Chat app Telegram challenges Meta with the launch of new ‘Business’ features and revenue-sharing

Messaging app Telegram is gearing up to take on Meta’s WhatsApp and Messenger with a new set of business-oriented features as well as support for ad revenue sharing. Officially launching this weekend after an earlier announcement, Telegram Business introduces options such as a personalized start page, as well as the ability to set business hours, use canned replies, welcome messages, and more. absence, chatbots, tags for discussions, etc.

Meanwhile, public Telegram channels with at least 1,000 subscribers can now earn 50% of revenue from ads served on their channels.

The features arrived just weeks after Telegram founder Pavel Durov told the Financial Times in an interview that he expected the app, which now has more than 900 million users, to become profitable by 2025.

Telegram Business is clearly part of this push, leading to a future IPO, as it is an offering that requires users to subscribe to the paid Premium version to access it.

Telegram Premium is an upgraded feature set that costs $4.99 per month on iOS and Android and is also available as a three-month, six-month, or one-year plan. (Premium can also be purchased in-app via @PremiumBot on Android, desktop and Mac. This is offered at a discounted rate as Telegram does not have to share commission with app stores.)

In December 2022, Telegram Premium surpassed its first million subscribers. In January 2024, Durov announced that Premium had grown to 5 million subscribers, after reaching 4 million the previous month, indicating that subscriber growth is accelerating.

Telegram Business will likely give Premium another boost as it offers tools and features that can be used by business customers without needing to know how to code.

For example, businesses can choose to display their opening hours and location on a map, and welcome customers with a personalized empty chat homepage where they can choose the text and sticker that they want. users see before starting a conversation. Similar to the features available on WhatsApp, Telegram Business will offer “quick replies”, which are shortcuts to predefined messages that support formatting, links, media, stickers and files.

Businesses can also set their own personalized welcome messages for customers who are interacting with the business for the first time, and they can specify a period of time after which the welcome message will be displayed again. They can manage their availability using out of office messages when the business is closed or the owner is on vacation.

Additionally, businesses can categorize their chats using colored labels based on the chat folders they are in, such as Delivery, Complaint, Orders, VIP, Comments, or anything else that matters to them. seems relevant.

Additionally, businesses can create chat links that will instantly open a Telegram chat with a request for action like tracking an order or reserving a table, among others. Business customers can also add Telegram bots, including those from other AI tools or assistants, to respond to messages on their behalf.

The company said that more features will be rolled out to Telegram Business in future updates.

Durov has already hinted at what this might include, having told the FT earlier this month that Telegram aims to launch AI-powered chatbots for business users.

Overall, these features could introduce competition to a market where Meta’s apps like Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp have a stranglehold on business communication. Even Apple has only carved out a small niche in this space, with its Apple Messages for Businesses, used by companies like Shopify, Aramark, Four Seasons, Harry & David, Delta, American Express, Dish, Discover, Hilton, Lowe’s and Wells Fargo. , West Elm, Kimpton Hotels, Vodafone Germany and others.

Although access to Telegram’s new business features requires a Premium subscription, there is no additional cost on top of that to activate the new options. (They can be found under Settings > Telegram Business in the app.)

Beyond monetization through Premium subscriptions, the company generates revenue through Telegram Ads; it recently announced advertising revenue sharing using toncoin (a token on the TON blockchain). The company has now launched the revenue sharing program, it announced on Sunday.

Previously, Telegram experimented with the TON blockchain to auction usernames and launched a crypto wallet in all markets outside the United States.