Click-Through Rate (CTR)

What is Click-Through Rate (CTR)?

Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of delivered messages in a campaign whose link was clicked, showing how well the copy and offer performed.

CTR is the middle link in the messaging metrics chain: delivery rate tells you the message arrived, CTR tells you it worked, and conversion tells you it paid. It is calculated as unique clicks divided by delivered messages — not by sent messages, because counting undelivered traffic makes weak campaigns look even weaker for the wrong reason. In SMS campaigns, CTR is tracked through short links with per-recipient parameters; in WhatsApp campaigns, button taps serve the same role.

Read CTR as a diagnostic, not a trophy. A healthy delivery rate combined with a falling CTR points to copy, offer, or frequency problems rather than routing issues. Example: an eCommerce brand comparing two promotional SMS variants sends each to a matched segment and keeps the version with the higher CTR — before scaling the campaign to the full verified list.

See BSG's 6 Key Insights and Trends Shaping SMS Marketing for a closer look at how this plays out in practice.

Related terms

• DLR (Delivery Reporting)
• Conversion
• Campaign

Related BSG products

• Bulk SMS
• Short URL
• Promotional SMS