owner (CTIA, section 5.3.2). A public shortener shared by thousands of senders is the opposite of that. A short link on your own domain also looks like you, which matters in a channel full of scams.

Many texting tools shorten links themselves. Klaviyo, for example, needs its Automatically shorten links setting on to add UTM tags to text messages (Klaviyo). Twilio's link shortening uses a domain you own (Twilio). If your tool already shortens on your domain and adds tags, you do not need a second shortener. If you add one anyway, the text runs through two redirects.

Taps no person made

Phones and carriers open links in texts:

  • Link previews. To show a preview card, the messaging app fetches the link. Klaviyo calls link previews the biggest driver of bot clicks in SMS, and notes they inflate click rates (Klaviyo).
  • Carrier and provider checks. Some carriers and providers open links to check message content for compliance (Klaviyo).

So an SMS click rate is always a bit high. Judge a text by visits and sales, not by clicks. A click with no visit after it is often a preview.

From tap to sale

Many SMS buyers tap, look, and buy later from the same phone or another device. To credit the text:

  1. Record purchases as a goal, with the order value.
  2. Keep the visitor across days. A tool that forgets the visitor overnight credits tomorrow's purchase to whatever brought them back.
  3. Compare by campaign. Revenue per message sent is the number that matters.

A worked example

Example numbers, made up for illustration. A shop sends two texts to 4,000 subscribers:

CampaignClicksVisitsOrdersRevenue
restock-oct-2452043138$2,470
review-ask-oct-263002123$150

About one in six clicks has no visit after it, which fits previews and people who closed the page before it loaded. The restock text earned about $0.62 per message sent ($2,470 / 4,000). That is the number to compare with email and ads.

Common mistakes

  1. Untagged links. Texts open from apps with no referrer, so they become direct.
  2. The wrong medium. Only sms, exactly, puts the visit in GA4's SMS channel.
  3. A public shortener. Shared domains carry other senders' reputation.
  4. Reusing one campaign name. Every send needs its own.
  5. Judging by clicks. Previews inflate them.

Common questions

How do I track clicks on links in text messages?

Use a short link per message, tagged with utm_source=sms, utm_medium=sms and a campaign name. The short link counts the tap, and the tags tell your analytics where the visit came from.

Messages apps open links with no referrer. Without UTM tags, nothing in the visit says it came from a text.

Why is my SMS click rate so high?

Phones fetch links to draw previews, and some carriers check links. Those fetches count as clicks in many tools. Compare visits and sales.

The US industry guidelines ask senders who shorten links to use a shortener dedicated to them, not a shared public one. A short link on your own domain is the simple way to follow that. Your texting provider can tell you its own filtering rules.

Can I see which text message made a sale?

Yes, if each send has its own tagged link and your analytics records purchases. Read revenue by campaign.

Sources

How to track email clicks and the sales they bringTag email links so every click and sale has a source, set it up in Klaviyo and Mailchimp, and spot the bot clicks that security scanners add.Campaign tracking · 5 min readUTM parameters: the complete guide, with a naming scheme that holds upWhat each UTM parameter does, the naming rules GA4 actually applies, a scheme for source, medium and campaign, and the mistakes that break your reports.Campaign tracking · 5 min readHow to track QR codes on print, packaging and signsA QR code sends no referrer, so scans show up as direct traffic. How to track scans, visits and sales per placement, and print codes that keep working.Campaign tracking · 3 min read

Spotted something wrong or out of date? Email hello@sporetag.com and we will fix it.