Messaging metrics reference
Complete reference for metrics shared across SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, Viber Business Messages, Viber Bots, RCS, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, Instagram (Instagram Direct Messaging), Kakao (Kakao Alim Talk, Kakao Brand Message, Kakao Sangdam), LINE (LINE Official Account, LINE Official Notifications), Zalo (Zalo Notification Services, Zalo Follower), and Apple Messages for Business.
Includes volume and delivery, failure, engagement, and inbound metrics.
Quick reference
| Metric | API syntax | Key use |
|---|---|---|
| Total traffic | TOTAL_TRAFFIC_COUNT | Total volume across inbound and outbound |
| Total SMS messages | TOTAL_SMS_MESSAGES_COUNT | SMS-specific volume |
| Messaging interactions | INTERACTION_COUNT | Interaction count for WhatsApp, RCS, and Viber Business Messages |
| Total sent | TOTAL_SENT_TRAFFIC_COUNT | Outbound volume |
| Delivered | DELIVERED_TRAFFIC_COUNT | Successful deliveries |
| Delivery rate | TRAFFIC_DELIVERY_RATE | Delivery success rate |
| 5-second delivery rate | TRAFFIC_DELIVERED_IN_5_SEC_RATE | Percentage of messages delivered within 5 seconds (SMS, MMS) |
| Failed | FAILED_TRAFFIC_COUNT | Failed deliveries |
| Seen | SEEN_OPENED_TRAFFIC_COUNT | Messages seen by recipients |
| Seen rate | SEEN_OPENED_TRAFFIC_RATE | Percentage of delivered messages seen |
| Unique clicks | UNIQUE_CLICKS_COUNT | Click reach (each recipient counted once) |
| Unique click-through rate | UNIQUE_CLICK_THROUGH_RATE | Click rate per delivery, unique recipients |
| Unique clicked URLs | UNIQUE_URL_CLICK_COUNT | Distinct URLs that received clicks |
| Click-to-open rate | CLICK_TO_OPEN_RATE | Click rate among recipients who saw the message |
| Total clicks | TOTAL_CLICKS_COUNT | All clicks including repeats |
| Click rate | TOTAL_CLICK_RATE | Click rate including repeat clicks |
| Received traffic | TOTAL_RECEIVED_TRAFFIC_COUNT | Inbound messages from customers |
| Received-to-sent ratio | RECEIVED_TO_SENT_TRAFFIC_RATIO | Inbound-to-outbound response rate |
Choosing the right metric
| If you want to know... | Use |
|---|---|
| Total message volume including inbound replies | Total traffic (TOTAL_TRAFFIC_COUNT) |
| How many messages you submitted for delivery | Total sent (TOTAL_SENT_TRAFFIC_COUNT) |
| How many messages actually reached recipients | Delivered (DELIVERED_TRAFFIC_COUNT) |
| Your delivery success rate | Delivery rate (TRAFFIC_DELIVERY_RATE) |
| How quickly messages are reaching recipients | 5-second delivery rate (TRAFFIC_DELIVERED_IN_5_SEC_RATE) |
| How many unique recipients saw your message | Seen (SEEN_OPENED_TRAFFIC_COUNT) |
| How many unique recipients clicked a link | Unique clicks (UNIQUE_CLICKS_COUNT) |
| Click engagement rate counting each recipient once | Unique click-through rate (UNIQUE_CLICK_THROUGH_RATE) |
| Total link activity including repeat clicks | Total clicks (TOTAL_CLICKS_COUNT) |
| Overall click rate including repeat clicks | Click rate (TOTAL_CLICK_RATE) |
| How many customers replied or sent inbound messages | Received traffic (TOTAL_RECEIVED_TRAFFIC_COUNT) |
| How many distinct messaging interactions occurred on WhatsApp, RCS, or Viber Business Messages | Messaging interactions (INTERACTION_COUNT) |
Volume and delivery metrics [#volume-and-delivery-metrics]
| Metric | API syntax | Definition | Calculation | Channel support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total traffic | TOTAL_TRAFFIC_COUNT | The total number of messages or message segments (parts) sent to your customers (outbound) and messages received from your customers (inbound) | Delivered + Failed + Pending | All messaging channels |
| Total SMS messages | TOTAL_SMS_MESSAGES_COUNT | The total number of SMS messages sent to and received from customers. Messages split into multiple segments due to length are counted as a single distinct message. | — | SMS only |
| Messaging interactions * | INTERACTION_COUNT | Number of distinct messaging interactions | — | WhatsApp, RCS, Viber Business Messages |
| Total sent | TOTAL_SENT_TRAFFIC_COUNT | The total number of messages submitted for delivery (outbound) | Total traffic (outbound) | All messaging channels |
| Delivered | DELIVERED_TRAFFIC_COUNT | The total number of messages delivered to a recipient | Total sent (Status = DELIVERED) | All messaging channels |
| Delivery rate | TRAFFIC_DELIVERY_RATE | The percentage of messages successfully delivered to recipients | Delivered / Total sent (excluding Rejected) × 100 | All messaging channels |
| 5-second delivery rate | TRAFFIC_DELIVERED_IN_5_SEC_RATE | The percentage of messages delivered within a 5-second time frame | (Delivered in under 5 seconds / Delivered) × 100 | SMS, MMS |
* Use with the TRAFFIC_TYPE dimension to break down interactions by WhatsApp, RCS, or Viber Business Messages category, such as conversations or sessions. WhatsApp traffic types are classified per message rather than per conversation.
