Are you looking to rapidly grow your Telegram channel or group? Want to reach new audiences and drive more engagement? Paid advertising on Telegram can be a powerful tool to accelerate your growth.
In this post, we’ll dive into Telegram’s advertising options, share best practices and tips for running effective campaigns, and discuss how to measure the ROI of your Telegram ads.
Whether you’re totally new to Telegram advertising or looking to level up your existing campaigns, read on to learn how to leverage paid promotion to skyrocket your Telegram growth.
Why Advertise on Telegram?
With over 500 million monthly active users, Telegram has a massive global user base. But beyond its sheer size, there are several key reasons Telegram is an attractive platform for advertisers:
- Highly engaged users: Telegram users are very active on the app, with many spending hours per day chatting, consuming content, and interacting in groups/channels. This means more opportunities for your ads to be seen.
- Precise targeting options: Telegram allows you to target your ads based on demographics, interests, location, and more. You can reach the specific audiences most likely to engage with your brand.
- Affordable CPMs: Compared to other social platforms, Telegram’s cost per 1,000 ad impressions (CPM) is quite low. This allows you to get more bang for your advertising buck.
- Unique ad formats: From sponsored messages to promoted channels, Telegram offers several distinct ways to get your brand in front of users that you won’t find on other apps.
- Fast-growing platform: Telegram continues to rapidly gain users worldwide. Getting in on Telegram ads now allows you to tap into that growth and establish your presence.
Telegram Advertising Options
Telegram provides three main ways for advertisers to reach users on the platform:
1. Sponsored Messages
Sponsored Messages are Telegram’s flagship ad format. These allow you to broadcast a message to users who have subscribed to certain channels. Your message shows up right in their chat list, just like a message from any other user or channel.
Some key things to know about Sponsored Messages:
- Sponsored Messages can include images, videos, text, and links
- They are sold on a cost-per-mille (CPM) model
- Minimum spend is $2,000 per blast
- You can target based on demographics, location, and interests
- Users can block your channel if they don’t want to see your Sponsored Messages
Tips for effective Sponsored Messages:
- Treat it like a personal message to the user rather than a generic ad
- Keep it concise but include a strong call-to-action
- Use eye-catching visuals
- Select your target audience carefully
- Test different variations to optimize performance
2. Promoted Channels & Chats
Another way to advertise on Telegram is by promoting your Telegram channel or group/chat to gain new subscribers or members. Promoted channels and chats appear at the top of the user’s chat list.
Some key things to know about Promoted Channels/Chats:
- You can promote either public channels/groups or private ones
- Pricing is based on cost per new subscriber/member
- Minimum budget is $100
- Targeting is more limited than Sponsored Messages
- The channel or chat must meet Telegram’s promotion eligibility requirements
Tips for promoting channels/chats:
- Make sure your channel has a clear, appealing description and profile pic
- Promote channels/chats that have frequent, high-quality content
- Set a compelling welcome message for new subscribers/members
- Experiment with public vs. private promotion
- Monitor new subscriber/member quality and engagement
3. Bots
The third Telegram advertising option is bots. With the Telegram Bot API, you can create bots that interact with users in various ways. While bots are not purely advertising tools, they can be leveraged to promote your brand and content.
Some ways to use bots for marketing:
- Create a bot that provides useful info/tools related to your niche
- Use bots for interactive content like quizzes and games
- Have bots distribute content like blog posts, videos, or product info
- Allow users to make purchases or reservations through your bot
- Gather feedback and data from users via bot interactions
Tips for advertising bots:
- Ensure your bot provides a truly valuable service to users
- Promote your bot through your Telegram channels and other platforms
- Optimize the bot’s user flow and conversational abilities
- Clearly showcase your brand identity in the bot’s profile and interactions
- Track usage data to measure your bot’s impact
Best Practices for Telegram Advertising
Now that we’ve covered the different Telegram ad types, let’s discuss some general best practices to maximize the impact of your campaigns:
Define Clear Goals
Before launching any Telegram ad campaign, define your core objectives. Are you looking to drive traffic to your website? Increase brand awareness? Sell products directly through Telegram? Having specific goals will guide your creative and targeting decisions.
Know Your Audience
Take time to research your target audience on Telegram. What channels and topics are they engaging with? What type of content resonates with them? Use Telegram’s Analytics tools to dive deep into relevant channels’ subscriber demographics.
