How to use Telegram as a customer service channel

Written byEsmee van vliet

The messaging app Telegram is getting more and more popular. The app already has over 500 million monthly active users. With Telegram, you can send messages, photos, videos, and files of any type. Telegram is known for its secure privacy policy and speed. It’s mostly used in Asia and on Android devices. But what if you want to use Telegram as a customer service channel for your business?

In this blog, you’ll learn:

3 benefits of Telegram
5 ways to use Telegram as a customer service channel
How to use Telegram with your customer service team

Let’s dive in.

3 benefits of Telegram

When it comes to customer communication, a lot of businesses are concerned about privacy and security. However, Telegram is actually known for its secure app. That’s why the 3 most important benefits of Telegram are:

End-to-end encryption. Your conversations are completely encrypted from end to end if you use the secret chat mode.
Self-destructing messages. You can set up a period of time after which you want messages to be deleted.
Large file sizes. Telegram supports file attachments up to 2GB. So you can send your customers finally some bigger files.

5 ways to use Telegram as a customer service channel

If your customers are active on Telegram, it’s a good idea to be active on the app too. After all, you want to be on all your customer’s favorite channels. Even if it’s just a small percentage of your customers. There are multiple ways you can use Telegram as a customer service channel. We’ve summed up five.

1. Telegram groups

If you want to communicate with a large group of your customers, you can easily create a Telegram group. You can access the messages in the group on any device. You can also make groups public and pin important messages to the top, so all members can see them. Telegram allows you to make groups of up to 2000 members. With Telegram groups, you can communicate directly to a big chunk of your customers.

2. Telegram channels

The second interesting way to boost your customer service is to start a channel on Telegram. You can use it to keep your customers up-to-date about the latest information, sales, promotion, new collections and more. You can also send broadcasting messages to your customers in the channel and track view count.

3. Sharing large files

Instead of sending a follow-up email with the new fall brochure, you can now send files to your customers on Telegram. This way, all your customer communication happens in one place. You can forward the file or access them from any of your other devices, including your computer. Telegram allows you to send content up to 2GB.

4. Video calling

What if your YouTube webinar could be on Telegram? With Telegram, you can start a video call with up to 1000 viewers. This allows you to update your customers about new features or for example broadcast your new fall collection in one app. You can also offer live support during these calls. On top of that, you can share a presentation or screen during the video.

5. Voice messages

The last way to use Telegram as a customer service channel is via voice messages. You can send voice messages to your customers or prospects in channels, private conversations or groups. This way, you can inform a large group of customers about product releases or promotions, or quickly help an individual customer with a question.

How to use Telegram with your customer service team

So there are multiple ways you can use Telegram as a customer service channel. But what if you work within a team? You want to make sure you can collaborate efficiently in Telegram. You could ask everyone in your team to download the app, but it’s much more efficient to integrate Telegram in a customer service platform.

This way, you can combine Telegram —together with all your other communication channels— into one platform. So every message ends up in the same inbox. The inbox you and your team are all managing together. That’s a lot more efficient, right?

Use Telegram as a customer service channel with Trengo

Do you want to use Telegram as a customer service channel? In Trengo you can combine all your channels —including Telegram— into one platform. Stop switching between different platforms and save your customer service team time.