Failure metrics [#failure-metrics]
| Metric | API syntax | Definition | Calculation | Channel support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Failed | FAILED_TRAFFIC_COUNT | The total number of sent (outbound) messages not delivered to a recipient | Total sent (Status = REJECTED, UNDELIVERABLE, or EXPIRED) | All messaging channels |
Engagement metrics [#engagement-metrics]
| Metric | API syntax | Definition | Calculation | Channel support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seen ** | SEEN_OPENED_TRAFFIC_COUNT | The number of messages that were seen or opened by unique recipients, counting each recipient only once regardless of how many times they opened the same message | — | WhatsApp, Viber Business Messages, RCS |
| Seen rate ** | SEEN_OPENED_TRAFFIC_RATE | The percentage of messages that were seen or opened by unique recipients | (Seen / Delivered) × 100 | WhatsApp, Viber Business Messages, RCS |
| Unique clicks *** | UNIQUE_CLICKS_COUNT | The number of unique recipients who clicked on any link within a message, counting each recipient only once regardless of the number of links clicked in that message | — | All messaging channels **** |
| Unique click-through rate *** | UNIQUE_CLICK_THROUGH_RATE | The percentage of unique recipients who clicked on a link compared to the total number of messages delivered, counting each recipient only once | (Unique Clicks / Delivered) × 100 | All messaging channels **** |
| Unique clicked URLs *** | UNIQUE_URL_CLICK_COUNT | The number of unique URLs clicked in a single message | — | All messaging channels **** |
| Click-to-open rate ** *** | CLICK_TO_OPEN_RATE | The percentage of recipients who saw the message and then clicked a link. Each recipient is counted once, regardless of how many links they clicked. | (Unique clicks / Seen) × 100 | WhatsApp, RCS, Viber Business Messages, LINE Official Account |
| Total clicks *** | TOTAL_CLICKS_COUNT | The total number of clicks on all URLs within a single message, including multiple clicks on the same link. For example, 3 links clicked twice each gives a total of 6. | — | All messaging channels **** |
| Click rate *** | TOTAL_CLICK_RATE | The percentage of recipients who clicked on any link, calculated as total clicks across all URLs within a message divided by total delivered messages. Values can exceed 100%. | (Total Clicks / Delivered) × 100 | All messaging channels **** |
** Recipients can turn off read receipts, which may result in a lower count or rate than actual views.
*** Requires URL shortening and tracking to be enabled.
**** Click metrics for OTT channels are available for Kakao (Kakao Alim Talk, Kakao Brand Message, Kakao Sangdam), LINE (LINE Official Account, LINE Official Notifications), and Zalo (Zalo Notification Services, Zalo Follower) only. They are not available for Apple Messages for Business, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, or Instagram (Instagram Direct Messaging).
