Telegram isn’t very popular in the US, but has a large, active user base worldwide. More than 200 million people use the app on a monthly basis to send encrypted messages to friends and family.
It’s popular in Iran, where it’s used to send messages more than 200 million times a month. Telegram has also become one of the most popular mobile messaging apps in Germany and is catching on throughout Europe.
Because of Telegram’s reputation for being private and secure, it’s not only used for regular conversations between friends, but also for political activism.
According to Digiday, Telegram played a major role in the Hong Kong protests last year and was used by activists to communicate and organize.
Even though Telegram has a large user base, most companies don’t have a presence there. But Bloomberg, a US media company, saw an opportunity to use Telegram and a similar app called Whatsapp to connect with international audiences and grow their news subscription service.
Bloomberg’s Telegram marketing strategy
Bloomberg has amassed a pretty sizable following on Telegram. They have over 27,000 subscribers from all over the world on their channel.
The company doesn’t advertise on Whatsapp anymore because of changes to the platform, but they had a following of 93,000 when they left.
The secret to gaining such big audiences? We think it’s their casual, informative messaging style.
Every day, Bloomberg editors send out one or two messages to promote the site’s content. They don’t just drop links, though—they provide context for each article and use emojis to make the messages feel more casual.
Their messages read more like a mini newsletter than an impersonal push notification. Even though they discuss serious subjects, the messages have a conversational tone that appeals to users on the platform.
Bloomberg does a great job of adapting their brand voice to Telegram and speaking the language of the app, which so many companies fail to do.
That’s why they’ve been able to amass a loyal, engaged community of followers.
Katie Boyce, Bloomberg’s digital managing editor, said that she doesn’t know how many news subscriptions the company has sold through their marketing efforts on Whatsapp and Telegram. But she does believe that they’re building the kind of community and trust you need to sell a news subscription service, which is worth the investment of time.
Should your business be on Telegram?
If you’re looking to reach international audiences, you may want to establish a business presence on Telegram.
It has features that allow you to send out mass messages to your followers. And if you use them as an alternative to email newsletters like Bloomberg does, you could gain a following on the platform and reach new potential customers.
As Katie Boyce points out, there’s “more noise in your inbox than there used to be.” Your customers may be more likely to see and open a Telegram message than a regular email newsletter because it’s not being crowded out by other brand’s messages.
Although Telegram is gaining in popularity, many companies don’t have a presence there, which gives you a unique opportunity to become an early adopter and grow your brand reach.