Political texting works because the numbers are lopsided in its favor: texts get opened at over 90% within minutes, while email sits around 20% and cold calls mostly go unanswered. But the headline open rate is the least useful number you can track. The metrics that actually tell you whether a program is working are reply rate, opt-out rate, and deliverability. This complete guide lays out the benchmarks that matter, what's normal, how to read them together, and how to build a dashboard around the numbers that predict results.
What's a normal open rate for political texts?
Text open rates run above 90%, often cited near 98%, with most messages read within three minutes of delivery. That's the number everyone quotes, and it's real. It's also nearly useless as a management metric, because it barely moves. Almost every text gets opened, so a high open rate tells you texting works as a channel, not whether your program is working. Track it once to confirm the premise, then stop optimizing for it, it's the classic vanity metric.
What's a good reply rate?
Reply rate is where the signal is, and it depends heavily on format. Broadcast messages draw low single-digit reply rates, because they're one-to-many and most people just read and move on. Peer-to-peer draws far higher engagement, often in the double digits, because a real person asked a real question. Advocacy action alerts have been shown to drive participation rates well above what email achieves for the same ask.
The way to read reply rate: rising replies on a P2P program mean your script and your list are working; a flat reply rate means the ask is wrong, the list is cold, or the message reads like a robot. It's the closest thing texting has to a real-time quality gauge. Compare like with like, hold P2P against P2P and broadcast against broadcast, since the two formats live at different levels.
What opt-out rate should worry you?
Opt-out rate is your early-warning system. A low, steady opt-out rate is the cost of doing business. A spike is a signal something's off, you're texting too often, texting the wrong list, or texting people who never really opted in. Watch it per send, not just in aggregate, because a single bad blast can spike opt-outs and quietly shrink the list you spent months building. There's no universal "good" number; the useful approach is to know your own baseline and treat deviations from it as the signal. See what is opt-out rate.
Why deliverability is the number nobody sees
The most important metric in political texting is the one that's hardest to observe: whether your messages actually arrive. Unregistered or non-compliant traffic gets filtered by the carriers, and they don't tell you. Your engagement numbers just fall, and it looks like bad content or a cold list when the real problem is a filtered sender reputation.
This is why 10DLC registration matters so much: it's the difference between messages that land and messages that vanish. A program with great copy and a filtered sender is spending money on texts nobody receives. If your numbers drop for no clear reason, check deliverability before you rewrite the message.
What about conversion?
Above all the channel metrics sits the one that measures results: conversion, the share of recipients who took the action you asked for, a donation, an RSVP, a vote plan. Opens, replies, and even engagement are means; conversion is the end. A program can have healthy channel metrics and still not produce donations or votes, so conversion is the number that answers "did the texts work." Track it through your links and destinations, and let it, not send count, be the scoreboard.
How to read your numbers together
No single metric tells the story. Read them as a set: open rate confirms the channel works, reply rate tells you the message and list are landing, opt-out rate warns you when you're overreaching, deliverability underpins all of it, and conversion measures the result. A healthy program has high opens, a reply rate appropriate to its format, a low and stable opt-out rate, a registered and deliverable sender, and conversion tied to real outcomes. When one of those breaks, it usually explains a drop the others can't, which is why a dashboard beats any single number.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good open rate for political texting?
Above 90%, often near 98%, with most texts read within minutes. It's a near-constant, so it confirms texting works as a channel but doesn't tell you whether your specific program is effective. It's a vanity metric to note once and stop optimizing.
What's a normal reply rate for political texts?
It depends on format. Broadcast draws low single-digit replies; peer-to-peer often reaches double digits because a person asked a real question. Rising replies on a P2P program are a good sign the script and list are working.
What opt-out rate is too high?
There's no single threshold, but a sudden spike is the warning sign. It usually means too-frequent sends, a cold or non-consented list, or the wrong audience. Track it per send against your own baseline and diagnose spikes before the next blast.
Why did my text engagement suddenly drop?
Check deliverability first. Unregistered or non-compliant traffic gets filtered silently, so a drop that looks like bad content is often a sender-reputation or registration problem.
What's the most important texting metric?
Conversion, the share who took the action you asked for. Opens, replies, and engagement are means; conversion measures results. A program can have healthy channel metrics and still not produce donations or votes.
Keep reading: what is a conversion? and vanity metrics in texting. For carrier registration, see The Campaign Registry.