Influencer marketing, via Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), during many of the years was a significant player in guiding the crypto story, especially on networks such as X, YouTube, and Telegram. An important shift is underway: as Web3 startups increasingly prioritize transparency, accuracy, and higher ROI, Telegram Ads has become more attractive—and, more often than not, the preferred choice
We go into great detail about the differences between Web3 KOL marketing and Telegram Ads, offering specific examples, useful advice, and an easy-to-follow guide to launch your first campaign. In the end, you will receive detailed instructions on which platform yields higher returns along with an explanation of the reasons why.
Web3 Industry of Pros and Cons of Influencer Marketing
KOL marketing in the crypto world usually refers to paying influential people on social media – X.com, YouTube, or Telegram channels to promote your initiative. The allure is obvious: Taking advantage of the trust and following of KOL’s allows you to reach a large trusting community. However, such an approach has a number of glitches.
Firstly, KOL campaigns lack consistency. The posts from KOLs can cause similarly highly disparate levels of engagement depending on things like when the posts are being published, the mood of the creator, and marketplace conditions. You may spend $2,000 on a Twitter thread that will still scare away fewer users.
Secondly, transparency is a concern. More often than not, no clear indication of how many real human beings interacted with the post or clicked the link. The use of bots, misleading stats, and unclear reports all hinder your ability to determine ROI efficiently.
Thirdly, retention rates are dismal. A KOL can create initial excitement, but such excitement rarely shows long-term results, leading to superficial and stagnant communities.
Telegram Ads is a More Trustworthy, Budget-Friendly, and Cost-Effective Alternative
In the year 2024, the giant messaging app Slap launched its public ad platform, where advertisers can post sponsored messages in public channels that have more than 1,000 members. Telegram has gone from a messaging app to a great tool in reaching audiences (especially in the crypto world), with 900 million monthly active users.
What is different about Telegram Ads from the KOL campaigns?
1. Predictable Performance with Real-Time Metrics
In terms of management, with Telegram ads you retain total control over your campaigns. Content and audience curation vary between Telegram Ads, programmatically set through a dashboard, and KOL collaborations, which rely on the creative individual influence of individual creators.
You get real-time feedback on all metrics from impressions to click-through rates and engagement. With this feature, advertisers are free to adjust a campaign on the spot rather than wait for the influence of one post by an influencer.
2. Lower Cost, Higher Engagement
Figures from the advertiser data even including those from Alfa Catalyst, indicate that in most cases, the CPA of Telegram Ads is low at $0.15–$0.30. By comparison, KOLs usually charge $2-$15 per lead, depending on each platform and their follower base.
More to the point, Telegram Ads show an average CTR in the 8–10% bracket, which again outpaces the 0.5–2% rates that Twitter KOL promotions are frequently receiving.
Retention is also notably stronger. Since Telegram Ads target users who are already involved in the crypto channels, a substantial 35% or more of the acquired users continue adhering to the crypto channels, joining group activities, or participating in token launches or airdrops.
Unique Selling Points of Telegram’s Advertising Platform
User experience and platform consistency were important factors for the creation of the ad ecosystem on Telegram. Advertisers follow certain rules, which, however, increase the quality and reliability of ads en masse:
- Only Internal Links Allowed – Ads are limited to driving traffic in the form of groups, channels or bots towards Telegram apps. Trapping users in Telegram initiates the possibility of increased engagement over time.
- TON Payments – Payment for the ads goes straight to Ton Coin, the blockchain-based digital currency available at Telegram. Putting ads into the ecosystem of Ton coin assists Web3 projects and facilitates cross-border transactions.
- No Personal Data Used – Ad targeting in Telegram is data and identifier-independent. This pairs up users with the topics they interact with and the channels they follow, before maintaining privacy standards.
Telegram Ads Setup Overview – A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
The Telegram Ads setup process is a lot easier than influencer outreach, which is commonly intertwined with lengthy back-and-forth haggling.
