To create an ad on Telegram, you need a Telegram Ads account. You can open it through the Aitarget platform. On Aitarget, you can choose which type of ad account to create: basic (TON) or advanced (EURO).

The process takes up to one business day. Once the account is ready, you will receive a notification via email. After that, simply log in to the advertising system and go to your dashboard.

❗ The setup capabilities differ between basic (TON) and advanced (EURO) ad accounts. This guide applies to creating an ad in a TON-based account.

Launching an advertising campaign in Telegram is straightforward. The ad settings are similar to other advertising platforms. Let’s go through the process step by step.

Creating first ad

Setting up a campaign

Log in to your Telegram Ads account and select the account where you want to create the ad. Click “Create a new ad.”

A window will open with parameters for your future ad. You can set up ithem based on your goals.

Enter your ad name (Ad title). This name is visible only to you. It’s recommended to keep it short but informative so it’s easy to find in the campaign list and use for analytics.

For example, include:

• what you are promoting
• your targeting
• the offer or targeting type used

💡 Example: TG_Ads_apartments3_interests

• TG_Ads — indicates the channel and helps compare performance with other platforms
• apartments3 — refers to a specific apartment type
• interests — indicates interest-based targeting‍

‍Writing the ad text

Now proceed to the ad itself. Add your ad text. Note that it must not exceed 160 characters.

❗ Follow Telegram’s style, spelling, and punctuation rules (similar to other ad platforms):

• Do not use profanity, insults, or vulgar language
• Use standard sentence case (no ALL CAPS or spaced-out words)
• Avoid excessive symbols, exclamation marks, and emojis
• You may use one standard or multiple custom emojis (custom emojis increase CPM by 20%)
• Avoid direct address (“you”) and imperative verbs like “Subscribe” or “Buy”
• Do not address specific audiences (e.g., avoid “Channel for girls”)
• Ensure grammatical correctness and alignment with the landing page
• Do not promote prohibited products or topics

💡 If you see a “URL invalid” error while writing the ad text, it may be because the landing page link hasn’t been added yet. Make sure the URL field is filled correctly.

Adding a link and previewing the ad

When creating an ad, it is important to properly set up the link and preview to achieve maximum effectiveness. Here are a few tips 👇

In the “URL you want to promote” field, you can add links to:

• a public Telegram channel
• a chatbot
• a specific post in a public channel

💡 The CTA button text is not editable and is automatically set by Telegram depending on the type of link.

Setting the budget: CPM, total, and daily

Telegram Ads uses a CPM (Cost Per Mille) model — you set the price per 1,000 impressions.

💡  If this is your first campaign, start with the minimum bid. If impressions are low, competition in the niche may be high — increase the bid in your next campaign.

Additional settings:

• Daily views limit per user — limits impressions per user per day (not unique impressions).

• Initial Budget — maximum total spend for the campaign. Start with 2–3 days’ budget for control. After launcing ad you can edit it.

Scheduling ads

If you choose the first option, the campaign will begin immediately after moderation, allowing you to set an end date. However, if you choose the second option, a specialist will launch the campaign, and you'll be able to set not only an end date but also a start date.

After selecting an option, you can set up a display schedule by checking the 'Ad Schedule' box. Then, configure the schedule, with the days of the week displayed vertically and the hours displayed horizontally.

Setting the audience

In Basic (TON) Telegram Ads dashboards, you can only target specific channels.

❗  There are no other targeting restrictions in basic accounts. This means you can target all countries and languages, except for users located in Russia, Ukraine, Palestine, and Israel.

Here are a few rules for working with channel targeting in basic ad accounts:

• Channels (from 1,000 subscribers) are added manually using a channel link format.
• Telegram suggests similar channels based on the selected topic.
• It is not possible to edit the channel list in an active campaign — you need to create a copy with a different set of channels.
• You cannot view performance statistics for each individual channel — only at the campaign level.
• If you need channel-level statistics, you must create a separate campaign for each channel.

❗ Tip from the experts at Aitarget: it’s better to separate large channels into individual campaigns, while smaller ones can be grouped together.

• The campaign budget can be adjusted during its runtime. For example, if a campaign is underperforming, you can reallocate its budget to another campaign.