Inbound metrics [#inbound-metrics]
| Metric | API syntax | Definition | Calculation | Channel support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Received traffic | TOTAL_RECEIVED_TRAFFIC_COUNT | The total number of messages you received from customers (inbound) | Total traffic (inbound) | All channels that support two-way messaging ***** |
| Received-to-sent ratio | RECEIVED_TO_SENT_TRAFFIC_RATIO | Ratio of received (inbound) to sent (outbound) messages that were not rejected | (Received / (Sent − Rejected)) × 100 | All channels that support two-way messaging ***** |
***** Some OTT channel service variants are outbound only and do not support Received traffic or Received-to-sent ratio: Zalo Notification Services, LINE Official Notifications, Kakao Alim Talk, and Kakao Brand Message.
Channel support matrix
Use this matrix to check which metrics are available for each channel. Click metrics require shortened URLs with tracking enabled.
| Metric | SMS | MMS | RCS | Viber Business Messages | OTT channels | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total traffic |  | | | | | |
| Total SMS messages | |  | | | | |
| Messaging interactions | | | | | | |
| Total sent, Delivered, Delivery rate, and Failed | | | | | | |
| 5-second delivery rate | | | | | | |
| Seen and Seen rate | | | | | | |
| Click metrics (all) | | | | | | **** |
| Click-to-open rate | | | | | | ****** |
| Received traffic and Received-to-sent ratio | | | | | | ***** |
OTT channels: Apple Messages for Business, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Instagram (Instagram Direct Messaging), Kakao (Kakao Alim Talk, Kakao Brand Message, Kakao Sangdam), LINE (LINE Official Account, LINE Official Notifications), Zalo (Zalo Notification Services, Zalo Follower)
****** Among OTT channels, Click-to-open rate is available for LINE Official Account only.
Markers **** and ***** in this matrix refer to the footnotes under the Engagement metrics and Inbound metrics tables.
Capabilities [#capabilities]
Capabilities identify the specific service or technology variant within a channel. Use them to distinguish between services that share a channel code (for example, Kakao Alim Talk and Kakao Brand Message).
| Capability code | Description |
|---|---|
LINE_OA | LINE Official Account |
LINE_ON | LINE Official Notifications |
KAKAO_A | Kakao Alim Talk |
KAKAO_B | Kakao Brand Message |
KAKAO_S | Kakao Sangdam |
ZALO_NS | Zalo Notification Services |
ZALO_F | Zalo Follower |
VIBER_BM | Viber Business Messages |
VIBER_BOTS | Viber Bots |
MESSENGER | Facebook Messenger |
INSTAGRAM_DM | Instagram Direct Messaging |
Aggregation dimensions
All standard dimensions (time, geography, account, status) from the Metrics API apply to messaging channels. The following dimensions are specific to messaging:
| Dimension | Description | Channel notes |
|---|---|---|
TIME_TO_DELIVER | Groups results by how quickly a message was delivered, using time buckets | All messaging channels |
TIME_TO_CLICK_FROM_SEEN | Groups results by time between a message being seen and a link being clicked | WhatsApp, RCS, Viber Business Messages |
TIME_TO_CLICK_FROM_DELIVERED | Groups results by time between delivery and a link being clicked | All messaging channels with URL tracking |
TIME_TO_SEEN_FROM_DELIVERED | Groups results by time between delivery and a message being seen | WhatsApp, RCS, Viber Business Messages |
Sender types [#sender-types]
Sender types classify the format of the sender address used to send a message.
| Sender type | Description |
|---|---|
ALPHANUMERIC | Alphanumeric sender ID |
SHORT_CODE | Short code number |
TOLL_FREE_NUMBER | Toll-free number (North America only) |
VIRTUAL_LONG_NUMBER | Virtual long number |
10DLC | 10-digit long code (North America only) |
DOMAIN | Sender domain (Email only) |
Traffic types
Traffic types classify messaging interactions by purpose (for example, marketing, utility, authentication, session). They are used as a filter and aggregation dimension in the Metrics API to break down metrics like INTERACTION_COUNT and DELIVERED_TRAFFIC_COUNT by traffic category.
For the complete list of traffic type values by channel (WhatsApp, RCS, Viber Business Messages), see Traffic types by channel in the Billing data reference.
Metrics API
Query these metrics programmatically across all channels through a single endpoint.
Analyze dashboard
View these metrics through the web interface with filters and visualizations.
Email metrics reference
Look up Email-specific metrics, including bounce and drop breakdowns.