How to create a popular Telegram channel

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The author of the Hemingway Calling channel is about design, typography, quality content and monetization in Telegram.

Lifehacker together with the publishing house "MIF" publishes an excerpt from the book "Literary workshop. From interviews to longreads, from reviews to podcasts. " In the chapter Telegram Channel, Yegor Apollonov, journalist and creator of the Hemingway Calls channel, talks about how to create popular content on the platform.

Channel name

Simple, bright, informative - these are the three key factors of good channel naming. "What will you call the boat …" If you are targeting a Russian-speaking audience, come up with a name in Russian. And don't use complex punctuation and special characters.

You shouldn't name the channel The_Dairy_of_The_Unhappy_WRITER_from_Ru $$ ia. I think you understand why. Such a name is difficult to pronounce, remember and reproduce by typing in the search bar.

Visual design

Next, you need to create the visual appearance of the channel. What's important here? Ease of consumption of information, impeccable typography, overall visual recognition.

Of course, the avatar is important. It should be made in such a way that it is recognizable when you open Telegram on your smartphone. Do not write a lot of text on the avatar, do not use complex images. Think of the Nike logo or McDonalds - these are great avatar options.

Pictures - if you plan on posting them - are important too. It will be great if you come up with a unified visual concept and make sure that each post evokes associations with your channel.

Typographic hygiene

Maintain typographic hygiene when designing posts. The basic principles are as follows: readable text without spelling and punctuation errors, impeccable typography (if possible, no hyphens instead of dashes), blank lines between paragraphs (for ease of information perception), short links.

I am scrupulous about typographic hygiene, I have a professional deformation, and therefore I always suffer when I see hyphens (-) instead of dashes (-), incorrect quotes (“” instead of “”) and walls of text without skipping empty lines that are completely impossible to read (the latter annoys me only in Telegram).

Someone will say: "What's the difference?" Compare this:

- “Mir” is a space station that everyone has forgotten about. - said the chairman.

And this is:

“Mir is a space station that everyone has forgotten about,” said the chairman.

Have you noticed the difference? What's better?

You brush your teeth in the morning, it's a matter of hygiene. You don't ask, "Why should I clean them?" Likewise, please clean and comb your texts (in Telegram, in the mail, etc.). Over time, this will turn into automatism, and you will stop thinking about how to put the correct dash. For example, on MacBook, long is put using the Shift, Cmd and hyphen keys.

Life hack: how to type an em dash on a smartphone

Press and hold the hyphenated button on the virtual keyboard until a list of additional style options appears. Among other things, there will be a normal typographic dash.

There is one more recommendation (this is already taste, but you'd better listen). No need to highlight with smiles ??? important thought ??? - otherwise your Telegram channel will look like a diaper passed through a meat grinder with felt-tip pens. White background, black letters, and nothing more.

Don't distract the reader with special effects from the content. If the text is empty, decorations will not help it. If the text is interesting, he doesn't need them. Write engaging, meaningful posts that people want to share - and they'll thank you. If you still want to highlight an important point, use bold or italics (just don't overuse them).

Long links should be shortened to make the material visually neat. Better yet, use links hidden behind the text: open the desktop version of the Telegram application, select the desired fragment and press Crtl + U (Cmd + U on MacOs).

Typography is a very interesting thing. Do you know, for example, what “widows” and “orphans” are? “Widow” is a single word in a line at the end of a paragraph, or a very short line at the end of a text or page. And "an orphan" is a hanging line at the beginning of a new page or column.

Launch

When the channel is ready, start filling it. It is not yet time to tell the whole world about him. Test different formats for now. See what you think works and what doesn't. Let it be a couple of weeks, maybe even a month, before you start talking about your channel.

Your first subscribers will most likely be friends. In no case do not forcibly subscribe anyone to your channel. And one more thing: sending a link to people on your contact list (for example, via the WhatsApp mailing list) is a bad idea. Telegram thus invades personal space. Want to see your friends in subscribers? Throw them a link on social media. If you have made an interesting product, they will subscribe to you.

Do you need a content plan?

If you love making plans, do it. If plans annoy you, don't make it. Every media outlet, without exception, has a floor plan. Some editors approve room plans months in advance. In the case of Telegram, the plan, of course, will not be superfluous either. But think: how seriously do you want to be channeling? Is this a business? Then you will definitely need a content strategy and a publishing schedule.

