Social traffic is a lucrative source of income for affiliate marketers. If you have already tried making promotions on Facebook and/or Instagram, we encourage you to add one more channel to your arsenal. 

This is Telegram, the third most downloaded messenger app worldwide, following WhatsApp and Snapchat.

What is Telegram, and why should you care? Which offers to promote and how to do that? These and other questions were answered in today’s post.

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Telegram: quick overview

Initially, Telegram was created as an instant messaging application. However, very soon, it went far beyond personal communication tool and turned into a whole net that contains groups by interests, media resources, channels, and chatbots. 

While we were writing this article,Telegram announced the revamp of TelegramAds, a tool for advertising and monetization. As it stated in the official announcement of the Telegram CEO, “in March, the Telegram Ad Platform will officially open to all advertisers in nearly a hundred new countries. Channel owners in these countries will start receiving 50% of any revenue that Telegram makes from displaying ads in their channels.”

Example of such an ad:

So, Telegram’s advertising potential only grows, the same as your chances to scale your campaigns and earn more. Before you start, let’s discuss some risks and benefits. 

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What’s so cool about Telegram advertising?

• Interactivity (in groups)

Unlike channels, Telegram groups that allow ads are interactive. Another cool thing – most groups are themed, which means that advertising in a relevant one is a way to reach your target audience and even communicate with them directly if needed.  

Please note that TelegramAds doesn’t work with groups and chats, but you can negotiate about posting your promo-content with a channel owner. 

• Chatbots

Chatbots are amazing, and you may integrate one to process your routine tasks. Say, chatbots can respond to customers’ questions, process orders, etc. Telegram bots can execute commands that trigger actions. For example, “/help” command can be used to start a consultation and respond to FAQs.

You can create a bot yourself pretty easily. Telegram bots are connected to Botfather, a major bot of all bots and a tool to create them. So you should just use Telegram search to find Botfather (like you find any user by name) and start a chat with him. 

He will guide you through the whole creation process, which starts with your command “/newbot”. 

Send the command to chat with a Botfather, give the name to your bot, and the Botfather will provide the address and personal token, which is actually a password you need to complete bot creation and control. After that, you should fill your bot with functionality or program it.

• High engagement 

Telegram has some efficient engagement tools, like polling or voting, which are really great for feedback gathering. What is more, you may create not only public, but also private groups to share exclusive content and special offers with chosen users. 

And what are the challenges?

• Issues with group search

Maybe, one of the biggest issues of the current Telegram version is that you cannot find a group unless you know what it’s called. Really, using search to find something as general as “utilities” will most likely won’t bring too many options. And this is an issue for those affiliates, especially if your strategy is making a deal with admins to post ads. Basically, it’s hard to find a couple of options to try if you don’t know them beforehand.  

• No targeting 

Even though there are themed groups and channels that might be relevant to your offer, no other targeting opportunities are applicable in Telegram. Here is a quote from the Telegram CEO regarding this issue: 

“We decided that no personal data should be used for targeting and that promoted messages should only be shown in public one-to-many channels.”

• High price

If you want to benefit from pair Telegram ads, you will need to overcome a rather high entry barrier of €2,000,000. No wonder that most Telegram advertisers prefer relying on organic traffic or search for alternatives, like eLama or OneSpot. Using such tools, you get an opportunity to start advertising in Telegram cheaper (like, $1500). They take 20% commission and provide an advertising workspace.  

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Telegram popularity around GEOs

According to Statista’s data and our own research, you may try targeting the following GEOs for your Telegram campaign: 

• India
• Indonesia
• USA
• Brazil
• CIS states
• Ethiopia
• Uzbekistan 

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Verticals for Telegram affiliate marketing

Of course, the best strategy is contacting owners of themed channels that coincide with your offer and negotiating about a promotional post. Yes, most probably, you will have to pay them, but this is one of the great ways to reach your target audience. 

What to promote in Telegram? According to our observations and statistics from resources like Statista and Collaborator, we can highlight the following niches:

Media and news

News channels are extremely popular around Telegram, so if your offer is somehow connected to trending topics, important events, political figures, or whatever else you may have – try it. Of course, requesting a promo post from the owner of a media channel, make sure the theme, country, and overall idea matches your offer. And yes, get ready to pay some dollars for a targeted ad. 