Develop a Strong Brand Voice
Telegram is a very personal platform, so it’s crucial your brand communications have a distinct, relatable voice. Avoid canned corporate jargon. Adopt a tone that will connect authentically with your target audience.
Craft Compelling Ad Creative
Whether it’s a Sponsored Message or promoted channel, your ad creative must grab attention quickly. Use strong visuals, an intriguing hook, and clear messaging. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different creative approaches. But always include a direct call to action.
Optimize Landing Pages
If your Telegram ads link to external landing pages, make sure those pages are optimized for conversions. They should have a seamless visual connection to the ad creative and immediately fulfill the ad’s promise. Streamline forms and checkout flows to avoid friction.
Leverage Retargeting
Telegram offers tools to create retargeting audiences based on interactions with your previous ads and bots. Retargeting can help you hone in on warmer prospects and deliver more relevant messaging. Just be sure to set frequency caps and exclusions to avoid bombarding users.
Test and Iterate
No matter how much you plan, some of your Telegram campaigns will perform better than others. Develop a culture of rigorous testing. Try different targeting parameters, creative variations, and bids. Regularly review performance data and double down on what’s working.
Measuring Telegram Advertising ROI
To evaluate the success of your Telegram campaigns, you’ll need to set up proper tracking and measurement. Here are some key metrics to consider:
- Reach: How many users saw your ad? This can give you a sense of brand awareness impact.
- Engagement rate: What percentage of reached users interacted with your ad or bot? This indicates how compelling your content is.
- New subscribers/members: If your goal is growing your Telegram audience, this is the key metric. But also monitor how engaged and retained those new subscribers are over time.
- Click-through rate: For ads driving to external links, CTR is a crucial metric. It shows how effectively your ad creative motivates action.
- Conversions: If you’re driving Telegram traffic to your website, set up goal tracking in Google Analytics or your preferred analytics platform. Measure form fills, sales, or other key conversions.
- ROI/ROAS: Estimate the total value of conversions driven by your Telegram ads. Divide that by your ad spend to calculate return on investment or return on ad spend.
There are several ways to implement tracking for Telegram ads:
- Use UTM parameters on links to identify Telegram as the traffic source in Google Analytics
- Create a unique tracking ID for sales or leads coming from Telegram
- Leverage Telegram’s official tracking SDK for more granular bot and channel insights
- Build custom URLs or promo codes to attribute conversions to specific Telegram campaigns
By regularly monitoring these metrics, you can gauge which elements of your Telegram advertising are working and which need improvement. Don’t be afraid to cut low-performing placements and reallocate budget to top performers.
Case Studies: Brands Succeeding with Telegram Ads
To further illustrate the potential of Telegram advertising, let’s look at a few real-world success stories:
Crypto Platform Boosts Signups with Bot
A major cryptocurrency trading platform wanted to drive more signups and deposits from Telegram’s tech-savvy audience. They created a bot that allowed users to simulate trades and learn about different coins. At the end of the experience, users were offered a signup bonus for creating a real account.
Results:
- 30,000 users interacted with the bot in the first month
- 8,000 of those users signed up for real accounts (27% conversion rate)
- Depositors from this campaign had 18% larger initial deposits compared to other new users
E-commerce Brand Drives Sales with Sponsored Messages
An e-commerce brand selling unique home decor wanted to boost sales among Telegram users. They crafted a Sponsored Message campaign showcasing their top products with an exclusive discount code. The messages were targeted to subscribers of home decor and DIY channels.
Results:
- 400,000 users reached
- 12,000 clicks to the brand’s site (3% CTR)
- $28,000 in sales attributed to the campaign (12x ROAS)
News Publisher Grows Subscribers with Promoted Channel
A business news publisher was looking to grow their Telegram subscriber base. They ran a Promoted Channel campaign targeting users interested in entrepreneurship, investing, and related topics. The call-to-action emphasized the channel’s unique insights and daily market analysis.
Results:
- 8,000 new channel subscribers added over 2 weeks
- 32% increase in average daily views on the channel
- 20% increase in average daily engagement (forwards, replies, likes)
These examples show how brands across industries are tapping into Telegram to achieve meaningful marketing results. Whether the goal is signups, sales, or audience growth, a well-crafted Telegram advertising strategy can make a real impact.