Language

You need to find the right intonation. Who you are? In what tone do you speak to the audience? There is a tendency in periodicals: the magazine finally takes on a face only a few months after the release of the first issue. Why? The first issue is almost like the first draft of a novel, with the only difference that you have already shown it to advertisers and readers. After launching, you kind of made the first draft of your Telegram channel. Now I propose to seriously think about what and why you are doing.

The author's intonation will not appear immediately. Write and listen to yourself. Watch yourself. Maintaining a Telegram channel is a good way of introspection. You will get to know yourself better and understand what you did not understand before.

How much does it cost to create content

Telegram developers have said more than once that the service will never be paid. Another thing is that creating content and promoting a Telegram channel will undoubtedly require investments. The amount of investment depends on the capabilities and aspirations of the creator. Experienced users who have reached the mark of 30,000 subscribers in a year recommend setting aside 100,000-150,000 rubles for the starting period for promotion. There are examples when authors have achieved serious results without spending a penny. This path is longer and more difficult. But formally, a Telegram channel can be run without investments at all (if not counting the time spent as an investment).

Where to get themes

Look for topics in your head, in the world around you, on the Web. Coming up with a topic is one of the key skills of a journalist. If you, sitting in an empty room, cannot think of five topics related to your current situation, practice this skill. Come up with interesting topics, observe, write down ideas.

You will be surprised, but over time, topics will magically begin to come to you on their own. It is enough to start - and now you see ideas, design them and plan postponed posts, because today you have already made three publications, and you want more. I don’t know how to explain it, but that’s how it happens. Probably my editorial experience has its effect. The reporter's legs are fed - this is how young journalists are taught. I can find a topic on my own empty table. By the way, here's a great topic for a post: Why is working at an empty table so cool. Or vice versa: "Does a writer need creative chaos?" I'll write sometime.

How often to update the channel

Every now and then I hear that on Telegram you should make no more than one post a day. I update the channel sometimes two or three times a day. This reduces the coverage of publications, but on the other hand, I write about everything that I want and what I consider necessary to say.

Ten messages a day is overkill. Most of the subscribers' channels are mute, so in theory frequent updates shouldn't be annoying. However, if a person logs into Telegram and sees that 20 messages have been added to the channel since his last visit, he is unlikely to read all of them. For example, up to a hundred gifs with cats can appear on the Kotofoto channel in two days. Naturally, no one will watch them all. I myself (although I love cats) scroll through the unread message to the last message.

If the specifics of your channel involves updating no more than once a week (for example, if you conduct weekly reviews), post it once a week. The main thing is to determine the format at startup and stick to it in the future.

How to increase the number of views

To begin with, it is easy to wind up views on Telegram, but you should not do this. What is the purpose of creating a channel? If you want to make money selling ads, then winding up the channel, you will sooner or later sit in a puddle. In addition, you will have to constantly pay for new promotions, and this will ultimately lead to the fact that information about an unscrupulous administrator will be scattered across the Web and no one will order advertising from you. If you create copyrighted content and don't think about advertising, the idea of cheating posts seems even weirder. It's better to create content that will attract users.

Now a little theory. Viewing a post on Telegram is counted from one account on one device. If the user has two devices - a laptop and a mobile phone, the number of views of the publication will double (provided that he viewed it on both devices).

Views are counted anew every day. Thus, a channel with one subscriber (channel administrator) in a week can have up to seven views of each publication.

How to increase the number of views without cheating? Get a heading "Deja Vu" and repost earlier entries. This will allow users to "go back in time" and add views to already published publications. This approach is good for increasing engagement (ERR). Repost the most popular posts or those that you think are good, but have not received enough views.

Another tip: alternate long posts with short ones. In the case of a small amount of text, not one message gets to the screen, but two or more.

What is ERR

ERR is the level of user engagement, the ratio of the number of views of one message and the number of subscribers on the channel. An ERR of more than 50 percent is considered good. This means that users are actively interacting with your publications.

ERR = (views / subscribers) x 100

Some channels boast an ERR of 500 percent or more. As a rule, such high engagement occurs with channels that distribute content - books, music, etc.

And now the main question: how to increase the ERR of your channel? The first rule is good content. The more interesting your posts, the more actively users interact with them. The second tip is not to post too often. The more often you post a message, the less active users will interact with them. (For example, if you published 10 messages in a day, then the bulk of your readers - if they have not yet unsubscribed from you - will scroll through them, which will reduce the ERR of your channel.)

