Starting or expanding your business in Europe can be tough. Europeans work fewer hours, eat smaller portions, dress up to walk a dog, never discuss TV shows… and use Telegram as their preferred instant messaging platform.
In Canada and the USA, businesses run marketing messages, launch messenger campaigns, set up bots and communicate with customers directly through live chats. While Facebook messenger, WhatsApp and WeChat are still the most popular messengers in the US, Canada and Asia, Telegram is upping its game in Europe. With having launched in 2013, the platform announced in 2020 that it had reached 400 million monthly users – a great audience for businesses to connect with.
If you’re using instant messaging platforms for marketing or customer service today in Canada or the US, make sure you add in Telegram Messenger to reach international markets. And here’s why.
The Features Europeans Love With Telegram
No Ads
Telegram claims it will always be free and ad (even subscription) free. Independently funded by it’s CEO, users can enjoy an experience without feeling bombarded by advertising.
Privacy
Secret chats, self-destructing messages, photos and videos – sounds like something out a spy movie. But with end-to-end encryption and no information left behind on servers, this takes on issues many consumers have with other platforms.
Broadcast groups
Create groups with similar interests – with up to 200,000 people! That’s well over the amount many other platforms allow, and no other tools or downloads are needed.
Gifs, editors and stickers
Within the messaging platform, users can share the latest gifs, edit their videos, and use stickers when words are not enough.
Open API
For any developer, this is a real treat. The most popular Telegram feature for developers is a Bot API – a platform where developers can create bots that can interact with Telegram Users.
But How Can Instant Messaging Marketing Grow My Businesses?
Sure, all these features sound great, but how does this drive business? Here are four ways it can help you get into the European market.
Telegram is awesome for content marketing promotion
Your content may be great, but you need people to read, watch or interact with it. The best way to promote your content on Telegram is creating a group or a channel.
Groups are great for more intimate and informal content than channels, as they are built for small group communication. Whereas channels serve as community forums, where users engage in conversation with an admin overseeing the conversation.
Channels have been overrun by corporate companies from all over the world. One of the top Telegram channels according to telegramchannels run by AliExpress (an online retail service owned by the Alibaba Group) uses a channel to post their products with images, prices and links to webpages. They also have a separate account, which operates as a customer support.
Another great example is a channel with promotions and deals for Udemy courses – a giant American open online courses guru. It pulls out a description of the course, a photo and it has a CTA “Enroll Now”.
Channels can have an unlimited number of subscribers and unlike with groups when you post in a channel, the message is signed with the channel’s name and photo. Each message in a channel has a view counter which is a great way to track your audience.
Telegram provides great company storytelling opportunities
Telegram channels are often used as blogs where marketers can construct narratives around their products. It is a great way share how way you do business and about your corporate culture.
Corporation channels use this tool for showcasing products, sharing feedback and testimonials. As channels are strictly broadcasting tools, there’s no need to worry about spam comments or bots. For instance, beloved by cybersecurity people, the Cisco channel provides insights about its current vulnerabilities along with security impact rating.
Another example is a channel owned by Yandex – a multinational corporation providing internet-related services best known for its search engine, with the largest market share of any search engine in Europe and is the 5th worldwide. Its Telegram channel hosts its content: interviews, news, long reads about their latest updates. It targets everyone from developers who seek insights on technology, to the every consumer, with Yandex music, Yandex maps, intelligent personal assistant and other services.
Chatting with your customers directly… really?
Usually corporate channels go along with corporate groups that can be public and searchable on Telegram. If channels are used for broadcasting, groups can work as forums and they are fantastic for community building and customer service.
Customers can reach you directly, ask questions and even help each other. Unlike Twitter with its complicated system of replies and threads, Telegram displays all messages in a neat, chronological-based way and users are forced to read the whole feed in order to get a particular answer.
Content delivery is… 100% audience reach
Unless a user mutes notifications, every post in a channel and a group is visible to each follower. A notification with Telegram also gives a user the ability to mute Telegram Groups for an hour or two days, so the user switches off notifications for a while but not forever. This means no algorithm change that changes how many people you reach, every year. You’re free to post and know you’re getting your message out there.
Telegram is an utile tool if you are considering starting a business in charming ol’ Europe. It is not only a handy marketing tool but it is, in a way, a small reflection of European values, such as safety, visual beauty and a sense of community.
It’s also free for Businesses. Why not consider adding it to your marketing toolkit?
Sensible Marketer is always looking for trends to help businesses grow. Whether located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, or even the USA, we keep up with trends to ensure we deliver the best results.
Ask us for a FREE consult today on how we can help your business get the clients it needs.
