Specifics of Working with the Messenger
- Telegram's audience prefers short informational posts without flashy visuals or cat memes.
- Content is distributed through private chats rather than recommendations, as in VK.
- The cost of promoting and advertising a Telegram channel is higher, but the return on investment is greater.
- Additional accounts in the messenger. You can register new Telegram accounts using a virtual number service for receiving SMS.
- Finding a channel with the desired content is difficult. Simply entering a query in the search bar is not enough – you need to look through catalogs and collections.
Free Methods for Promoting on Telegram
The messenger offers many effective tools for free promotion that have been tested and proven successful in other social networks.
1. Thematic Collections of Telegram Channels
You can find these on websites and social networks. Getting your channel into such a collection is easy – write to the admin of the platform with a proposal to include your channel in the collection (this service might be offered for a small fee). Alternatively, you can contact the admins of channels in related or similar niches and agree to create a joint collection that includes your channel.
Small collections of 3–5 channels actively attract new, engaged subscribers.
2. Channel Catalogs
Despite high competition, there’s a chance to attract your target audience. Registration is often free, and for an additional fee, your channel can be featured in a priority ad block. Placement in catalogs works well when your channel already has a few hundred subscribers (this indicates its popularity and demand).
3. Reposting Polls in Chats
There are chats in Telegram where it’s unofficially allowed to advertise your channel (in a light format). How to do it? Create a poll related to your channel's topic, monitor the conversation, and at the right moment, subtly insert a link to your Telegram channel.
This method requires no investment, the advertising is non-aggressive, and polls have very high engagement rates.
4. Unique and Useful Content
This promotion method offers great returns. Create masterclasses, write instructions, compile guides for beginners, and share various useful materials exclusively on your Telegram channel. Nowhere else! Not on a blog, website, or YouTube – only on Telegram. This exclusivity will encourage people to subscribe.
5. Mutual Promotion
This involves exchanging subscribers for free. Contact the admin of a suitable channel and make them an enticing offer like "you promote me, I promote you." You can create reviews of each other's products, write testimonials, or provide expert comments.
However, there are nuances: you need at least 1,000 subscribers for other channel admins to consider collaborating with you.
6. Interactive Content
If your channel is engaging, people will naturally gravitate toward it. Here are a few ideas for interactive content: quizzes with correct answer options, polls (e.g., "Sushi or Pizza"), surveys, or a regular post featuring the best memes of the week.
7. Q&A Services
Yandex.Q is particularly effective. Answer questions related to your topic and share a link to your Telegram channel, where even more interesting and useful content can be found.
8. Links in Social Networks and Video Hosting Platforms
On YouTube, include a link in the video descriptions. On TikTok and VK live streams, you can invite followers directly in your videos. However, creating high-quality video content is challenging and expensive.
9. Publications in Media
Write an interesting article about your Telegram channel – how you created and developed it, the challenges you faced, and the results you achieved. Format the article as a case study or a guide for beginners and publish it on an authoritative platform like VC.ru.
Promise those who subscribe to your Telegram channel a list of effective tips or life hacks on the topic.
10. Yandex.Zen
You can include a link to your Telegram channel in your profile description and in the publication itself. Traffic will come for free – that’s a plus. However, the downside is that you’ll need to write genuinely high-quality, interesting articles, with no guarantee they’ll capture the audience’s attention.
Now you know all the effective free methods for promoting a Telegram channel. All that’s left is to choose the tools that suit you best and start taking action.