SMS Broadcast Problems
The things that go wrong on a text campaign, and what to do about them.
Most text campaign problems are one of three things: the audience was smaller than you thought, the campaign is outside its send window, or the messaging setup cannot reach the numbers you are sending to. Work through them in that order.
Problems that are not specific to texts — statuses, pausing, the cost check — are covered under Broadcasts.
Known Issues
The audience is far smaller than the number of contacts matched
Most contacts have no mobile number on file.
A text needs a mobile number, and a great many CRM records have an email address and nothing else. The audience preview shows each excluded contact locked with the reason — No mobile number or Opted out of texts — and totals them above the table.
Scheduling refused with the campaign saying nobody can be texted
Every contact matching the audience is unreachable on this channel.
Your filter is working — the contacts it found simply cannot be texted. Widen the audience, or add mobile numbers to the contacts you meant to reach.
Nothing has sent, and the campaign says Sending
The campaign is outside its send window.
Check the window, the send days and the timezone on the campaign page. Send windows apply to intelligent campaigns; a simple broadcast sends at its scheduled time instead.
Texts are failing for contacts who definitely have numbers
The number is not mobile, or your messaging setup cannot reach that destination.
A landline cannot receive a text. Beyond that, sending to a country your messaging service is not registered for will fail at the carrier. Open View Details on a failed row to see the number it was tried against.
A reply came in but is not on the campaign
Replies are matched to the message that prompted them.
A reply is attached to the campaign that sent to that number. If a contact has been texted by more than one thing, check the other campaign. Replies appear in the contact's detail panel on the campaign page.
Opens and clicks show zero
They do not apply to a text.
There is nothing to open in a text message, so those counters stay empty on a text campaign. Replies are the signal to watch instead.
Delivery cost more than the estimate
The estimate cannot know each destination, or the messages ran long.
Text delivery is charged per message at the carrier's rate when the message is delivered, and that rate depends on where it went. Longer messages are also sent in more than one segment, and each segment is charged. The figure before sending is labelled an estimate for exactly this reason.
A template sent with a gap where a name should be
A smart tag had no value for that contact.
A tag with no value resolves to nothing. Check which tags the template uses and whether every contact in the audience has those fields filled in.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. A delivered message cannot be recalled on any channel. You can pause a campaign to stop everything that has not yet been handed to delivery.
Yes. A contact who opts out of texts is excluded from every future text audience, shown locked in the preview with the reason. Their email opt-out is separate and unaffected.
Texts go out from your organization's messaging service, so there is no sender to pick. Email broadcasts offer a From Sender because there the choice is real.
Need More Help?
If texts are failing for numbers you know are mobile and reachable, send us the campaign name and two or three of the numbers, and we will check what the carrier reported.
Contact Support