Did you know that Telegram was the most downloaded app in January 2021? Or that users of this service have grown by 150% since 2018?
With more than 500 million monthly active users and approximately 55.2 million daily active users! Telegram is one of the most used instant messaging services! as well as one of the most downloaded applications.
What does it owe its disruptive popularity to? Without a doubt! to a happy mix of features and differentiating characteristics! such as greater attention to privacy! user experience and the ability to personalize one’s communications! through chat! groups and multiple interaction tools! such as surveys and bots.
In Italy! more than 13 million people use Telegram and this number is growing : could brands and companies ignore the potential of such a captivating and appreciated digital service?
Of course not! and Telegram itself knows this! having recently introduced the ability to send sponsored messages in chats! via Telegram advertisements! known as Telegram Ads! which can be managed with the brand new Telegram Promote platform (the name of Telegram’s advertising platform).
What are Telegram Ads and how do they work?
Messaging over 500 million potential self employed database customers seems like a tempting idea! but there are some CURRENT limitations to keep in mind with Telegram Ads.
Telegram Ads on public channels and groups with more than 1!000 subscribers – First of all! you will only be able to run ads on public channels or groups with more than 1!000 subscribers. While Telegram did not mention how many such channels currently exist! it did say that users subscribed to so-called “public super-groups” generate more than 500 billion views per month.
Minimum Budget: €2 million – Secondly! you will need a substantial budget to start advertising through Telegram Ads. How much? Around €2 million ($2.13 million) – not exactly pocket money! Telegram has stated that payment will need to be made up front! and of that €2 million! €1 million is a refundable deposit.
We expect! however! that this minimum budget will gradually be made more and more accessible to everyone or almost everyone! for a simple reason: Telegram Promote is currently in the testing phase and therefore only addresses large advertisers.
Personalized user data not available – Finally (and this is a non-negligible element) Telegram will not provide advertisers with personalized data about users! at least for now. This means that Telegram Ads! unlike what how to create an editorial plan for social media happens for example with Facebook! cannot be addressed to specific people.
Those who fill out and then publish an ad on Telegram will “only” be able to select the language! topics and destination channels . The consideration made for the budget also applies: this is the state of the art!
Does it make sense to use Telegram Ads to promote your business or brand?
The answer to this question cannot be unequivocal and clear-cut : we feel we can say that “ it depends” ! as often happens with questions relating to digital marketing.
From what? Obviously from a question of budget and one’s own goals. As is clear from the minimum budget required by Telegram to create Telegram Ads! at this time the service is not accessible to everyone! but only to large advertisers.
Not only that: to large advertisers who can afford to “play” and test new tools. It would be madness to advise a company that has 2-3 million ba leads euros to allocate to various marketing and communication activities to “burn” all this budget only on Telegram.
Even more so considering the fact that this service is still under development and the very first hot comments from users regarding Telegram Ads in public groups and channels have not been particularly positive.
You have to ask yourself! based on your growth! sales or brand awareness goals! whether 1-2 million euros could not be spent in more strategic! safe and consolidated ways! perhaps through online advertising platforms that are currently solid and well-established.
