Is Telegram popular with your customers? If so, read this Telegram guide and learn how to use Telegram for business. We’ll explain what a Telegram business account is, how to create a Telegram bot to chat with customers and best practices for making the most of your business account for Telegram.
What is Telegram?
Telegram is a messaging app renowned for its privacy and security with over 700 million monthly active users. It became one of the top five downloaded apps worldwide in 2022 and its popularity continues to grow.
The privately-owned service also long held a not-for-profit stance. While Telegram recently introduced a paid premium subscription, all existing features remain free, assuring users of its commitment to prioritizing their interests over profit.
Telegram Business Account Benefits
An impressive 64% of customers prefer communicating with businesses over instant messaging rather than traditional channels like phone calls or email. Using Telegram for business, in particular, has multiple benefits.
Security is a key driver of the channel’s popularity. Telegram uses server-client encryption and files are stored encrypted in the Telegram cloud. Privacy-conscious users can opt for an additional layer of security with client-server encryption.
However, the emphasis on security does not limit the channel to private chats. Telegram has social platforms businesses can leverage to interact with customers at scale, such as Telegram Groups and Telegram Channels. We’ll examine these shortly.
Best of all, Telegram doesn’t limit the number of devices an account can be connected to or used on simultaneously, and chats are synced in real-time across all devices. Without any restrictions on content or messaging windows, it’s a great channel for business.
Popular Regions to Use Telegram for Business
In a few regions around the world, Telegram is overtaking Facebook Messenger in popularity, though it’s still behind WhatsApp globally. What spurred this development and where is this growth prominent?
Telegram was the fastest-growing messenger in Iran and Uzbekistan in 2019 while another 20 countries followed suit in 2020. As of 2021, Telegram was the top messaging app in 25 countries, up from 16 countries the previous year.
The 2020 Telegram user growth map below shows increased use in Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as in parts of South Africa, North America and South America. This continued in 2021, with Europe, Asia and Africa recording steady downloads.
A possible reason for this growth is market share saturation. The most popular apps have already been downloaded, leading to a slow-down in recent downloads. This allows Telegram to rank higher in app stores now as other messaging app users seek it out.
Telegram was also mostly popular in countries with authoritarian regimes due to its privacy policies and security features. Demand multiplied globally in 2021 when concerns about WhatsApp sharing private user data with parent company Meta arose.
Since then, Telegram has become part of an elite club of apps that have been downloaded over 1 billion times. If you’re in a region where customers are increasingly turning to the platform, consider using Telegram for business to reach out to them.
How to Use Telegram for Business
Telegram provides an easy yet impactful experience for businesses and customers alike. Small businesses will find the free version of the Telegram app sufficient for their use.
Medium to large businesses can connect Telegram to a messaging platform like respond.io to enable auto-replies and bulk messaging, as well as automate marketing initiatives, sales cycles and customer support over Telegram.
Let’s look into native Telegram features or capabilities that are ideal for businesses.
Create a Telegram Business Account with Telegram Bot
Telegram doesn’t have an official business account the way WhatsApp has WhatsApp Business App and WhatsApp Business API. Instead, it has Telegram bots or Telegram accounts operated by software that effectively function as Telegram business accounts.
There are three ways to use Telegram for business. You can create groups and channels, of course. However, you should also create a Telegram bot for business. The Telegram bot (or Telegram Business API) is free and can be used to create bots to play games, run ecommerce services or chat with customers.
Interact with Customers on Telegram Groups
Telegram Groups work just like groups on any other messaging app. The key difference is groups on Telegram can have up to 200,000 members. Groups are highly configurable, have granular controls for chat management and can be private or public and searchable.
As Telegram Groups support two-way interaction, they are invaluable for community building. Businesses can use them to gather feedback, conduct polls or address topics of interest according to the group’s segmenting. Learn more about Telegram Groups here.
Send Broadcasts via Telegram Channels
Telegram Channels have all the same features as groups except only admins can send messages. They also have no user limits, making them ideal for broadcasts. For instance, a few Health Ministries used Telegram Channels to update the public on Covid-19 news.
Users subscribe to channels through in-app searches on Telegram or by using channel links posted on websites or other places. Channels with over 1,000 subscribers can access channel and post analytics. Find out how to create a Telegram Channel here.
Share Identification Documents Securely with Telegram Passport
If you’re in an industry that handles identity verification, then Telegram Passport is for you. It’s a platform that stores identification documents for use by institutions or service providers that require them for Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures.
The idea is to stop uploading these confidential documents to various places. Since Telegram stores this data in its cloud with end-to-end encryption, only the intended recipients can access the data.
Get Telegram Premium for Heavy Use of Telegram for Business
Telegram’s co-founders were always adamant that its private messaging would be cost-free and ad-free. That promise is still intact, but the channel recently introduced Telegram Premium for users who are willing to pay for additional benefits.
These include a 4GB limit for file uploads, faster downloads, exclusive stickers and better chat management among others. Only those who regularly send large files should subscribe to the premium plan — others can get by with the free version.
For best results, however, connect your Telegram business account to respond.io to unlock features like advanced chat automation, integration with external CRMs and extensive reporting and analytics. We’ll show you how to do this next.