Feedback

Without feedback, it will be difficult to determine what you are doing right and what can be improved. Plus, feedback is a direct way to monetize. As soon as your Telegram channel becomes successful, you will be approached with an offer to speak somewhere, take part in a conference, write a chapter for a book (or a whole book), hold a webinar, etc.

If you didn't leave a contact in the channel description, you are missing out on these opportunities.

Be sure to create a short name for yourself (@username) to make it easier to find you. This is very easy to do. Open the Telegram app on your smartphone and click on the menu. There click on the Settings tab (in the Russian version it is called "Settings") and fill in the Username field. Try not to use the underscore character ("username"), as this complicates the typing of the name. Use words that are easy to understand and understand.

If you leave your contact (name in Telegram) in the channel description, then people will be able to contact you. Get ready for the more subscribers your channel has, the more feedback and questions you will receive. Since you have declared your expertise in a certain topic, you will have to face questions mainly on this topic. Sometimes criticism will come, sometimes thanks. If you want to limit communication with subscribers, do not put your name in Telegram in the channel description, leave only your email address.

You can also create a public chat - then communication with subscribers will be maximized. Just keep in mind that chat is very time consuming.

If you do not want to leave personal data or are going to conduct the channel anonymously, create a bot that will accept incoming messages and forward them to you. This is done very simply. Search for @LivegramBot and click start. You will be transferred to @botfather. There you will need to create a bot that accepts incoming messages (command / newbot). Copy the bot token and submit it to @LivegramBot. After creation, click "Configure bot", select "Texts", specify the language (Russian or English), edit the greeting and the text that the user will see after sending the message. Then include the bot name in your channel description. Now you can anonymously receive messages that the created bot will forward to you.

Is it dangerous to connect a bot to a channel? Not if it's a well-known bot. The bot itself is harmless. To eliminate risks, you can limit his rights. Sometimes the bot makes a mistake and doubles the post, but this happens very rarely. If you are afraid that the bot will do something wrong, limit its rights as much as possible.

Promotion

How to promote a Telegram channel? In short - to make an interesting product that will advertise itself. Why are you subscribed to certain channels? Because you are interested, or because the channel provides useful and necessary information, or because it solves some of your tasks (entertainment is also a task).

If we talk about the principles and tools of promotion, then there are only four of them:

• word of mouth (recommendations of subscribers to friends and acquaintances);
• paid advertising on other Telegram channels;
• mutual PR;
• participation in large thematic collections, collecting 10 or more channels for mutual PR.

Monetization

At the very beginning, I said that before creating a channel, you should ask yourself the question: "Why do I need this?" In my opinion, the most effective way to make money on a channel is to monetize the purpose for which it was created. Suppose you run a channel that sells cat food indirectly (or directly); if the feed is sold through the channel, then this is a way of monetization.

If you are interested in making money directly on the channel, then there are a lot of options. The most obvious (but not the easiest) one is selling ads. With a few thousand subscribers, you will almost certainly be interested in other channel creators who want to advertise with you.

The next obvious way for me is to create special projects with large brands (for example, with publishing houses or writing schools - these are cases from the practice of "Hemingway will call"). Selling native ads for companies (or special projects) through a Telegram channel is an obvious way to monetize.

Finally, you can charge subscribers if you offer them something they want to pay for. For example, you’re a coach and teach 158 people the way to gain self-confidence. Sell yourself to them and get paid for it.

And finally, another way to make money is to sell a Telegram channel. The loudest deal known to me was the sale of the former channel for 5.5 million rubles. It was created by stand-up comedian Artur Chaparyan in June 2017. The channel publishes stereotypical quotes from the girls' messages after the breakup.

The Literary Workshop is a guide to creating non-fictional content in a variety of genres from the Creative Writing School and the Higher School of Economics. Among the authors are famous writers and journalists such as Galina Yuzefovich, Dmitry Bykov and Anton Dolin. They talk about the intricacies of work in their genres, professional skills and their implementation. The presented excerpt belongs to the pen of Yegor Apollonov - a journalist, the creator of his own Telegram channel with 12 thousand subscribers and the author of the book on the anatomy of literature "Write zealously, edit quickly."