Similar to Whatsapp, Telegram is a cross-platform cloud-based instant messaging, video calling and VoIP service. It provides end-to-end encrypted calls and end-to-end encrypted “secret” chats between two online users for security purposes.
Other features include sending text and voice messages, animated stickers, making voice and video calls as well as sharing of various media and information like images, documents, location and contacts.
During the pandemic, there has been a surge in business owners using social media as the primary platform for their marketing campaigns due to various factors like reaching the masses within a short period of time at a low cost, increasing brand awareness through engagement by going live and etc.
Telegram has also unexpectedly experienced the same surge. As of 2020, Telegram reached 400 million monthly active users and 70 billion messages are shared on the platform every day.
In January this year, Telegram gained a phenomenal record of 70 million new users due to a nearly six hour outage across Facebook’s services. This makes it a booming platform for increased reach, engagements and opportunities, directing professionals to leverage on this platform for their business marketing.
It is a new digital channel that even the government bodies and media companies have tapped into, indicating its immense potential to be an effective communications channel.
So without further ado, let’s go into how we can effectively use Telegram for business!
1. Pods
For businesses who want to amplify their reach on Facebook and Instagram, they can use Telegram pods. A Telegram pod consists of followers or people who are passionate about the brand and whenever a post is shared on a Telegram group, they will like the pictures or comment on the post. It serves as a powerful tool for organic reach.
These have proved much useful for tech companies or other industries which carry a strong technological presence and are aware about coding bots as well as other additional features. Alternatively, there are many basic and free bots on the platform that can be used to send reminders from the companies’ end and create constant engagement with audiences; saving labour and time. That’s what you call killing two birds with one stone!
2. Large reach
Unlike Whatsapp who has a limited group size of 200, Telegram has no limit on group size which means when you are marketing your brand, you can be assured that it reaches a maximum number of people at any point of time.
The developers of Telegram, Nikolai and Pavel Durov, take pride in their software’s ability to deliver messages quicker than any other messenger application. What makes them uniquely different is that they have this default unchangeable option which is to notify everyone whenever your channel posts something. Talk about the power of default effects!
Some highly popular groups on Telegram have more than 1 million followers so you can tap into these and leverage on the group’s popularity or network of followers to increase your brand awareness or any new announcements that you have.
3. Cost
This verse “survival of the fittest” rings true for 2020 which has seen companies, even large corporations, to close down during the pandemic. Profit loss margin definitely hits home for many business owners. Whatsapp Business charges anywhere between 0.5 to 9 cents for every message sent, depending on the country and they will be implementing a new chargeable feature called Whatsapp Story Ads.
But Telegram? Zero…zilch, yes you heard that right, my friend. This is indeed a saving grace in the face of the ongoing pandemic where most business owners are struggling to tally their accounts. As for advertising, it costs nothing too. All you need to do is craft and schedule a message; it will reach tons of subscribers quickly.
4. Security
Many businesses are turning to using Telegram because it is a more secure application due to rising concerns over Whatsapp’s security and encryption. 2020 has seen many people being forced to work from home as part of global measures to contain and annihilate COVID-19. Hence it is very important for businesses to ensure their company information is talked about somewhere safe without having to worry about leakage of information.
Many businesses are also using Telegram to have discussions with their team members and besides the end-to-end encryption, there are also the options of “secret” chats and self-destructive messages. How cool is that?
In summary, Telegram is a good new marketing tool which every business can use to leverage on for generation of leads, sales and revenue. With well-planned marketing strategies and right execution, this is not impossible!
