What is Telegram Monitoring? Another Way to Understand Your Customers Better

7 min read

In a recent update, Brand24 has introduced Telegram monitoring. This is part of our mission to help brands avoid major PR crises and protect their reputation online. Monitoring Telegram channels allows companies to track real conversations between their potential clients and offers an innovative way to pursue social selling.

Let’s start with the obvious: you can’t monitor private Telegram conversations. There’s no way to do that legally, and it’s not the focus of this article. However, there are a lot of public channels on Telegram which can be monitored just like other social media platforms. Those channels serve various purposes – there are groups with the latest global news, groups with mobile phone wallpapers, recipe channels for food lovers, and many others. Anyone can start a new public group chat, and many companies do that for advertising purposes.

Telegram monitoring.

This means Telegram monitoring can be useful for any brand that wants to track its presence in public channels.

If you want to avoid a major PR crisis or want to know if your brand reputation is at risk because of some jealous competitors, Telegram monitoring is a great way to track real conversations between potential clients. This app is also a great place to pursue social selling. Because where else can you get so close to people if not in their private communicators?

Telegram monitoring can be useful for any brand that wants to track its presence in public channels. Here’s what you’ll find in this article:

Telegram statistics

First, let’s dive into some statistics about Telegram. This app is not as popular as Messenger or WhatsApp yet, but it’s gaining recognition fast. In January 2022, it had 550 million active users, and it’s the sixth most popular messaging app.

Most popular global mobile messenger apps as of January 2022, based on number of monthly active users (in millions).
Most popular messaging apps in January 2022. Source: Statista.

As I said before, whereas you cannot monitor what people are talking about in most messaging apps, you can track mentions about your brand in public Telegram channels. This is a huge opportunity to discover what people think about your company (or related keywords) in almost-private conversations.

Here’s why people use Telegram:

Why do people use telegram? Statistics.
Reasons for using Telegram. Source: Statista.

Do you see where you can leverage Telegram monitoring?

How can I read someone’s Telegram messages?

If you are here to learn how to spy on Telegram users, you’re in the wrong place. There’s no legal way to read someone else’s Telegram messages unless they give you the permission to do that.

What I’m covering in this article is social media monitoring inside Telegram public channels. And yes, it is possible using various social listening apps, such as Brand24. Our Telegram monitoring tool is now available for all users, contact us for more info.

If you are a Telegram user, chances are you are already subscribed to public groups. There are a few useful articles on the web that will teach you how to do that. The easiest way is to use the in-app search bar – swipe down from the Chat menu and type in your interest, as seen in the screenshot below.

Searching for Telegram public groups for monitoring.
In-app search bar. This is how you can find channels for Telegram monitoring.

Can someone read my Telegram messages?

If you are worried that some malicious app can read your private conversations, you can stay calm. There’s no way anyone can spy on your chats unless you have malware installed on your phone.

The focus of this article is monitoring public Telegram channels – those everyone has access to (even without installing the app).

To answer the question – someone may read your Telegram messages only if they are published in a public chat. All your private conversations, both 1-on-1 and group chats, are safe. Unless, of course, somebody tries to install surveillance software on your device.

If you don’t want someone unauthorized reading your conversations, always check the in-app privacy settings. Security first!

How can I monitor the Telegram app?

Brand mentions in Telegram are visible in public groups, such as news channels. Those topical chats can be accessed even if you don’t have a Telegram account.

Because Telegram shares its API, various bots and crawlers can access the app for the monitoring features. Then, you can add interesting chats to the crawler, so the tracking app will gather all mentions in one place.

Simply set up a new project in a Telegram monitoring app and add the keywords you want to track. You’ll get notifications each time your brand or keyword is mentioned in the public channels you monitor.

At Brand24 we are now rolling out Telegram monitoring for all users.

Screenshot of Brand24 Telegram tracking app.
Monitoring Telegram with Brand24: mentions for keyword “Bitcoin” gathered from popular channels.

Start monitoring Telegram with Brand24. No card required for the free 14-day trial.

How can you benefit from a Telegram tracker?

How can you leverage Telegram tracking in your business? If you are new to the topic, check our other article on the benefits of social listening.

Monitoring Telegram and other chat apps will give you valuable insights into what people are saying about your brand. When combined with tools like Brand24 for sentiment analysis, this can help you avert a potential PR crisis.

Here are some ways you can benefit from a Telegram tracker:

PR management

You can be present on Twitter and Facebook and monitor popular media, but the best way to discover what people think about your brand is to track regular conversations. This is where the magic happens.

Of course, you cannot spy on personal chats in Meta Messenger or text messages, but you can use social listening tools like Brand24 to track what’s public. And lot of Telegram groups are public.

To find out how your company is perceived, seek channels where the brand is likely to get mentioned, and take action where needed. If people start talking about your brand because they don’t like it, your PR manager can catch that before it spreads to mainstream media. 

Competition market analysis

When you start monitoring certain keywords related to your brand, you can identify your competitors through a Telegram tracker. This way, you can quickly find out about a rising competitor, how they advertise on Telegram, and how they compare to you.

You will also find out more about your niche, not from global reports, but from regular Joes – and these are usually more personal, useful insights.

FAQ

There are probably a lot of questions about your brand that are lost without an answer. With Telegram monitoring, you can be responsive. Additionally, if some doubts appear too often, you can fix your website to answer such questions.

Resolve problems with your product

Sometimes you users won’t submit support tickets or ask you directly about some problems with the product. Instead, they will seek help on social media. Telegram monitoring is a good method to join the conversation and offer a hand as a company.

Testimonials

Social proof is one of the best ways to show that your brand is real and good. That’s why testimonials are a valuable addition to your marketing communication.

While monitoring Telegram chats, you will be able to gather real-life quotes about your company.

And of course, as it usually comes with marketing, the possibilities are endless and limited only to your creativity. If you have a unique way of using Telegram monitoring, we would love to hear that!

Screenshot of Brand24 Telegram tracker. Positive mentions for keyword "Bitcoin".
Telegram monitoring in Brand24: filtering mentions by positive sentiment.

Beware of free Telegram spy apps

As I’ve said before, you can’t use media monitoring apps to spy on Telegram secret conversations. They are protected and encrypted. It is illegal to target devices with a spy app.

Under no circumstances should you install any Telegram spy tool, especially a free one. They are most likely scam software intended to steal your data.

If you want to listen to what people are talking about in public chats, you should stick to a reliable and recommended Telegram tracker.

Use Brand24 as a Telegram monitoring app! Start your free trial today.

Should I start Telegram monitoring?

Now that you know all about monitoring Telegram messenger, a question appears. Is it worth investing in a Telegram tracker and monitor text messages?

It all depends on your job and the company you work for. If you want to invest in PR management and know that your brand can be mentioned on certain channels, using a social listening tool for Telegram tracking makes all the sense in the world.

A Telegram tracker is an awesome insight into what context your brand is mentioned in real conversations. All you need to do is choose the right public channels and start monitoring messages. A perfect tracking app will additionally send you notifications whenever your brand is spoken of.

If you want to try Telegram monitoring with Brand24, be sure to follow us on social media, start a free trial, or contact us directly.

Read more: Telegram marketing guide

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