Unlike other messaging apps, using Telegram for Business doesn't require any additional software because of the power of Telegram Groups. In this article, we’ll explain what are Telegram Groups and how it stands in an era where global mobility and chatbots are important. We'll also help you decide between Public Telegram Groups and Private Telegram Groups, and understand the differences between Telegram Group and Channel. You’ll learn how to create groups on Telegram, add new members with a Telegram Group invite link, and use Telegram Group features.
Telegram Groups Basics
If you have used WhatsApp groups before, then you know the basic concept of Telegram Groups. Telegram Groups allow you to invite other Telegram users into a single chat, where all members can contribute.
Telegram Group Chat does have one specific benefit over WhatsApp groups though - Telegram Group limit is 200,000 people. We've never participated in a group this size, but we imagine it is quite the experience.
Getting a Telegram group to that size isn't an easy feat and do you even want 200,000 people in your group? To help you moderate your group to the right size, Telegram offers both Public Telegram Groups and Private Telegram Groups.
Private Telegram Groups vs Public Telegram Groups
There are a few key differences between private Telegram groups and public Telegram groups. These differences revolve around how to find the group and who can invite people to the group.
In private Telegram Groups, only the creator of the group or an admin can invite people to the group directly. Telegram groups also have invite links that begin with t.me. Only the creator or an admin has access to the t.me Telegram link.
As you would expect, Telegram Private Groups cannot be found with an in-app search. The group is private, after all.
Public Telegram groups are the polar opposite. They make it as easy as possible to get more users in the groups so that you can use the 200,000 member limit fully. You can use Telegram’s in-app search to find public Telegram groups.
Plus, the Telegram Group invite link is available to all members of the group. That way any member of the group can share the t.me link somewhere on the internet to grow the group.
Public Telegram Groups also can personalize their t.me/joinchat shortcode to make it more attractive to click and get even more members. More on this later.
What are Telegram Groups Used For
With so many different options and configurations, using Telegram Groups for business is possible in almost any situation. In general, Telegram Group Chats can be used internally or externally.
Internally you're more likely to use a private Telegram group. If you're in a country where Telegram is not so popular, Telegram groups could be a great way to separate your work and private life especially in a country where Telegram is not so popular.
You can use Telegram groups for teams, projects & more. For example, you’re an educational institution and run workshops on how to write a good essay. Telegram groups are great for sharing information, discussing and organizing meetups.
Externally you could use both a Telegram Private Group or a Telegram Public Group. Private Telegram groups are useful if you're an agency and would like to create a group for a project that you're working on with a specific customer.
This will allow several people from your team as well as your clients' team to participate in the same chat. Telegram also organizes all the emails, documents and links you send, so no more checking through 10 emails to find what you're looking for.
Public Telegram groups can also be beneficial in communicating with your power users. If you run a software company and are looking for quick feedback from your biggest fans, adding a t.me link on your website to your power user group is a no-brainer.
Imagine you're brainstorming your upcoming features in an internal meeting. Set up a poll in your power user group. You may save yourself a lot of development time by developing only features that your power users vouch for.
Now that you understand what are Telegram Private Groups and Telegram Public Groups used for, it’s time to learn the differences between a Group and Channel in Telegram.
Telegram Group vs Channel
What is the difference between a Telegram Group and Telegram Channel? Although Telegram Groups & Telegram Channels have very similar features, they have been designed with different purposes in mind.
Telegrams Channels let you disseminate information to a broad audience. But if you’re looking for interaction with your audience, you should go for Telegram Group.
On the other hand, Telegram Groups let you run polls and straight-up ask the audience what they think. Your audience will give you feedback and maybe even transform that idea into something you never even considered!
In some ways, the question of Telegram Groups or Telegram Channels is a false question because if you're using Telegram properly, you should be using both. And the best way to use both is to link Telegram Groups to Telegram Channels.
Linking Telegram Groups To Telegram Channels
No matter who your audience is, you're going to have people that are just looking to receive information and those who actually want to participate in a discussion. Telegram allows you to facilitate both of these needs.
When you link a Telegram Group to your Telegram Channel, all the messages you post in your Telegram Channel will be auto-posted in the Telegram Group. This means with a public Telegram Channel, you can send out updates to everyone who wants to hear them.
Then, you can link a private Telegram Group where you can invite the power users who wish to receive actual feedback from. That way, you'll have the best of both worlds, Telegram Groups and Telegram Channels.
To create a discussion Telegram Group for your Telegram Channel, navigate to Info > Edit > Discussion > Create New Group.
Getting Started with Telegram Groups
In this section, you’ll learn how to create Telegram Groups, invite Contacts to a Telegram Group and generate a t.me Telegram Group invite link.
How to Create a Telegram Group
Creating a Telegram Group is easy. In Chats, press the compose button just above search. Then instead of composing a new message, you create a Telegram group by pressing on New Group.
Once you’ve chosen a name for your group, it’s time to add some new members. There are two main ways to add Telegram Group members. You can invite your contacts or create a link to let them join Telegram Group.
