In this article you will find a series of ideas to use Telegram in a collaborative way, to communicate with your customers during the sales process or during the support phase.
After WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Telegram is among the most used instant messaging platforms on the planet. Recently, this messaging app has surpassed 400 million users worldwide, an increase that is probably partly due to the pandemic crisis, which has forced users to search for new channels to communicate online.
Part of this growth is justified by the fact that many users have wanted to differentiate themselves from the messaging giants, WhatsApp and Messenger, to be able to find an alternative way to communicate and receive information.
The differences with other messaging platforms are various: on Telegram you have the possibility to create groups of up to 200,000 members, in which everyone can send and receive text, audio or video messages. Another feature is that of creating channels, either public or private, in which – anyone who is an administrator – can send one-way messages to its members.
You can also cancel sending or edit messages after they have been sent. Unlike WhatsApp, there is no time limit to cancel sending a message on Telegram. The recipient of the message will not receive any notification if you cancel a sent message.
Users can send video files up to 1.5GB in size, which has made Telegram extremely popular for users who want to share movies with their friends. Users can even stream the video before the download is over.
Finally, since June 2015, Telegram has introduced the possibility of creating bots, automated programs that are able to perform tasks of any kind. A bot on Telegram works like a real company page on this platform, so it is essential to immediately understand its mechanisms.
In fact, many companies are already using this feature in order to, for example, communicate with their customers, automate responses to their support requests, provide them with product catalogs, offer promotions or update them on the latest news.
Below, you will find out how Telegram can be a tool with totally different rules from other messaging platforms, with enormous potential for your business, which needs a clear and well-defined strategy, to bring your potential customers to take action or make purchase.
Including Telegram among the communication channels of your business will allow you to increase the chances of entertaining your potential customers, by taking into account their preferred channel, in the interests of an omnichannel support.
It can be very advantageous to decide to integrate Telegram to communicate with your users, given the large audience present within the famous messaging app. Telegram can give your company the ability to send and receive messages regarding information about products, finalising orders or offer an after-sales service.
The main limitation of Telegram is the fact that it can be used by a limited number of devices at the same time, which makes it almost unusable for companies that have a sales or support team with numerous agents.
Given the constant expansion of this platform, it is expected that an increasing number of users will start using it to stay in touch with their friends / relatives, but especially to chat with companies.
It will become increasingly important to know how to create your own bot (which, as explained above, is the equivalent of a company page), in order to be able to communicate with your target audience through Telegram. The Telegram Bot looks like a showcase, in which you can exhibit your products and communicate what your company does, interacting directly with users.
In order to develop an effective communication strategy on Telegram, however, we will have to rely on an external platform, which allows to stem the limits that the native app has to date (mainly related to the fact that the app is designed for a personal and non-corporate use).
If you have decided to increase your sales through Telegram, then it is time to integrate this channel to communicate with your potential customers. To do this you will simply have to follow these small steps:
1) Create a Bot: this will be your company profile, which users can contact when they want to interact with your business. You can customize your Bot as you wish, setting a profile picture, description and automatic replies. The Bot will be your main source of visibility within Telegram, so you will need to pay particular attention to how to configure it. Follow this guide to create a Bot on Telegram in a few minutes.
2) Promote your Bot: at this point, all you have to do is make it known to your users that you will also be available on this new channel. You can do this through advertising banners, a widget connected to your Bot or simply by forwarding the link of your Bot to users (the link will be something like: t.me/nomedelbot).
3) Conversation management: now you will need to be able to manage chats with your users. In this regard, we recommend that you use an external company tool, which allows a more accurate and effective management of chats with your users. As already mentioned previously, the are many limits connected to the use of the default interface, so it will be necessary to outsource the management of the channel.
Once you have created the Bot, you just need to integrate it with Callbell to be able to start managing your customers’ chats directly from there, and start communicating with them through an intuitive and feature-rich platform.
An equally important way to use Telegram is customer service, if you want to offer a direct and quick customer support. Like all messaging apps, Telegram allows immediate communications and significantly reduced response times, compared to classic methods, such as e-mail or phone.
Every user, nowadays, expects to be able to communicate instantly with companies, so your company must to be able to adopt a more conversational approach within its marketing strategy.
Furthermore, Telegram is geared towards maintaining a very strict privacy policy. The platform is extremely safe, so much so that there has never been any data breach or leak, which makes it very attractive for those who want to keep a low profile.
Although you have to register with your phone number, this will never be published in your profile, guaranteeing maximum safety in communications, to start interacting with another user you simply have to share your username.
