Clicks on the short-links inside your texts. With no open tracking on SMS, this is the cleanest engagement signal the channel offers, and the step that leads straight to conversion.
At a glance
The total number of clicks on SMS short-links across the selected period, counting taps on the trackable links inside your campaign and flow messages. On email you have opens, clicks, and conversions as a three-step funnel; on SMS there are no opens, so the funnel is effectively just clicks then conversions. That makes clicks the single most important engagement signal for the channel: it is the first measurable sign that a recipient read the message and acted on it. A healthy click line means your texts are reaching the right consented contacts with an offer worth tapping; a falling click line, with sends steady, is the earliest warning that messages are landing flat or that the list is tiring. Read clicks against sends to get a sense of engagement quality, and against conversions to see whether that interest turned into orders.
Calculation
Calculated automatically from your Klaviyo data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.Worked example
An illustrative supplements brand running weekly SMS campaigns plus a browse-abandon SMS flow. Reading the dashboard on 14 Apr 26 for the trailing 30 days (14 Mar 26 to 12 Apr 26), the SMS clicks by week look like this (illustrative figures):- Sends held roughly flat while clicks dipped in week 3. Because volume barely moved, the week 3 fall is a genuine engagement signal, not a side-effect of sending less. That is the read this card is built for.
- With no opens, clicks are the first place a problem shows. On email you might catch a soft week in the open rate first. On SMS there is no open layer, so a weak message reveals itself directly in clicks, which is why this card is the SMS engagement bellwether.
- Conversions fell with clicks, locating the problem upstream. Week 3 conversions dropped alongside clicks, which says the issue was getting people to tap, not what happened after the tap. If clicks had held but conversions fell, the problem would have been downstream on the landing page or in checkout.
- The likely causes are message and offer. A weaker headline, a less compelling deal, or a poorly chosen send time will all show up as fewer clicks. Week 4 recovered to the 8.0% baseline, suggesting the week 3 message simply underperformed rather than the list degrading.
- Watch clicks against sends, not in isolation. A rising click count on a much larger send is not necessarily better engagement. The implied click rate, clicks over sends, is the quality read; the raw click count is the volume read. Pair this card with SMS Sends to keep both in view.
Sibling cards merchants should reference together
SMS Clicks is the primary SMS engagement signal. Pair it with these:Reconciling against Klaviyo
Where to look in Klaviyo:- Klaviyo → Campaigns, filtered to SMS, then a campaign’s analytics, where clicks and unique clicks are shown per SMS send.
- Klaviyo → Flows, filtered to SMS, then a message’s analytics, for triggered SMS click counts.
- Klaviyo → Analytics → Performance, with the channel set to SMS, for the blended SMS click trend.
Known limitations / merchant FAQs
Why don’t I have an SMS open rate to compare against? Because SMS has no open tracking. There is no reliable equivalent of the email open pixel for text messages, so Klaviyo does not report SMS opens. Clicks are therefore the first measurable engagement signal on the channel, which is why this card matters so much. Are these total clicks or unique clicks? This card counts total clicks, so a single recipient tapping the link twice counts twice. Klaviyo also reports unique clicks (clicks_unique), which counts distinct clickers. If you reconcile against a unique view, expect ours to read a little higher.
My clicks fell but I sent the same volume, what does that mean?
That is a genuine engagement dip. With sends steady, fewer clicks points to a weaker message, a less compelling offer, or a poorly timed send. If conversions fell alongside clicks, the problem was getting the tap; if clicks held but conversions fell, the problem is after the tap.
Do clicks include flow messages or just campaigns?
Both. The card blends SMS campaign and SMS flow clicks for the full engagement picture. A campaign-only Klaviyo view will read lower by the flow click volume.
Why are my SMS click rates higher than my email click rates?
That is common. SMS is a consent-based, high-intent channel with short, focused messages and a single link, so the people who receive your texts tend to engage more per send than a broad email audience. Higher per-send engagement is part of what justifies the per-message cost.
Does Apple Mail Privacy Protection affect SMS clicks?
No. MPP inflates email opens only. It does not touch SMS clicks, which is one reason the SMS engagement picture is cleaner than the email one.