7 ways to promote a Telegram bot
No single method does the whole job: some are free but hit a ceiling, others cost money.
| Method | When it fits | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bot directories and roundups | Right after launch | A small flow that fades quickly |
| 2. Your own channel or community | You already have an audience | The audience is finite |
| 3. Cross-promotion with other bots | There are bots of similar size and topic | Every swap is a separate negotiation |
| 4. Content and search inside Telegram | The bot solves a clear, commonly searched task | Slow, with no guaranteed result |
| 5. Referral mechanic inside the bot | The bot already has active users | Doesn’t work without a first audience |
| 6. Ads in channels | You want an author’s recommendation in a narrow niche | You pay for the placement, not the result |
| 7. Ads inside other bots | You need a measurable flow of people who already use bots | The post has to be short and clear |
A qualitative comparison; terms of specific directories and channels vary.
Telegram bot marketing without a budget
The first five methods cost time, not money, and show whether people understand the bot before you pay for ads.
Bot directories and roundups
Directories and “useful bots” roundups bring your first users and feedback. Fill in the description, commands and avatar. Interest usually drops soon after the listing goes up.
Your own channel or community
If you run a channel, a group or an audience elsewhere, announce the bot there: a pinned post, a link in the description, examples of results. These are your most loyal users, but their number is capped.
Cross-promotion with other bots
Two bots with similar audiences recommend each other in the menu or in a message. Each swap is arranged separately, and you take your partner’s numbers on trust.
Content and search inside Telegram
People find bots through Telegram search by name and username, so the name should say plainly what the bot does. Content helps too: short posts and videos showing a real result. The effect builds slowly.
A referral mechanic inside the bot
Give each user a personal link like t.me/yourbot?start=ref123 and a clear reason to share it: a bonus, extra attempts, access to a feature. It won’t bring the first people on its own.
How to advertise a Telegram bot: channels and other bots
Ads in channels
You agree a post with a channel admin, directly or through an exchange, and pay for publication. It reads as the author’s recommendation, but you pay for the placement — not for views or bot launches. Checking the channel for inflated subscribers is on you. Telegram’s official platform, Telegram Ads, shows sponsored messages in channels on an auction model and suits larger budgets.
Ads inside other bots
An ad network sells impressions across many bots: you create one post, set the targeting, and the network delivers it in matching bots. For promoting a bot, this has three advantages.
- The audience already uses bots. Nobody needs an explanation of what a bot is or why to press Start.
- One tap to /start. The ad arrives in a private chat with a bot and the button opens yours — no website, no app install.
- Everything is measurable. Impressions and clicks are shown per bot, and you count launches on your side with the start parameter.
The limit: people opened another bot to get something done, so the post must be short, with one clear benefit. Here is the setup on HiViews.
Get users for a Telegram bot with ads in other bots
A campaign is created in the web dashboard or in @HiViewsBot and goes through moderation, usually within a day. The full walkthrough is in the advertiser guide; below are the settings that matter for getting new users.
- Welcome impression — $6 per 1,000. The ad arrives right after /start, before the bot’s own greeting.
- Regular impression — $3 per 1,000. The bot requests the ad after delivering its result, so your post is the last message in the chat. Good for cheap tests.
- Pay per click — $0.05 per click. Welcome or regular placement, impressions are free. Only strong posts are accepted. Details in pay-per-click ads in Telegram bots.
- Topics. The network has 16 bot topics. Start with the ones closest to your bot.
- Languages. Match the language your bot works in.
- Frequency. The default is unique delivery: once per person for the whole campaign. Once a week and once a day also exist.
- Schedule. Delivery hours are set in Moscow time.
Network caps: a person sees at most one ad per hour and six per day across the network, and a welcome ad in a given bot no more than once a day. So reach builds gradually.
A post that brings people into your bot
The text can be up to six visible lines, with an optional photo, video or GIF. A simple structure is enough.
- Address the person by name. The $name placeholder is replaced with the viewer’s name: “$name, turn any photo into a sticker in 10 seconds”.
- One benefit. Say what the person gets right after launching.
- One button. A welcome post may carry up to two buttons, but one works cleaner. In a pay-per-click post every link must be a button or a hyperlinked word — no bare URLs or @mentions.
- A tagged link. Point the button to t.me/yourbot?start=hv1. Your bot receives the parameter with /start, so you know how many people came from the ad.
One tag per campaign. Use different parameters for different posts and formats: start=hv_test1, start=hv_test2, start=hv_welcome. Store the parameter on first launch.
Example budget and cost per new user
Below is a worked example on $30, not a forecast. Prices are from the HiViews price list; all of them are covered in How much do Telegram bot ads cost?
| Budget part | What you buy | Arithmetic |
|---|---|---|
| Test — $10 | Regular impressions, two post variants at $5 each | $10 ÷ $3 × 1,000 ≈ 3,333 impressions, ≈ 1,666 per variant |
| Main run — $20, pay per impression | Welcome impressions for the winning variant | $20 ÷ $6 × 1,000 ≈ 3,333 impressions |
| Or main run — $20, pay per click | Clicks from the welcome placement | $20 ÷ $0.05 = 400 clicks |
An example for the math. With unique delivery, every impression goes to a different person.
Formula: cost per new user = campaign spend ÷ number of /start launches with that campaign’s tag. For planning: paying per impression — CPM ÷ (1,000 × CTR × share of clickers who press Start); paying per click — $0.05 ÷ share of clickers who press Start.
How many impressions turn into users depends on the bot, the post and the topics, so plug in your own measurements. Purely to illustrate the arithmetic: if you measured a 3% CTR and 70% of clickers reached /start, 3,333 welcome impressions would give 100 clicks and 70 launches, and $20 ÷ 70 ≈ $0.29 per user. Your rates will differ.
How to read results per bot
With click tracking on, campaign stats show impressions, clicks and CTR for each bot.
- Look at CTR per bot once enough impressions have built up.
- Exclude weak bots, or switch the campaign to “only chosen bots” when the leaders are obvious.
- Compare clicks with launches. Many clicks and few launches mean the post promises something the bot doesn’t show.
Once your bot has users
Acquisition is half the job. Make sure a new person gets a result within seconds of /start: a long greeting eats the launches you paid for.
Once the audience is there, the bot can earn by showing other advertisers’ posts through one API call, and earnings can be moved to the ad balance. How to connect a bot is in the bot owner guide, and what income depends on is in How much does a Telegram bot earn?
FAQ
How do I promote a Telegram bot for free?
List the bot in directories, announce it in your own channel or community, swap mentions with bots of a similar size, pick a clear name for Telegram search and add a referral link. That brings first users, but growth is slow.
How much does it cost to advertise a Telegram bot inside other bots?
On HiViews, $6 per 1,000 welcome impressions and $3 per 1,000 regular impressions, the same price for every topic. Both placements can also be paid per click: $0.05 per click with free impressions. The minimum top-up is $5.
How do I calculate the cost of one new user?
Divide campaign spend by the number of /start launches carrying your tag. Put a link like t.me/yourbot?start=tag on the post’s button and have the bot store the start parameter.
Which ad format should I choose to get users for a Telegram bot?
Test post variants on regular impressions, which cost half as much. Then run the winner on welcome impressions, or on pay-per-click if the post is strong.