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What a welcome impression is
A welcome impression is an ad post a bot sends in reply to the /start command — right before, or together with, its usual greeting. Someone opens the bot, taps Start, and the first message in the chat is your ad.
HiViews sells two impression types. They differ in price, but more importantly in the moment the person sees the post:
| Feature | Welcome impression | Regular impression |
|---|---|---|
| When it shows | Right after /start | Elsewhere in the bot: after user actions, in menus, between replies |
| Advertiser price | $6 per 1,000 or $0.05 per click | $3 per 1,000 or $0.05 per click |
| Frequency | Once a day per bot, max | Network caps: 1 ad per hour, 6 per day |
| Buttons | Up to 2, or none | With or without buttons |
| Audience | Mostly people new to the bot | People already using the bot |
Base prices. Modifiers: Premium-only audience ×2, betting and gambling ×2, boost ×1.25–×2.
Why ads on /start convert better
A welcome impression costs twice as much as a standard one for a reason: right after /start, several things line up that rarely happen together.
The user is looking at the chat, waiting
They just tapped a button and expect the bot to answer. This isn’t a feed they thumb through — it’s a pause with their eyes on the screen. A post that lands in that moment gets read in full, especially if the first line says what it’s about.
An empty screen means zero competition
A new chat has no history, no menus, no other messages. Your ad isn’t buried under the bot’s own content — it’s the only thing there.
Fresh audience
/start mostly comes from people opening the bot for the first time. They haven’t seen ads in it yet and haven’t learned to skip them. For an advertiser, that means reach among new people rather than the same users over and over.
The user is already taking action
They just tapped something — they’re ready to tap the next thing too. A short post with a clear call to action fits that mindset better than an ad seen halfway through a long conversation.
The flip side: people open a bot to get something done. Welcome ads work when they’re short and out of the way — read in two seconds, tap or skip, move on. A wall of text at this point just annoys.
How ads on /start work
To the user it’s just one message. Behind the scenes:
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The user sends /start
The bot receives the command from Telegram as usual.
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The bot requests an ad
As the first line of its /start handler, the bot calls the HiViews API (
POST /sendMessage) and waits for the response. Details are in the API docs. -
The network picks a post
HiViews chooses a matching post by the user’s language, the bot’s topic and campaign settings, and checks frequency caps and the viewer’s account quality.
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The post lands in the chat
The user sees the ad, followed by the bot’s normal greeting. The impression is counted and billed at the format’s price.
Network-wide rules protect both users and advertisers:
- At most one ad per hour per person across the whole network, and no more than 6 a day.
- A welcome ad at most once a day per bot. Restarting the bot doesn’t trigger the ad again.
- Fake-looking accounts never get paid ads. You don’t pay for impressions on empty profiles.
How to launch a welcome ad campaign
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Top up your balance
In the web dashboard or in @HiViewsBot, from $5, via USDT (TRC20) or CryptoBot (3% fee). See Finance.
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Create the post
Build it in the editor with a live preview, or just forward a ready-made post to the bot. Telegram formatting, photos, videos, GIFs, Premium emoji and colored buttons are all supported.
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Pick the welcome format
Set the audience language — EN covers every language outside the Russian-speaking group (RU, UA, BY, KZ, UZ are targeted exactly) — and choose from 16 bot topics. Then pick billing: per impression ($6 per 1,000) or per click ($0.05 per click, impressions free).
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Set targeting
Frequency per person (1 by default — unique reach only), schedule by hours (Moscow time, UTC+3) and dates, specific bots or exclusions, HiViews Verified, and Premium-only if you need it.
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Keep click tracking on
The click-tracking (CTR) switch below the buttons is on by default: your link goes through an instant hiviews.net redirect, and you get CTR for every bot. Pay-per-click requires it.
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Submit for review
Every post is moderated. Once approved, impressions start automatically.
For every setting in detail, see the advertiser guide; for restricted categories, see the rules.
How to write a welcome ad
A welcome post has a couple of seconds. Its job isn’t to explain your product — it’s to give one clear reason to tap the button.
- Lead with the point. Make the first line bold: what it is and why it’s useful. Backstory and “We’re excited to introduce…” kill attention.
- One action. One main button (“Open”, “Try free”) and an optional second one like “Learn more”. A welcome post can have up to two buttons — or none, if the link is in the text.
- Personalize.
$nameinserts the viewer’s first name,$usernametheir @username (or their name if they don’t have one). Buttons in the editor insert both, and the preview shows a sample. Addressing someone by name in the first message of a chat feels natural. - Use visuals that show the product. A screenshot or a short clip beats an abstract banner. Premium emoji are great for accents — just don’t turn the text into a Christmas tree.