Inviting Contacts to a Telegram Group
The easiest way to add members to your Telegram Group is to invite people from your contact list. If you're looking for a way to create a group with friends and family, this is your go-to choice.
To add phone contacts, navigate to Info > Add Member.
Getting a t.me Telegram Group Invite Link
If you're looking to invite more than just your friends, if you'd like to grow a Telegram Group to epic proportions, you can use a t.me Telegram Group invite link. Telegram Links always start with t.me/joinchat.
How to share Telegram link? Once you've created a Telegram Group invite link you can post it on other Telegram groups, on social media, on your website and anywhere else you can think of.
If you have a Telegram Public Group, you'll be able to customize the invite link. This is something you can't do with a private Telegram Group. However, you can always use a URL shortener. To find the invite link navigate to Info > Subscribers > Invite link.
Chat History for New Members on Telegram Groups
Can someone I just added to a group see the Telegram Group previous messages? Yes if you make them visible. Once you added new members to your Telegram Group, you can decide to let them see the Telegram Group chat history or start fresh.
To toggle between hidden and visible chat history, navigate to Info > Edit > Chat History for New Members.
Managing Telegram Groups
Telegram provides a ton of features for managing a Telegram group. To make them easier to digest, we've separated these features into categories: member acquisition, administration, organization, and sanity features.
Telegram Groups Admin Features
Since Telegram Groups can grow as large as 200,000 people, you'll need help managing those groups. Luckily Telegram has provided a ton of features that enable to you add admins, customize permissions, and even see a list of recent administrator actions.
Adding Telegram Group Admins & Managing Admin Permissions
Adding Telegram Group admins is going to help you police a group of 200,000 members. The fantastic thing about Telegram Group admins is you can restrict their permissions. You'll be able to choose if your Telegram Group admins can:
- Change group info
- Delete messages
- Ban users
- Invite users via links
- Pin messages
- Add new admins
These settings can be set individually. So if you want to bring a new admin to go around banning users, you can do that.
To add an admin navigate to Info > Edit > Administrators > Add Admin. To manage admin permissions navigate to Info > Edit > Administrators > Select The Admin > Toggle Permissions.
Telegram Groups Admin Recent Actions
With such granular permissions and the ability to add so many admins, you may worry that admins can take over your Telegram Group and you'll have no idea what they're doing. Surprise, surprise Telegram has already thought about this.
By checking Recent Actions, you'll be able to see a complete log of all the changes that admins have made on the Telegram Group. Recent Actions is a real-time Telegram Group changelog. To access recent actions go to Info > Administrators > Recent Actions.
Telegram Groups Member Permissions
Now I bet you think that Telegram group admin permissions are juicy, that is just the tip of the iceberg because Telegram Groups also have granular member permissions. In a Telegram Group, you can choose if members have permissions to:
- Send messages
- Send media
- Send stickers and gifs
- Embed links
- Send polls
- Add members
- Pin messages
- Change group info
With all these options, there is no doubt you can get your Telegram Group running just the way you like it.
It's incredible that like admins, you can add exceptions and give individual Telegram Group members more or fewer permissions than other members.
To change member permissions navigate to Info > Edit > Permissions. To add or remove permission exceptions navigate to exceptions at the bottom of the permissions page. There you can choose individual members and change their permissions settings.
Telegram Groups Organizational Features
The potential for massive Telegram Group sizes where users can chat means it's going to be relatively easy to lose valuable info in the chat history.
To help you with organizing and sifting through this information, Telegram has provided the ability to search for text, differentiate between types of shared media and pin messages to the top of the Telegram Group.
Telegram Groups Search Function
If you remember a snippet of text that you need, search for it. Telegram makes it easy to navigate up and down the chat history whenever that snippet was mentioned.
To search for a message click on the Telegram Group's name. Click on the magnifying glass, then enter the text you'd like to search for.
Telegram Groups Shared Media
Shared media is my favourite way to search for the important stuff in a Telegram Group chat. In nine out of ten times when I'm looking for something, it's a link.
Telegram Group shared media lets you see all the media, links, docs and audio that have been shared in the group without searching through the entire chat history. To browse through Telegram Group shared media, navigate to Info> Shared Media.
Telegram Groups Pinned Messages
Sometimes a message is so important, or so funny, that you want everyone in the Telegram Group to be able to see it. You can do that by pinning the message to the top of the Telegram Group.
To pin a message, click and hold the message you want to pin > pin.
Telegram Groups Sanity Features
We've discussed a bunch of features for managing a Telegram Group, but sometimes you need a break. To help, Telegram offers the ability to mute Telegram Groups.
Muting a Telegram Group
If you're frustrated and need to mute a Telegram Group you can do that quickly.
To mute the Telegram Group, click on the Telegram Group's name > click on the bell.
Granular Telegram Group Notification Options
If you want to take a short break from a Telegram Group, Telegram gives you the ability to mute Telegram Groups for an hour or two days.
To manage Telegram Group notification settings, navigate to Info > Notifications and select how long you’d like notifications to be muted. These options are useful when you need to get away from the group for a while but not forever.
Further Reading
And that’s everything you need to know about Telegram Groups. If you found this post helpful, you'll be interested in reading the following articles.