How to Set Up a Telegram Business Account with Telegram Bot
As it lacks its own interface, the Telegram bot has to be connected to respond.io to send and respond to messages. To get started, we’ll guide you through the Telegram account setup using a Telegram bot.
How to Create a Telegram Business Account
The Telegram bot allows you to set up a branded Telegram account for business. To create the bot, do the following:
1. Chat with the BotFather. Search for the BotFather in Telegram and then press Start.
2. Use the /newbot command. This will start the bot creation process.
You’ll need to choose a display name and then a username. You can change the bot name later, but the username has to be unique, should describe who you are and end with bot .
3. Receive the token to connect your Telegram bot to a messaging CRM.
4. Create a respond.io account if you don’t already have one and use the token to connect the Telegram bot.
That’s it — once this Telegram account setup is complete, you can start using your Telegram bot immediately.
Verify Your Business Account with the Telegram Badge
Want to assure contacts of your legitimacy with a Telegram verified badge? You’ll need verified accounts on at least two of these services, including TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. Verification is currently only available for channels, bots or public groups.
Next, let’s look at best practices to make the most of your Telegram account.
Telegram Business: Best Practices
Using Telegram for business is a smart move as the channel is focused on providing fast and secure messaging, with complementary features for that purpose. But for conversations to happen on this channel, you need customers to message you first.
Let’s look at how you can encourage inbound conversations.
Telegram Business: How Customers Can Find You
Although users sign up for Telegram with a phone number, the primary identifier of each user is their Telegram ID. To protect your privacy and reduce spam, Telegram does not pass on your phone number or ID to your messaging CRM, just your name.
This also means Telegram users cannot be imported via CSV to a CRM as contacts. Customers will have to message you first to become your Telegram contacts. Luckily, there are features designed for this purpose. We’ll guide you through them next.
Telegram for Business: Chat Links and QR Codes
When a person clicks a chat link or scans a QR code, they will be taken directly into a chat with your brand. Every Telegram bot comes with a chat link using the t.me/username format, so it’s important that your bot username reflects your brand.
Chat links work well on websites, social media profiles, or even in emails sent to customers. They do have a limitation though, t.me links only work well when the Telegram app is installed on the device.
On mobile, users will be directed to download the Telegram app if they press the link. On desktop, users will be taken to a page where they can open Telegram Web. However, this only works when users have visited the page previously.
QR codes can drive traffic to your account from online or offline locations such as storefronts. Similar to chat links, they will only work when the app is installed. To alert customers of the channel you’re using, add a Telegram logo above the QR code.
Although Telegram doesn’t provide QR Codes out of the box, they can be made with any QR Code generator using the t.me link. Alternatively, generate a QR code on respond.io. Just go to Settings > Channel > Select your connected Telegram channel > Scan code.
Telegram for Business: In-App Search
Unlike other messaging app business accounts, you don’t need a verified Telegram bot to be searchable in-app. Once your bot is created, any user should be able to search for it on Telegram and send it a message.
Although in-app search may not drive the bulk of your traffic, this is the most likely way hardcore Telegram users will find your brand. Now that you know all about acquiring customers as Telegram contacts, let’s explore messaging them.
Telegram Business: Messaging Customers
Messaging customers on Telegram is relatively straightforward. Although other messaging app business accounts place limits on when you can message and what you can send, Telegram for business doesn’t have any such limitations in place.
Telegram for Business: 1:1 Messaging
Since Telegram doesn’t have a messaging window, you can send customers a message any time after they become a contact. The key things to know about messaging customers on Telegram are the sent and read receipts.
While Telegram provides sent, delivered, and read statuses on personal accounts, a Telegram business account doesn’t have the same functionality. Status updates are not provided by the Telegram Bot API, even if connected to a business messaging platform.
Additionally, whenever a Telegram user messages your bot, their messages will automatically be marked as read, creating the impression that they were seen but not replied to. Use a centralized inbox like respond.io to ensure you never miss a message and track responses.
Telegram for Business: Broadcast Messaging
Like 1:1 messaging, Telegram doesn’t have any limitations for broadcasting. You can send rich media like pictures, videos, files, and text to an unlimited number of Telegram contacts.
However, contacts can block your bot if they don’t like what you send them. You will know when they do as you’ll receive the notification Forbidden: bot was blocked by the user when you try to message them. Keep your content relevant and interesting to avoid this.
Last but not least, just like 1:1 messaging, you’ll need to connect your bot to a business messaging platform to send a broadcast, so make sure the software you chose has broadcast capabilities.
Telegram for Business: Group Messaging
Group messaging has become important for business use cases like sales. And you’ll be pleased to learn that Telegram bots can be added to group chats.
By adding a Telegram bot to your group chat, you’ll be able to record group chat history in the messaging CRM you connect your Telegram Bot to. While we haven’t enabled group chats on our platform yet, you can help us do so by upvoting the feature request...
Apart from that, talking to customers on a Telegram business account via respond.io drastically expands what you can do with the channel. Interested in using Telegram for business after reading this Telegram guide? Sign up for respond.io to get started.
Further Reading
If this Telegram guide was useful and you’d like to learn more about how to use Telegram for business, check out these articles:
- How to Sell on Telegram: The Telegram Sales Guide
- How to Use Telegram for Customer Support
- What are Telegram Groups
