How to launch Telegram Ads — step-by-step guide

This guide walks through the practical steps to run your first Telegram Ads campaign. It assumes you are doing it yourself; if you want a team to run it, see g.media.

#1. Choose your cabinet

Most launches start in the **EUR cabinet** because of the largest inventory and most predictable economics. Pick TON only if you have a crypto/web3 product with on-chain activity. Pick Stars if you are launching a mini-app and need App Center boost.

See /wiki/eur-vs-ton-vs-stars for the deeper decision tree.

#2. Sign up and verify (1–5 days)

For the EUR cabinet, register at **ads.telegram.org**. Provide:

• Legal entity (company name + address)
• Beneficial owner identity
• Source-of-funds declaration
• Initial top-up commitment (typically minimum €1,500–3,000)

Telegram reviews 1–5 business days. Crypto-related entities may need additional KYC. Once verified, you get cabinet access.

#3. Top up the balance

Wire transfer or card (depending on region). Minimum top-up is usually €500. Balance is denominated in EUR. Unspent balance refunds are slow (4–8 weeks) — only top up what you plan to spend in 30 days.

#4. Build your first creative

A sponsored message has three fields:

• **Text** — up to 160 chars, must be in one of Telegram's supported languages
• **Banner image** (optional but recommended) — 1280×720, JPEG/PNG, under 1 MB
• **CTA button** — pointing to a channel (t.me/...), bot, mini-app, or external URL (if external, Telegram approval is stricter)

Don't waste a slot on weak creative — Telegram's moderation is strict on misleading copy, ALL-CAPS, excessive emojis, claims-without-disclaimer.

#5. Set targeting

• **Language** — required (at least one)
• **Topic categories** — pick 1–5 from Telegram's taxonomy
• **Channels allow-list** — optional, pick specific channels you want to target
• **Geo** — optional, narrows by user region

Tighter targeting = higher CPM but better conversion. For a launch test, go broader first to find which segments convert.

#6. Submit for moderation (1–4 hours)

Once submitted, the creative sits in the moderation queue. First-time advertisers usually wait longer. Expect approval in 1–4 hours during business hours, up to 24h on weekends. Rejection reasons are explained in the cabinet — fix and resubmit.

#7. Watch first 24 hours

The first day is your validation:

• **CTR baseline** — 0.3–1 % is normal for B2C, higher for very niche targeting
• **CPM baseline** — should land within your bid range; if you set €1.5 CPM and the system says €2.8 actual, raise bid or narrow targeting
• **Conversion rate** — track on your landing page, not Telegram side

If CTR is below 0.1 % after 50K impressions, creative is the problem — iterate.

#8. Scale or kill (after 3–7 days)

Common pattern: launch 3–5 creative variants, kill the bottom 2, double bid on the top. Refresh creatives every 14 days to fight /info/creative-fatigue.

#What goes wrong

The three most common failure modes:

1. **Weak landing page** — Telegram users click then bounce. Optimise landing speed + first-screen value-prop.

2. **Wrong cabinet** — running B2C in TON cabinet when audience lives in EUR cabinet (or vice versa).

3. **Static creative** — same banner for 60 days. Fatigue kills CTR by 50 % in week 2.

#Spying on competitors first

Before launching, look at what competitors run. The Telegram Ads Spy archive shows every active creative per niche/geo — see which formats convert and which die fast.

#When to hire help

If your monthly media budget is below $2K, run it yourself. If between $5K and €100K/month, hire an agency that knows the cabinets cold. G.Media Agency runs Catizen, Blum, MemeFi — book a 20-minute strategy call to scope your launch.