There are many users who use the platform exclusively to read and keep up to date on their interests, such as gaming, technology, news on the latest products, or promotions, becoming more and more a point of reference for this type of users.
Telegram offers a user base almost in its own right, compared to its competitors, considering the differentiating features that the platform offers. Offering an additional channel like Telegram for customer support can give your business that extra communication boost, so you can reach as many users as possible, wherever they are.
At this point, if you intend to use Telegram for your business, all you have to do is integrate it with Callbell, which will allow you to make the most of this messaging channel.
Callbell is a platform that integrates the main messaging apps into a single interface, to manage chats within your sales or support team.
Our platform will allow you to get all the advantages of conversational marketing, in order to channel all the chats of the main instant messaging apps, and always be in contact with your users, even via mobile app.
Note: To set up your Telegram bot you will first need to have a personal Telegram account.
To integrate Telegram within Callbell you will need to follow the following steps:
1) Open a new chat with BotFather: you can do this using the link https://t.me/botfather;
2) Create a new Bot: typing “/ newbot” directly into the chat with the BotFather;
3) Set the Bot name: BotFather will ask you for a name, this will be the name your users will see on Telegram;
4) Set the Bot username: BotFather will also ask you for a username, which must end with “bot”;
5) Get the API key: at this point BotFather will send you a message confirming the creation of the new Bot, with the API key attached;
6) Copy the username and API to Callbell: in the “Integrations” page on Callbell, paste the username and the API key in the section referring to Telegram;
7) Click on “Connect with Telegram”.
At this point you can start receiving and sending messages on Telegram directly from our platform, and take advantage of all the advantages and features it offers.
Here are some of the main features of Callbell:
1) Integration with major messaging apps::within Callbell you can connect Telegram, Facebook and WhatsApp to manage team chats and have total control over your communication channels;
2) Automatic chat assignment: by inviting your sales or support agents to Callbell, it will be possible to distribute the conversations between them in a fully automated manner;
3) Quick tag creation and responses: it is possible to create and apply tags to users in order to identify them more easily. In addition, quick responses can be set that will speed up communication with the user;
4) Chat widget: free chat widget that you can install on your site. So your visitors can quickly choose their favorite channels to contact you. Our widget collects all the data that allows you to monitor the visitors of your website so you can receive useful insights on the channels that your users prefer to use to communicate with you;
5) Analytics: an Analytics module is available within each account that allows you to monitor the performance of your agents, view the main metrics related to chat management, and export information about your contacts;
6) Send chat history:it is possible to send the history of a chat to one or more e-mail addresses, in order to obtain a copy of all the messages exchanged with a specific customer or if you want to send the customer a copy of the message history of the conversation.
If you do not yet have an account with Callbell, just click on this link to immediately start integrating your favorite messaging channels, and get all the benefits of our platform.
We thank you for reading and wish you good sales!
Frequent Questions
How to manage Telegram's shared inbox?
The main limitation of Telegram is the fact that it can be used by a limited number of devices at the same time, which makes it unsuitable for companies that have a sales or support team with many agents. Given the constant expansion of this platform, it is expected that an increasing number of users will start using it to connect and communicate with their friends/family, but especially with companies.
It will be increasingly important to know how to create your bot , in order to communicate with the target audience via Telegram. The Bot Telegram looks like a shop window, in which you can showcase your products and communicate what your business does, interacting directly with users. However, it must be supported by an external platform, which allows to overcome the limitations that the native app currently has (mainly related to the fact that the app is intended for personal use and not for business).
How to use Telegram for your company's sales team?
If you have decided to increase sales through Telegram , then it is time to integrate this communication channel with your potential customers. To do that, you simply need to follow these quick steps:
- Create a Bot: meaning your business profile, which users can contact when they want to interact with your business. You can personalize the Bot to your liking, adding a profile picture, a description and the automatic responses.
- Promote your Bot : at this point all you have to do is let your customers know that they can reach you also on this new channel. You can do this via banner ads, a widget that you send to your Bot, or simply by sending your Bot link to users.
- Manage chats: You should now be able to manage chats with your users. In this regard, we recommend that you use an external business tool, which allows a more meticulous and efficient management of chats with your users.
Once you have created the Bot, all you have to do is integrate it into Callbell to be able to start managing your customers’ chats directly from there, and start communicating with them through an intuitive platform full of features.
About the author: Hello! I am Alan and I am the marketing manager at Callbell, the first communication platform designed to help sales and support teams to collaborate and communicate with customers through direct messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram and Instagram Direct
![1 1 150x150 - Google My Business Messages [2022 Guide]](/assets/uploads/2022/05/1-1-150x150.jpg "Google My Business Messages [2022 Guide]")
