Telegram is growing in popularity all across the globe. As of November 2021, Telegram has 500 million active users monthly. It is especially popular in Asia, followed by South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Maybe you have heard of it but are unsure if your business should be on Telegram? Check these 7 Tips to Use Telegram for Business.
In that case, read on to find out how Telegram can bring value to your business. Telegram is a highly engaging platform. Unlike other social media, Telegram is built around direct messaging communications. This gives users a sense of intimacy when communicating with their friends (or in this case, businesses).
Telegram groups and channels reinforce this intimacy by giving users an engaging community that shares similar interests.
Of course, we can’t forget about security and privacy if we are talking about businesses. Much like WhatsApp or Viber, Telegram offers fast and secure communications across its end-to-end encrypted
network.
Now, are you ready to learn how Telegram can net you more customers? Let’s find out!
Promote Your Products on Established Groups & Channels
This advice is old but gold. Promoting your products in targeted communities is even easier on
Telegram. Telegram groups boast highly interactive communities of up to 200,000 members. For
In telegram channels, an unlimited number of users can join through channel links.
With such high engagement rates, all you have to do is to find the most relevant communities to your
product. E.g., if you are selling tires, you may want to select the “Automobiles Group” or “Car Enthusiasts”.
By approaching the group/channel owners, you can make arrangements for a sponsored promotion
within the group. “Word-of-mouth” from a trusted source is one of the most important factors to boost
sales.
The best part about this is that you do not have to be tech-savvy to pull this off. You can adopt this
approach on almost every social media.
Create Your Own Group
If your organization intends to build an intimate relationship with loyal customers, Telegram groups are
your best bet. Think of Telegram groups as communities with shared interests. In this case, their shared
interests will be your products/ services!
Telegram groups allow great interactions between customers and the business itself. You can send text
messages as well as rich media such as photos, videos (up to 2 GB in size), and all sorts of files. And let’s
not forget stickers and gifs which Telegram is well-known for.
Creating a group on Telegram is easy, too. Just press “New Group” from the “Options” button
(indicated by three horizontal stripes) at the top left corner. Then, find and add your customers. Piece of
cake!
Create Your Own Channel
While Telegram groups are suitable for two-way communications with your loyal customers, Telegram
Channels are more suited towards one-way broadcasts such as Promotion Campaigns and Announcements.
Channels are better for new customers because an unlimited number of subscribers can join your channel. Channel subscribers can still comment on your messages although they cannot post messages in the
channel.
One key feature different from Groups is that you can perform “Livestreams” instead of video chats.
Livestreams are very popular among business owners when introducing new products or flash online
sales.
Creating a Telegram Channel is slightly different from creating a group but it is still easy enough! All you
have to do is go to the “Options” button in the top left corner and press “New Channel”. After that, you
can fill in Channel details and start inviting your subscribers with the channel link which is visible on the
right side of the screen.
Create Opinion Polls
If your business relies on customer feedback such as fashion and design, you might be in for a treat!
Telegram’s poll feature is simple and user-friendly. You can use polls in Telegram groups and channels
for various purposes.
The most straightforward use is to figure out your customers’ preferences. But, did you know that you
can also create anonymous polls? That’s right! The votes can be kept anonymous. This is especially
useful when your customers are sensitive about their privacy.
To create an anonymous poll, simply click on the “More” button near the top right corner. Then click on
the “Create Poll” option. Then check the “Anonymous Voting” box and type your questions.
(Note: Telegram channels have anonymous polls by default. This step is only necessary for Telegram
Groups.)
You can even customize these polls to be fun “Quizzes” for your customers. Just follow the previous
steps and check the “Quiz” box in the poll settings window. Have fun!
Silent Messages and Scheduled Messages
Due to the instant nature of Telegram’s messaging system, the notifications can be a bit overwhelming
This is especially true when there are multiple groups and channels vying for the user’s attention.
Luckily, Telegram has a nifty feature for that. As the name suggests, silent messages do not play
notification sounds when you send them to your group or your channel. All you have to do to send silent
messages is- press and hold the “Send” button (or right-click on it if you are using a laptop or PC) and
choose “Send without Sound”.
More often than not, businesses have to schedule content ahead of time. The process is complicated on
some social media. On Telegram, you just have to follow the same steps as sending silent messages.
Only this time, choose “Schedule Message” instead of “Send without Sound”.
If you pull these off correctly, you can build close relationships with customers and never have to hear
them complain about spam.
Create Your Own Bot
Now, we are at the part of Telegram’s features that are slightly technical. You’ve probably heard of
chatbots or even used them before. A chatbot is a bot that will help you answer simple customer
inquiries.
From a customer’s perspective, Telegram bots are very efficient as the bots respond to FAQs and give other product/service-related information quickly. As a business owner, it frees up your time spent on answering routine customer inquiries and you will have more time to focus on serving your customers better. However, creating chatbots on Telegram is a little tricky.
Create Your Own E-commerce Shop on Telegram
Now, if you are committed enough, you can even create your own online store on Telegram. Stores of
Telegram have better traffic compared to other social media.
Due to its fast download speed, Telegram can deliver information much faster to customers. This is
especially useful for businesses in regions with low internet speeds. It also enhances the customer
experience as your potential buyers spend less time waiting for information to be presented to them.
This procedure, however, requires coding expertise. Telegram has already laid the groundwork for
online stores on its platform. All you need is a programmer to build the store designs and create
payment channels for you and your store will be buzzing with customers in no time!
As a footnote, we would like to talk about Telegram’s atmosphere of casual and intimate
communications. One particular feature that makes this experience possible is the animated
emoji/stickers.
Telegram’s emojis are animated, goofy, and fun to send/receive. A word of advice here
is, not to force these stickers into your conversations unless your organization’s theme and tone match
the goofy atmosphere.
After all, nobody likes awkward conversations. Despite its goofy appearance, Telegram is a great tool for businesses as it offers a lot of features to engage with customers. Telegram team is also actively building the platform towards e-commerce so it can be a good idea to get on the bandwagon early.