Integrating Telegram Ads into Your Marketing Mix
While this post has focused on Telegram-specific best practices, it’s important to remember that Telegram advertising works best as part of a larger marketing strategy. Consider how your Telegram efforts can support and amplify your other channels:
- Cross-promote your Telegram ads and bots: Share your Telegram content and experiences on your other social channels, website, and offline collateral. Make it easy for customers to find and connect with you on Telegram.
- Repurpose high-performing ad creative: If a particular image, video, or copy approach is resonating on Telegram, test it in your ads on other platforms. You may find new winning creative you can scale more broadly.
- Leverage Telegram remarketing across channels: If someone engages with your brand on Telegram but doesn’t convert, retarget them with related messaging on other platforms like Google and Facebook. A consistent, cross-channel remarketing strategy can boost overall conversions.
- Use Telegram as a loyalty channel: Since Telegram is so focused on chat and community, it can be a great place to deepen relationships with your most engaged customers. Offer exclusive content, support, and deals to your Telegram audience.
- Fold Telegram data into broader reporting: Include your key Telegram metrics in your overall marketing reporting. This will give you a more complete picture of how your different channels are contributing to your larger business goals.
By viewing Telegram ads as one powerful lever within your larger marketing machine, you can create more cohesive, impactful campaigns. Each channel should work in harmony, driving customers seamlessly between touchpoints and towards your ultimate objectives.
The Future of Telegram Advertising
As Telegram continues its rapid growth and evolution, its advertising offerings are likely to become even more robust and sophisticated. Some developments we may see in the near future:
- More precise targeting options: As Telegram gathers more user data, advertisers will be able to target based on even more granular interests, behaviors, and demographics.
- New ad formats: Telegram may roll out new ways for brands to reach users, such as sponsored stickers, geo-targeted experiences, or shoppable ads.
- Enhanced measurement tools: Expect Telegram’s native analytics and attribution solutions to become more detailed and flexible over time, making it easier to track and optimize campaign performance.
- Greater third-party integration: As Telegram advertising matures, more third-party tools will emerge to help marketers manage their campaigns and connect data across platforms. This could streamline workflows and unlock new insights.
- Increased competition: As more brands recognize Telegram’s potential, competition for ad placements will heat up. Marketers will need to be even more creative and data-driven to stand out and achieve efficient results.
By staying on top of these trends and continually experimenting with new strategies, savvy marketers can ride the wave of Telegram’s growth and turn it into a key driver of their own business success.
FAQ Related To Utilizing Paid Advertising to Accelerate Growth
What types of ads can I run on Telegram?
Telegram offers three main ad formats: Sponsored Messages, Promoted Channels & Chats, and Bots. Sponsored Messages allow you to broadcast to channel subscribers, Promoted Channels & Chats let you gain new subscribers/members, and Bots can interact with users in various ways to promote your brand.
How much does it cost to advertise on Telegram?
Costs vary based on the ad format. Sponsored Messages have a minimum spend of $2,000 per blast and are sold on a CPM model.
Promoted Channels & Chats have a minimum budget of $100 and pricing is based on cost per new subscriber/member. Bot pricing depends on your specific implementation.
What targeting options are available for Telegram ads?
Telegram allows targeting based on demographics, interests, location, and more. Sponsored Messages provide the most granular targeting options, while Promoted Channels & Chats have more limited targeting capabilities.
How can I measure the performance of my Telegram ad campaigns?
Key metrics to track include reach, engagement rate, new subscribers/members, click-through rate, conversions, and ROI/ROAS. You can use UTM parameters, unique tracking IDs, Telegram’s tracking SDK, or custom URLs/promo codes to attribute results to specific.
What makes an effective Telegram ad?
Effective Telegram ads have clear goals, precise targeting, compelling creative (strong visuals and copy), and a direct call-to-action. They feel native to the platform and provide value to the user. Testing different variations can help optimize performance.
Can I retarget users who have engaged with my Telegram ads?
Yes, Telegram offers tools to create retargeting audiences based on interactions with your previous ads and bots. This can help you deliver more relevant messaging and drive conversions.
How can I integrate Telegram advertising into my larger marketing strategy?
Cross-promote your Telegram content on other channels, repurpose high-performing ad creative, leverage Telegram remarketing across platforms, use Telegram as a loyalty channel, and include Telegram metrics in overall marketing reporting. A cohesive, cross-channel approach is key.
What are some common use cases for Telegram bots in advertising?
Bots can be used to provide useful info/tools, deliver interactive content like quizzes and games, distribute content like blog posts or product info, enable purchases or reservations, and gather user feedback and data. The key is providing genuine value to users.
