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Hey there, wanna know how to generate social traffic and then monetize it? Yup, we thought you would be hooked. We are talking about monetizing Telegram traffic in particular, and if you are interested in getting to know how to earn from your channel subscribers, stay where you are and read on.
Here’s a case study that reveals how a publisher from Zambia managed to make a nice profit through his Telegram account by using one of Monetag’s formats (spoiler: there’s also a lesson on how to generate impressive traffic on this social platform).
This client of ours has a news website that offers daily analysis of national and global events, and a Telegram channel that has earned a stellar reputation as a go-to source for reliable information, which he uses to direct his followers to visit the website.
He believes the cornerstone of audience retention is trust-building, and in the past, he was afraid to rely on paid advertising, thinking it might have a negative impact on his audience. He wanted to allow his content to speak for itself.
But what he didn’t know is there are ways to serve his readers with ads, and, therefore, monetize his traffic, but in a more subtle and non-intrusive way.
So he decided to give it a go with SmartLink and Monetag, and he didn’t regret it.
According to our publisher, it’s not uncommon for a single post on his Telegram channel to amass 60,000 views within a single day. The content of these posts is very diverse, and it addresses a wide range of topics.
Also, in less than a month (September-October 2023), he had a significant growth in traffic – from 240.000 to 280.000+ channel subscribers:
The reason for it does not lie only in engaging and relevant content – which certainly is a huge factor. The publisher positioned his Telegram channel as more than just an informative source. It became a helping hand for his subscribers.
This is how he explained it:
“For instance, if someone loses their important documents, they can contact us, and we post on their behalf, often leading to successful retrievals. Additionally, we’ve been instrumental in reuniting missing persons with their families, leveraging the wide reach of our platform to make a positive impact.”
On top of that, the publisher made great efforts in developing brand awareness and working on audience retention. In that matter, collaboration with around 45 universities in Ethiopia solidified their position as a well-known and reliable source of information.
“We provide students with essential updates, reinforcing our role as a key information hub. Our channel isn’t just about sharing news; it’s a platform that cares and takes action, and this unique aspect has been central to our growth.”
So it’s pretty clear the publisher had no problems with attracting a targeted audience and keeping them interested. Now it was time to find a way to monetize this organic traffic.
Given that SmarLink is a very flexible monetization solution, it was the perfect choice for this particular client. Smart, or Direct Link, contains multiple offers, and once a user clicks on it, he will be directed to the best offer based on his targeting information.
Note: After you place the link in your content, our system will instantly and automatically make a selection of the most profitable offers, out of thousands of them, that are relevant to your users.
What our client did is he decided to place SmartLinks under each post on his Telegram channel. Here’s what it looks like:
As you can see, the link is not hidden; on the contrary – it is marked as ads, which is what our publisher loves the most about it. The fact that everything stays transparent.
“This approach ensures that my audience remains engaged and that their user experience remains positive”
Monetag was not our publisher’s first choice. Before he partnered with Monetag, he explored other monetization platforms. However, they did not meet all his needs.
“Initially, I contemplated AdSense but found it challenging to navigate. So, I conducted thorough research to identify a platform that matched my requirements. Ultimately, I chose to experiment with both Adsterra and Monetag. Adsterra presented a limitation as it lacked support for Payoneer, a payment method I preferred.” – our publisher explained.
Monetag, on the other hand, was a perfect match, since it appealed to his workflow.
“What sets Monetag apart is its integration of Payoneer, making it convenient for creators like me. The simplicity of Monetag’s platform and the compatibility with my chosen payment method solidified my decision to work exclusively with this monetization platform. This approach aligns with my preference for efficiency and a unified ad platform strategy”,
And we believe achieved results were more than enough proof that he made the right decision. In less than three months, this publisher earned $733 thanks to SmartLink ads he placed on his Telegram channel.
The fact is, he used this social platform to point his audience towards SmartLink, as well as to lead them to his website where he placed some other advertising formats Monetag has to offer. But still, he earned the most from SmartLink, thus this case.
Bear in mind: In our internal charts, SmartLink data is presented as OnClick (Popunder), because both of these formats open landing pages.
And here are the statistics for only several zones of his SmartLink. The publisher added the link under every post on his Telegram channel, and they showed different results:
We are well aware it can be hard for publishers to generate significant traffic, and after they manage to achieve that, they are not about to make some thoughtless moves and risk losing it. That’s why we worked hard, and continue to do so, on finding ways for publishers to monetize Telegram traffic, without compromising user experience and the trust relationship they developed with their audience.
In this particular case, the monetization format that was checking all the boxes was SmartLink – it did the job flawlessly. You saw the results. It brought the publisher some great earnings, but more importantly, it allowed him to stay aligned with his beliefs on how to approach his audience and run his business.
Don’t waste time thinking it’s not possible to have both. Join Monetag today, and in the near future, you can be the one to tell your success story. For starters, you now know what SmartLink is and one way to use it. But check out our other monetization case studies and learn about other monetization formats.