- Be specific about the benefit. “7 free lessons”, “20% off until Sunday”, “first week free” say more than “an exclusive offer”.
- Don’t impersonate the bot. Posts disguised as system messages (“Confirm you’re not a robot”) get clicks without conversions and erode trust in ads.
Example 1: language-learning app
In the editor you write $name, learn Spanish in 15 minutes a day…. A user named Sam sees:
Sam, learn Spanish in 15 minutes a day 🇪🇸
Bite-sized lessons right inside Telegram — no app to install. Your first 7 lessons are free.
Example 2: mobile game
A strategy game you can play on a coffee break ⚔️
3-minute matches. Build an army and take your first castle today — new players get a starter pack of heroes.
Example 3: Telegram channel
This one opens with $username, so a user with the handle @movie_max sees:
@movie_max, not sure what to watch tonight? 🎬
One list of 5 movies every day, each with a spoiler-free one-liner. Subscribe and skip the endless scrolling.
In all three, the benefit is clear from line one, the post reads in seconds, and the button says exactly what happens next. Make sure the message works without the image too — media doesn’t always load instantly.
Common welcome ad mistakes
- The everything post. Five benefits, three links and a promo code in one message. The reader can’t tell what you want from them and mentally moves on.
- Buttons that promise nothing. “Click!” or “Here” don’t say where the link goes. “Open lesson” and “Get 20% off” do.
- The wrong language. English copy shown to a Russian-speaking audience (or the other way round) is budget spent on impressions no one reads.
- Broad targeting, never reviewed. Turn on every topic and never check CTR by bot, and your budget will flow to bots where nobody cares about your product.
- Frequency above 1 “just in case”. A welcome impression already lands at peak attention; showing the same post again in other bots rarely adds as much as a first impression to someone new.
Best practices checklist
- The post language matches the audience: RU for Russian speakers, EN for English-speaking and international traffic.
- You picked bot topics where your product fits: a game in gaming and entertainment bots, a study tool in education and utility bots.
- Frequency is set to 1 per person. A welcome impression is valuable for attention, not repetition.
- You have 2–3 post variants to compare under identical settings.
- Click tracking is on: after a few days you’ll see which bots have higher CTR and which to exclude.
- The schedule fits the product: food delivery near lunch and dinner, B2B during working hours (Moscow time, UTC+3).
- HiViews Verified is on if you want an audience with real-looking profiles.
- Premium-only (×2) is reserved for products that genuinely target a higher-spending audience.
- Boost (×1.25–×2) is used for time-limited offers where speed matters.
- If you need clicks and don’t know your CTR yet, pay per click: people who don’t tap cost nothing. The post needs at least one link button.
To estimate a test budget, see How much Telegram bot ads cost.
For bot owners: should you sell welcome impressions?
Welcome impressions are the most valuable format to monetize: advertisers pay more for them, and your users see such an ad at most once a day in your bot. You stay in control:
- Sell welcome impressions, standard ones, or both (both by default). Set it in the dashboard or in @HiViewsBot.
- If your users are quick to tap ads, your bot also gets pay-per-click campaigns at $0.04 per click. HiViews places them only when your bot’s CTR makes them pay more than impressions.
- Opt out of any ad category — betting or dating, for example.
- Your own ads are never shown in your own bots.
- Integration is a single HTTP request in your /start handler, described in the API docs.
To connect a bot and withdraw earnings, see the bot owner guide and How to monetize a Telegram bot.
FAQ
What are welcome ads in a Telegram bot?
A welcome ad is a post the bot sends right after the user taps /start. At that moment the person is looking at the chat and waiting for a reply, so the ad gets more attention than anywhere else in the bot.
How much do ads on /start cost?
On HiViews a welcome impression costs $6 per 1,000 and a standard one $3 per 1,000. Both can also be paid per click: $0.05 per click, impressions free. Modifiers: Premium-only audience ×2, betting and gambling ×2, boost ×1.25–×2. You can top up from $5.
Will users see an ad every time they send /start?
No. A welcome ad shows at most once a day per bot, and across the network a person gets at most one ad per hour and no more than 6 per day.
How many buttons can a welcome ad have?
Up to two, including colored buttons. You can also skip buttons entirely and put the link in the text.
Can I address the user by name?
Yes. $name inserts the viewer’s first name and $username their @username — or their name if they don’t have a username.
How do I see which bots perform best?
Keep click tracking on (it’s on by default). Your link goes through an instant hiviews.net redirect, and your stats show clicks and CTR by day and for each bot, so you can exclude the weak ones.
Do welcome ads reach only new users?
They fire on /start, which mostly comes from people opening the bot for the first time. So the format’s audience is mainly new users.