In a competitive move, the popular messaging app Telegram has introduced an array of new features tailored for business use, positioning itself as a contender against Meta’s well-established apps like WhatsApp and Messenger. Launched officially after an earlier announcement, the suite of features known as Telegram Business targets companies looking for a more interactive and efficient way to communicate with their clientele.
Telegram Business brings a wealth of functionalities to the table for businesses, such as a customizable start page, designated business hours, preset replies, greeting and away messages, chatbots, tags for chats, and much more. These tools are designed to streamline business communication and offer more control and automation for interacting with customers.
One of the more notable incentives for content creators is the opportunity to share ad revenue. Public channels on Telegram with a subscriber base of 1,000 or more can now earn 50% from the advertisements that appear within their channels. This opens a new revenue stream for channel operators, encouraging the creation of more engaging and higher quality content.
This strategic rollout comes after Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov expressed expectations for the app, which boasts over 900 million users, to turn a profit by 2025. With such aspirations, it’s clear that Telegram Business is a key component of the app’s growth strategy, potentially leading to a future initial public offering (IPO).
To access Telegram Business, users must subscribe to Telegram Premium, which is a package of enhanced features offered at $4.99 per month across iOS and Android platforms. Telegram Premium can also be purchased at a discounted rate through the @PremiumBot on various platforms, avoiding additional app store commission fees.
Since its introduction, Telegram Premium has witnessed significant growth in its subscriber count—in January 2024, the service reached 5 million subscribers, up from the previous month’s 4 million, exhibiting the rapidly increasing interest in the app’s premium offerings.
Telegram Business stands to further propel Premium subscriptions given that it provides business-focused tools that are readily accessible, even to those without coding expertise. For instance, businesses can display important information like operational hours and location, offer a customized start page for new chats, utilize “quick replies” for commonly used messages, and manage availability through away messages.
Moreover, businesses can efficiently categorize their chats with colored tags and create chat links for specific customer actions, such as tracking an order or booking appointments. Incorporating Telegram bots as part of customer service is another advantage offered by the new features.
While businesses will be required to have a Premium subscription to access these features, there is no additional charge for the capabilities within Telegram Business. These settings can be easily found and activated in the app’s settings under the Telegram Business section.
In conjunction with its Premium strategy, the company has also ventured into generating revenue via Telegram Ads, with the recent implementation of a revenue-sharing model using toncoin, a digital token within The Open Network (TON) blockchain. This marks yet another avenue for monetization by the company.
Telegram’s expansion into business services suggests an intensifying competition within the messaging space, where Meta’s suite of apps currently dominates. Telegram Business could present a viable alternative, appealing to companies seeking advanced communication tools, perhaps shaking up the current market dynamics.
As Telegram continues to evolve and release more features, businesses and content creators can look forward to more innovative tools and monetization options that cater to their needs, challenging the status quo of business communication platforms.