Ideas for creatives:

• Keep up with the rules: make sure not to use misleading pictures, as well as copyrighted images. 

Avoid spreading fake news and provocations. 

• Use texts like “Be first to find out”, “Subscribe for more insights”, “Exclusive content”, etc. Considering that modern Telegram media are copypasting each other, you need to find how to make your ads special without drowning in the ocean of samelike posts. 

Entertainment and lifestyle

This category is more neutral than politics, so you have freedom of action here. Your potential lifestyle post can look this way, for example:

Appealing photo, simple description, and a button that leads where you need – a landing page, offer pre-lander, or blog with ads, whatever you work with. 

Ideas for creatives:

• Natural and life-like: make your promo posts look reliable by adding life-like images. Non-ideal pictures and bloggish “bro-style” text can help you gain more trust from users. 

Finance

Trading simulators are in great demand, and there are numerous themed groups in Telegram devoted to cryptocurrency insights and finance wisdom. Here is an example:

Ideas for creatives: 

• Offer more: in trading simulators, you may use that super-efficient hook, like “Click here for more insights available for privileged users only” or “Exclusive trading ideas for subscribers only”. Just make sure you give what you offer.
• Use success stories: also, you may try adding success stories of previous users to your ads as social proof. For example:

Education and science

Popular science, online and offline courses, and numerous educational programs of all kinds – these are also extremely popular topics in Telegram. 

And here is another way to apply Telegram bots. Edtech channel owners program bots to send tasks, new topics, and educational materials to subscribers every day (or once a week – you decide) automatically. Engaging and interactive, isn’t it? 

Ideas for creatives:

• Exclusive offers, discounts, and promo codes, free content as well as early access to exclusive information – all of these appealing offers can serve to add value to your offer. 

City portals

City portals, where users can search for a job or real estate, are associated with a high-intent audience. The only minus – this audience is limited and relatively small. 

Ideas for creatives:

• Keep your text precise and result-oriented, especially for real estate offers:

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What to promote: recommended Zeydoo offers

Regarding everything said above, we are happy to present the most relevant offers you may promote through Telegram. The list includes entertaining and social apps, trading simulators, sweepstakes, and more. Choose yours:

Crypto Simulator Cryptomania

• GEOs: BG, AU, GB, NO, US, and more
• Conversion type: CPI
• Platform: Android (6-14)

Forex Royale

• GEOs: LT, TH, RO, SA, IT, and more
• Conversion type: CPI
• Platform: Android (6-14)

SM App 

• GEOs: CD, JP, MW, CH, IE, PL and more
• Conversion type: CPI
• Platform: Android (5-14)

Shorts VT

• GEOs: KR, GB, VN, US, BF and more
• Conversion type: CPI
• Platform: Android (5-14)

Rewardis Multigeo Visa card

• GEO: MX, CL, VN, BR, PE, ZA, and more 
• Conversion type: SOI registration
• Platform: Android (4-14)

Takeaways

Let’s sum up with some key points of your potential Telegram strategy:

• Experiment with chatbots: in our opinion, Telegram chatbots make this messenger stand out. Creating one is not too complicated, and they can help you deal with numerous tasks – leading potential leads through your marketing funnel, presenting more details about your offer, and more. 
• Verticals: try finance simulators, entertaining apps, edtech, and more. The list above will come in handy for sure.
• Non-paid and paid ads: indeed, the entry point of paid advertising in Telegram is severe and expensive. Still, collaborating with group and channel owners can solve this issue. Negotiate, offer cross-promos (if you have a channel, for instance), or pay them for publications in relevant groups. 
• Creatives: use images and compelling text that may appeal to the audience by offering exclusive additional content, insights, access to “secret sales”, and more. Make it appealing, but remember not to mislead your audience. 

That’s all! Now, you are ready to add Telegram to your affiliate marketing arsenal, so join Zeydoo and start rolling your ads today. Good luck!

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