View text blast results
Find the response rates of a text blast by navigating to Communication > [Broadcaster name] > Texting. By each blast, you’ll see six metrics: Sent, Delivered, Clicked, Responses, Unsubs, and Failed.
Sent: Total number of recipients that were sent the text blast
Delivered: Number of recipients who were able to receive the message
Clicked: The number of recipients who clicked on a NationBuilder shortened link in the blast
Responses: The number of recipients who replied to the text message
Unsubs: The number of recipients who unsubscribed from future texts by responding with supported unsubscribe terms like “Stop”, “Remove”, or “Quit”.
Failed: The number of recipients for whom the text could not be delivered.
⚠️ Please note: Only links created with NationBuilder’s native link shortener can track clicks.
To view the recipients who fell into each category, click the number displayed in the table or navigate to the Recipients tab of the sent blast.
Focus your text campaigns on active recipients
There are a variety of reasons that a number may not be reachable for a given blast and, unfortunately, many of those reasons won’t tell you conclusively whether or not the number may be reachable again later.
If you click on the Failed value, you will see the error code and corresponding message for each recipient who was unable to receive your message. You can find additional details about each message in the Error Dictionary of our messaging vendor, Twilio.
If you are reasonably sure based on the given error that this recipient’s number will not be reachable in your future blasts, such as those with the error message “Landline or unreachable carrier”, you can hover over their name and click the “Edit” link that appears to the left of it to navigate to their profile. From there, you can click the checkbox for “Bad mobile number” within the Edit > Settings section of their profile.
⚠️ Please note: NationBuilder does not automatically determine the validity of a number based on the error code returned. All recipients who were returned as “failed” in one blast will continue to be considered textable for future blasts.
Remove unreachable recipients from your future audiences
Since most error codes can’t definitively tell you whether or not a recipient will be reachable in the future, the best way to ensure that you’re only spending text credits on reaching recipients who will be able to see your messages is to analyze responses over time. To accomplish this, you can:
Navigate to the “Failed” recipients tab of a sent blast.
Click the “Actions” menu in the upper righthand corner and select “Add all to list…”
Create a list representing the failed recipients of just that blast (eg. “2025_spring_invite_failed”) and add them to it.
Repeat steps 1-3 for anywhere between 3-5 of your most recent text blasts that were sent to the same audience.
In the People section, create a filter to identify supporters who are present on all of those lists.
To do this, you add the resulting profiles to a new list by clicking the “Actions” dropdown and selecting “Add all to list…” Navigate to the settings of the new list you’ve created and click on the Batch update tab.
Under Batch update > People, scroll down until you see the dropdown “Is mobile number bad?” and change the value to “Yes”. Then update all of the people on the list.
Depending on the size of your audience and the frequency of your text campaigns, we suggest repeating this process at least once every 3-6 months to keep your lists clean.
Increase engagement with your recipients
Now that you know all of the recipients in your audiences are receiving your text messages, how do you get them to interact with them?
Add an image. MMS texts typically receive higher engagement (think response rate, click-through rate, etc.) than plain text messages. When drafting your next message, use the “Add image” button below the content editor to attach a picture or gif with a file size under 1MB. Note that MMS messages use more credits than traditional SMS.
Give your supporters something to do. Your supporters opted into receiving texts from you because they wanted to be more engaged with your efforts. Your texts should have a clear, concise call to action to encourage them and give them the opportunity to support you further.
Plan ahead. Consider the role that text messages can play in your overall communications strategy. We find that text messaging is best for:
Timely alerts: Make sure supporters don’t miss a piece of news/take action
In-person events: Increase attendance and provide day-of info
Email blind spots: Reach those who may prefer SMS to email
You can learn more about best practices in developing a text message strategy through our recorded webinar on the subject.