Turning traffic into $50 a day: A Telegram Mini App success story
When a Hong Kong-based publisher decided to try out Telegram Mini Apps, they didn’t know what to expect. They started out with a simple vision: create a play-to-earn platform where users could enjoy free mini-games and earn tokens with instant withdrawals. However, they didn’t anticipate the incredible response—155,000 monthly users, 42,000 active subscribers, and daily earnings of over $50.
Getting there wasn’t easy––our publisher faced user acquisition and scaling challenges as users increased weekly. However, thanks to the help of a strong technological team and Monetag’s monetization options, this publisher overcame every challenge in their way.
This case study takes you behind the scenes of their journey—how they built their app, tackled growth challenges, and created a thriving platform with the help of Monetag.
Let’s see how it all came together!
Case study details: About the publisher
- App type: Play-to-earn Telegram Mini App offering games like Crash, Mines, Dice, and Limbo
- Ad format: Rewarded interstitial
- Results:
- Over 155,000 monthly users
- 42,000 active subscribers
- Up to $54.44 earned per day
- CPM rate – $5
Our publisher works with a small but dedicated team. With a background in app development, they saw an opportunity in Telegram Mini Apps:
“Before working with Telegram Mini Apps, I was focused on app development and monetization strategies. The idea came from seeing the potential in combining easy-to-access mini apps with ad partnerships to generate scalable revenue.”
Their idea was simple: create a play-to-earn app where users could enjoy free games and earn tokens with instant withdrawals. The result was a Telegram Mini App bot offering mini-games as they explain:
“Our bot is a play-to-earn telegram app where users can play free games like crash, dice, mines, and limbo to earn tokens and instantly withdraw to their Solana wallet. Our bot is one of the only apps that offers instant withdrawal to SOL.”
Today, users interact with the bot by playing free games like Crash, Mines, Dice, and Limbo, as shown in the screenshots below, and completing tasks to earn tokens. These activities are supported by the team’s consistent updates and a commitment to improving the experience for their fast-growing user base.
Building the bot and gaining traction
It took just 3–4 weeks for our publisher and their team of five to develop the bot, and an additional 2 weeks to understand how Mini App monetization worked. The process was fast-paced but focused, with a clear goal to create a highly engaging experience using airdrops and campaigns through another ad network:
Initially, the main strategy was to promote the app by giving weekly airdrops to top users and promote the app using another ad network’s campaigns.
These promotions built momentum in the early days, attracting users who were excited by the app’s unique play-to-earn model and token rewards. To drive more engagement, the team posted daily updates in their Telegram chat, like the example below.
Our publisher’s strategy effectively created initial traction, but challenges arose. The first was user acquisition. Although Telegram Mini Apps are popular, it’s still important to differentiate your own app from others.
“We don’t have too many competitors in this space as most Telegram apps focus on tap-to-earn concepts, whereas our bot is play-to-earn with airdrops,” the publisher noted.
They relied on cross-promotion with other Telegram apps and targeted campaigns to grow their audience and stand out from the crowd.
The second challenge was scalability. As their app grew in popularity, the team faced technical hurdles.
“Scalability was one issue we faced as users were increasing drastically every week. We had to improve our servers and technology to scale and handle 1 million+ users,” the publisher shared. This quick adaptability allowed the bot to keep up with its rapidly growing audience.
Monetizing on Telegram with Monetag
Once the bot was live and attracting traffic, the publisher turned to Monetag to monetize further. With strong user engagement and solid traffic numbers, they qualified for a personal account manager, who provided ongoing guidance and support to optimize the processes.
Note: Even for publishers without an account manager, Monetag’s support team is highly responsive and always ready to help!
The key to monetization was using Monetag’s Rewarded Interstitial ad format, which allows users to view ads and earn tokens without disrupting their gameplay.
Unlike paid-to-click ads, users are not required to click or convert; they simply need to view the ad. As our publisher explained:
We display most ads to our users, and they can view ads on interest after playing a few free games to earn more tokens or by going to the task section to view one ad every 60 minutes.
This non-intrusive format was a natural fit. Users could watch ads to earn extra tokens, which they could then use to play more games. The screenshot below shows an example of the task section on our publisher’s Mini App.
Our publisher reported that this setup with Monetag increased their earnings compared to other networks they tried.
“Monetag stands out with its diverse range of payout methods, including PayPal, Skrill, Wire Transfer, ePayments, and Payoneer—offering unmatched convenience for publishers. In comparison, other networks only support USDT on the TON network, which can be restrictive and challenging for publishers.
Monetag also excels in customer support, providing prompt and reliable assistance whenever needed. Their verification process is quick and seamless, enabling you to start monetizing your traffic almost instantly. Moreover, in terms of earnings, Monetag outperforms other networks significantly—we’ve seen a 60% higher revenue with Monetag compared to other networks.”
Results in numbers
If you’re wondering whether Telegram Mini Apps can really deliver results, this bot’s numbers make a strong case. By combining user engagement with Monetag’s monetization options, our publisher has turned their app into a steady and profitable platform. Here’s what the numbers look like:
- Monetization period: 6/10/2024 – 11/11/2024
- Daily earnings: Up to $54.44 per day.
- Top geographies: Most users come from Nigeria, Algeria, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Germany, the United States, Vietnam, Morocco, and Yemen.
- Impressions: Nearly 90,000 impressions in a single reporting period, demonstrating strong user engagement.
- Total earnings per period: $447.98
Final thoughts: Scaling and advice
The success of this Telegram Mini App is only the beginning. Our publisher has big plans to keep users engaged and grow their platform further.
“We are planning on launching more features to our bot by implementing more ways to increase user engagement by adding in-app purchasable items like “boosters” which will increase the token that can be earned.”
These updates will create even more value for users while driving additional revenue. For others looking to enter the Telegram Mini App space, our publisher offers this key piece of advice:
“The main requirement will be server management and a solid tech stack to handle thousands of users.”
With rapid user growth being a potential challenge, having scalable infrastructure in place from the start is essential.
