Use this checklist when something does not look right and you need to decide where to investigate first.
Before changing settings, write down the exact symptom, the affected business, the customer profile or audience, the channel, and the approximate time when the issue happened.
Add the record URL or reference, time zone and last stage you could confirm. Distinguish missing data, an action that never started, a message created without delivery and an unassigned reply: each needs different evidence.
If loading failed after sending, importing, saving or running an integration, check the original outcome first. A missing notice does not establish that the operation failed. If its outcome remains uncertain, contact Support before repeating it.
1. Confirm the setup and source data
If customer profiles, products, orders, or channel settings are missing or stale, start with setup.
Check whether the store or integration is connected, whether recent data is syncing, and whether the affected customer profile has the data you expected.
Compare the same business, identity or reference and source. An existing order or product does not establish receipt of its event; a profile with an email or phone does not establish verification or permission to message that destination.
The figure shows an independent fictional profile: Camila Torres, Unconfirmed, with an example email and no phone. Use it to locate fields and state, rather than as integration or consent evidence. The narrow view is a focus from the same desktop screen.
Keep reading:
2. Check the channel and sender
If a message did not send or did not arrive, identify the channel first.
Check the sender, consent for that channel, account access, balance or plan limits, and any temporary SMS limits that may apply to new businesses.
Separate channel availability, reachability of that destination and its current permission. A general subscription state does not replace checking the channel, destination and communication type. For WhatsApp, a draft or common editor does not establish an active approved version; follow the template guide.
If a message exists, preserve its exact state and error. Pending, dispatched, routed, delivered and error are different stages; a request acknowledgment or routed state does not confirm delivery. If no message exists, investigate omission before creation as well. Daily SMS and monthly message limits use different bases; do not assume an available balance removes both.
This independent importer example retains No for updating customers as subscribed. The import has not started and its file is Not selected. It locates a consent decision, rather than showing new permission, an opt-out or a change to existing profiles. Do not start an import to investigate a send.
Keep reading:
- Why a message did not send
- Troubleshoot WhatsApp templates
- Messaging channels overview
- SMS sending limits for new businesses
- Connect WhatsApp
3. Review audience and message setup
If a campaign reached fewer people than expected, review the selected audience, segment rules, channel eligibility, timing, and message content.
For automations, confirm which playbook or route should have run and whether the customer matched the trigger conditions.
Compare audience size with the right stage: selected lists and segments can overlap, exclusions remove profiles and channel eligibility can reduce recipients. A count or preview does not establish how many messages were created or delivered. Check segment conditions and period; counts may be cached.
For an automation, a received event does not guarantee execution or sending. Check activation, trigger and filters, admission where applicable, steps, hours and conditions rechecked before sending. Preserve existing evidence at each stage; do not activate the playbook or generate an event or message to manufacture a test.
The Message editor, opened from SMS, shows a fictional Return follow-up draft with unresolved {name}, an example URL and STOP text. It was not saved or sent; it does not show effective recipients, final SMS parts or WhatsApp approval. Check available properties and your own message context before interpreting personalization.
Keep reading:
- Create a campaign
- Lists vs. segments
- Playbooks and automation overview
- Troubleshoot a playbook that did not trigger or send
4. Check links, tracking, and attribution
If clicks, events, conversions, or attributed revenue look wrong, check whether the message used tracked links, whether events are reaching Hellotext, and whether attribution rules apply.
Remember that another commercial click, a human sales action, cancellations, or refunds can change attribution.
Compare the same period, time zone, population and unit. A click is not necessarily a unique person; campaign rates have their own denominators. Interaction signals can later update the delivered-message cohort by dispatch day. Do not compare that cohort with all events occurring during the same range.
If you use the SDK, loading its file does not confirm initialization: wait for asynchronous initialization and check that each real view explicitly records page.viewed. If the API returned HTTP 200 with received, retain the acknowledgment and subsequently check recording and processing; it is not proof of a visible event, attribution or delivery. Reconcile an uncertain response before retrying.
The figure is an independent historical fictional report with First 14 days, April 19–May 2, 2026, anchored to the campaign. Desktop shows four complete cards: attributed revenue in USD, ROI as a multiple, conversion as a percentage and revenue per message in USD; the narrow view shows the first carousel card. It does not represent current data or the outcome of resolving this issue.
Keep reading:
- Tracked links
- Troubleshoot missing signals or activity
- Campaign reporting
- Sales attribution
- Tracking events
5. Check inbox ownership and response workflow
If replies are not being handled by the expected person, review conversation assignment, team roles, ownership, and response-time settings.
Distinguish message receipt, conversation owner, team destination, teammate availability or capacity and an actual response. Waiting for capacity differs from having no assignable members. Being open, closed or unread also does not establish who should respond or that a target was met.
The figure shows an existing fictional policy with unchanged default 5-minute targets for first and ongoing responses. The heading and both fields are complete; the save footer is omitted. It is independent of the other examples: it does not show an assigned conversation, queue or actual compliance.
Targets use the business calendar and time zone; they are not the channel window or a delivery guarantee. A human response and provider acknowledgment are different actions. Review existing permissions and settings without changing roles, hours or owners as a test.
Keep reading:
When you contact support
If a page does not load, preserve its URL, the time of the error, and the last action before reloading. Follow Troubleshoot pages that do not load.
Include the business name, the affected customer profile, the channel, the campaign, playbook, conversation, or report link, the approximate time, what you expected, what happened instead, and any screenshots or recent setup changes. Review Contact Hellotext Support before sending sensitive information.
Include the exact warning, date and time with time zone, checks performed and last confirmed result. Separate observations from assumptions. Share screenshots and logs through the channel agreed with Support, reviewing customer data and message content; exclude tokens, passwords and verification codes.