How to write a Telegram ad: text, image, video and button

The parts of an ad

The ad appears in the channel as an ordinary post published by the bot. It has three parts at most: an image or video if you want one, then the text and the button.

Formats: what you can put in the ad

• With text alone you have up to 4096 characters.
• Add an image or a video and the text becomes the caption, with up to 1024 characters.
• Images are resized to 400 pixels wide, so choose simple subjects that read well at a small size.
• Video can be MP4 or MOV, and it is published as it is, with streaming playback.
• An image or video can weigh up to 15 MB.
• In the text you can use bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, code and links.
• There is one button, with text of your choice and your link.

Text over the limit is shortened and closed with “…”, and the formatting is lost in the cut. It's better to write it within the limit from the start.

Writing the text

1. One message, one action. There is a single button, so let the text lead up to it.
2. Start with the most important thing. Readers scroll through the channel, and the first line should already say what this is about.
3. Write in the language of the channel. You picked channel languages with targeting, so write the text in those.
4. Make the button a promise you keep. A verb and a clear destination (“See the schedule”, “Discover the course”) tell people what happens after the tap, and your page should show exactly that.
5. Keep the words in the text, not in the image. At 400 pixels wide, small lettering is hard to read: if a sentence matters, put it in the message.

The link and the landing page

The button link starts with https, has a valid certificate and points to a public address. KnockAds checks it when you move to the next step. The landing page opens from a post's button, also on a phone, so let it load fast and confirm right away what the ad said.

KnockAds counts the click on the button as valid, and that click goes through a tracked link. The link you care about goes in the button; you can repeat it in the text.

Who answers for the content

Write what is true and what you can prove, whether it's results, earnings or timing. The content of the ad is the advertiser's responsibility: it has to respect the law and other people's rights, and neither KnockAds nor the channel that hosts the ad answers for it.

When the text is ready, the step-by-step guide shows how to enter it, check the preview and launch the campaign. The article on valid clicks covers what to read afterwards.