What are some best practices for Telegram advertising?
Some best practices include setting clear goals, researching your audience, developing a strong brand voice, crafting compelling creative, optimizing landing pages, leveraging retargeting, and continuously testing and iterating based on data.
How is Telegram advertising likely to evolve in the future?
Telegram advertising will likely become more sophisticated over time, with more precise targeting, new ad formats, enhanced measurement tools, greater third-party integration, and increased competition. Staying on top of these changes will be key for marketers looking to succeed long-term with Telegram ads.
How do I get started with Telegram advertising?
To get started, first define your goals and target audience. Then choose the ad format that best aligns with those goals. Set up your targeting, create your ad content, and launch your campaign. Be sure to monitor performance closely and make optimizations as needed.
What industries or types of businesses tend to perform well with Telegram ads?
Telegram advertising can be effective for a wide range of industries, but some common successful verticals include mobile apps/games, e-commerce, news/media, financial services, and B2B software. Businesses with a strong mobile focus or an audience that aligns well with Telegram’s user base (e.g., crypto enthusiasts, tech-savvy consumers) may see particularly strong results.
Are there any restrictions on the types of content that can be promoted via Telegram ads?
Yes, all Telegram ads must comply with Telegram’s advertising policies. Prohibited content includes but is not limited to: illegal goods/services, adult content, violence/gore, hate speech, spam/clickbait, and intellectual property infringement. Always review the most up-to-date policies before launching a campaign.
Can I run Telegram ads globally?
Telegram ads can be targeted to users worldwide, but keep in mind that not all countries have equal Telegram usage.
Some top countries by Telegram user base include Russia, India, Indonesia, and Brazil. Consider your target audience’s location when planning campaigns.
How does Telegram advertising compare to other social/messaging platforms?
Compared to platforms like Facebook or Instagram, Telegram ads tend to be lower cost and have more niche targeting options.
Telegram’s focus on privacy and chat-based interactions also creates a unique environment for brand-consumer connections. However, Telegram’s ad tools are less developed than larger platforms and require more manual optimization.
Where can I find more resources and support for Telegram advertising?
Telegram provides an official guide for advertisers on their website, covering ad formats, policies, and best practices.
They also offer an FAQ section and email support for advertisers. Additionally, many third-party blogs, forums, and agency partners offer tips, case studies, and guidance for Telegram marketing.
How frequently should I run Telegram ad campaigns?
The frequency of your Telegram campaigns will depend on your specific goals, budget, and audience.
Some brands run continuous “always-on” campaigns to maintain steady growth, while others employ periodic burst campaigns around key events or promotions. Experiment to find the right cadence for your business.
What’s the best way to structure a Telegram ad campaign?
A well-structured Telegram campaign starts with a clear objective, such as driving traffic, earning subscribers, or boosting engagement. Next, define your target audience and craft ad content that will resonate with their interests.
Choose your ad placements and set competitive bids. Monitor performance regularly and adjust targeting, creative, and bids as needed to optimize results.
How important is the first message in a Sponsored Message campaign?
The first message in a Sponsored Message campaign is crucial, as it’s your first chance to capture users’ attention and persuade them to engage.
Make sure your first message has a strong hook, clearly communicates your value proposition, and includes a compelling call-to-action.
Can I run A/B tests on my Telegram ads?
Yes, running A/B tests is a great way to optimize your Telegram ads. You can test different elements like ad creative, copy, targeting, and landing pages to see what drives the best results.
Just be sure to test one variable at a time and give each test enough time and budget to reach statistical significance.
What should I do if my Telegram ads are not performing well?
If your Telegram ads are underperforming, first check that your targeting is relevant and your bids are competitive. Then, review your ad creative and copy to ensure it’s compelling and aligns with your target audience’s interests.
Make sure your landing page delivers on the ad’s promise and has clear next steps. If performance still lags, consider pausing the campaign and testing a new approach.
Conclusion
Telegram advertising represents a major opportunity for brands looking to tap into an engaged, fast-growing audience. With a range of unique formats and precise targeting options, Telegram ads can support full-funnel marketing goals from awareness to conversion.
The keys to success with Telegram advertising are understanding the channel’s best practices, developing compelling creative, and closely measuring performance. But Telegram ads work best when integrated into a larger cross-channel strategy, with insights and tactics flowing in both directions.
