Getting your first 100 Telegram subscribers is the hardest part. Not because the tactics are complicated — they’re not — but because you’re building from zero, and every early mistake compounds. The same handful of errors shows up again and again in new channels. Here’s what actually works.
1. Write a welcome message that earns attention in the first 10 seconds
Most bots send a wall of text the moment a user types /start. Most users close the chat before they finish reading it. Your welcome message should do three things: confirm the user is in the right place, deliver one immediate piece of value, and ask a single question that invites a reply.
Here’s a sample config you can drop into any bot that uses the AdChat flow builder:
{
"type": "send_message",
"data": {
"text": "Hey {{first_name}} 👋 You just joined the AdChat newsletter on Telegram.\n\nEvery week I share one actionable tip about chat marketing — no fluff, no paid promotions.\n\nQuick question: are you building a Telegram channel, a chatbot, or both?",
"buttons": [
[
{
"id": "btn_channel",
"text": "Building a channel",
"type": "postback",
"value": "channel"
},
{ "id": "btn_bot", "text": "Building a bot", "type": "postback", "value": "bot" },
{ "id": "btn_both", "text": "Both", "type": "postback", "value": "both" }
]
]
}
}This single question gives you a segment tag for every subscriber from day one. The moment they tap a button you know what content they care about.
2. Use your existing audience as a launch platform
If you have an Instagram account, an email list, a website, or even a personal WhatsApp group — announce your Telegram channel there first. Don’t start Telegram in isolation. An audience you already reach somewhere else is the cheapest source of first subscribers.
A few things that work particularly well:
- Instagram Stories with a swipe-up or link sticker pointing to
t.me/yourusername. Stories perform better than feed posts for this because the call to action is immediate. - Email signature — add a one-line “Get my Telegram tips:” with your channel link. It’s passive but it compounds over months.
- A pinned tweet or LinkedIn post — a short thread or post explaining what you’ll cover on Telegram and what’s in it for them. Include the link at the end of every paragraph, not just at the bottom.
The goal isn’t a viral spike. The goal is a steady trickle from every place you already have attention. A trickle from five places beats a burst from one.
3. Create a lead magnet that requires a Telegram subscription to receive
This is the highest-leverage tactic on the list. You create something genuinely useful — a checklist, a template, a short guide, a mini-course — and deliver it via your Telegram bot. Not via email. Not as a PDF link. Via the bot, after they start it.
What makes this work:
- The user has a reason to start the bot beyond vague curiosity
- They get immediate, tangible value before you’ve asked them for anything
- They’re already “in” the conversation interface; follow-up messages don’t require them to open a separate app or inbox
The lead magnet doesn’t need to be long. A single-page checklist titled “15 things to do before your first Telegram broadcast” converts better than a 40-page ebook. Specificity and immediate applicability matter more than length.
4. Set up a join-and-confirm sequence before you worry about content
Before you have 100 subscribers, don’t obsess over posting frequency or content calendar. Obsess over your join flow. When someone joins, what happens? If the answer is “they get added to the channel and see whatever I last posted,” you’re leaving subscribers on the table.
A minimal join sequence that works:
- Instant welcome — the message described in tactic 1
- Value delivery — if you have a lead magnet, send it here
- 48-hour follow-up — a single message checking if they got what they came for and pointing to one more resource
- Day 7 re-engagement — a short message with your most popular piece of content
Each of these is a BullMQ-backed flow step in AdChat. You set it up once, it runs for every subscriber automatically. Follow-ups at 48 hours and on day 7 are the two that most often keep early subscribers engaged.
5. Partner with one complementary channel owner
Look for Telegram channels in adjacent niches with 200–2000 subscribers. Not mega-channels. Small, engaged ones. Reach out to the owner personally (not through a form, not through a bot) and propose a simple shoutout swap: they mention your channel once in their chat, you mention theirs.
A few rules that make this work:
- Adjacent, not competing. If you run a Telegram channel for handmade ceramics buyers, a good partner is a home decor channel, not another ceramics channel.
- Match engagement, not raw subscriber count. A channel with 800 subscribers and 40% read rate is worth ten channels with 5,000 subscribers and 3% read rate.
- Do it in writing. Agree on what the shoutout will say, when it goes out, and whether it’s a one-time swap or ongoing. Keep it simple.
A single well-matched partner can carry you through the early stretch, which puts you in a position where tactic 3 and 4 can take over.
The first 100 subscribers are slow. That’s normal. The tactics above compound: a better welcome message means higher retention, which means your channel looks more active, which makes partnership pitches easier, which brings more subscribers, which gives you more data to improve the welcome message. Start with one tactic, do it well, then add the next.
If you’re building on Telegram and want to automate the join flow without writing code, that’s exactly what AdChat was built for. Start free and connect your first channel in under 5 minutes.