Step 1: Create a Telegram Account
If you want to access the official advertising platform, you must have a confirmed Telegram account. Connect your Telegram account with a phone number to proceed by accessing ads.telegram.org
Step 2: Deposit TON in your Telegram Ads account
Since ad payments take place in Toncoin (TON), you must purchase TON and deposit it into your ad account wallet. You can buy TON on several reputable exchanges or use the Telegram Wallet bot for that.
Step 3: Choose an Advertising Objective
Choose the focus for your advertising – it can be a channel, a bot, or a special announcement. Since all ads must have a pointer to the Telegram platform, engineer your ad strategy accordingly.
Step 4: Write Your Sponsored Message
Your campaign starts with the message you pen down here. Given only 160 characters to use, every word should add up to your campaign’s success. Plain and powerful CTAs like join airdrop or follow us for daily alpha produce the greatest results.
Step 5: Define Targeting Parameters
Select channels users follow to reach your ideal audience correctly. If you want to get in touch with DeFi aficionados, set your targeting at channels such as “DeFi News”, “Crypto Alpha”, or “Yield Farming 101”.
Step 6: Set Your Budget and CPM
Telegram Ads uses a Cost-Per-Mille (CPM) system, meaning you only pay when your ad is viewed 1,000 times. Although the minimum bid is 0.1 TON, industries such as memecoins, or NFT launches may need to do around 0.5 – 1 TON CPM to get an advantage.
Step 7: Launch and Monitor
Immediately, when your advert is live, track the results using the dashboard at your disposal. Modify your budget, edit or fund more to important performance statistics such as click-through rate, cost per conversion, or addition to subscribers.
Case Studies: Telegram Ads in Action
We’ll see how KOL marketing strategy did not match Telegram Ads in some cases:
- LayerZero-based project campaign. Spent $500 on a Telegram ad specifically targeting collectors of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Captured 3,200 group members, and of these, 2,800 stayed longer than two weeks. The return with the same input in a KOL was limited to 400 Twitter followers and very minimal engagement.
- DEX launch campaign. A startup used Telegram Ads to advertise its Initial DEX Offering (IDO). With a budget of 1000 TON, the campaign got 45,000 impressions and 4,500 link clicks, which resulted in 1900 wallet sign-ups.
These demonstrations show how well the Telegram marketing performs and manages to produce good ROI, particularly in situations when there are little resources.
Reflections regarding the deployment of Telegram Ads along with their constraints.
Telegram Ads have many advantages, but they don’t eliminate all marketing problems.
- Not Ideal for Non-Telegram Products: Because of their limited spread, Telegram ads are very good at nurturing community development and marketing Telegram oriented bots but they do not work in connecting users to other sites or exchanges.
- Requires Crypto Familiarity: Serving cryptocurrency transactions and blockchain interfaces can appear intimidating to non-crypto professionals wanting to handle their ad budgets.
- Platform Still Evolving: Since the company is relatively new, its targeting tools and connection options are all still under development.
As much as this may still be true because modern open and trustless marketing is valued in the Web3 world, what may appear to be shortcomings may appear like benefits.
Does the Game of Telegram Ads Beat KOLs for Digital Marketing?
It’s not a black and white decision, but you should change your approach.
PR outreach, content creation and the development of brand narratives are all areas where KOLs are irreplaceable for content creation. Yet, should your core objectives encompass user growth, growth of your community, or campaign efficiency, then Telegram Ads are better with more effective results, faster launches, and transparency in data.
For most marketers of Web3, the combination of KOLs and Telegram Ads provides the best results. Use KOL campaigns first to talk about your brand’s story and then use Telegram Ads to stretch reach and generate success.
Telegram Ads will be cheaper, easier to tweak, and more reliable in their output. In a very fluid industry where the trend can disappear very fast, and cost is an issue, this appeal is highlighted.
Bitmedia offers both options – advertising on Telegram (via banner ads or promotional posts in channels and groups) and KOL/influencer marketing. All available options can be found on Bitmedia Marketplace, or you can contact your account manager directly.
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