Chatbots are modernizing the way businesses handle marketing, interactions, and customer service. We are already seeing a massive surge in the use of chatbots for websites, but the trend is now shifting to other platforms as well.
Since Telegram is also a popular communication medium between customers and businesses, you can now also create a chatbot for Telegram. This is what we will cover in today’s article. Here, you will get to learn all about the Telegram chatbot, including its working principle, benefits, and how to create it. So, let’s get started!
- What is a Telegram Chatbot?
- How Does a Telegram Chatbot Work?
- How to Use Chatbot in Telegram?
- Why Use Telegram Chatbot?
- How to Create a Telegram Chatbot? Step-by-Step Process
- Best Practices for Telegram Chatbot
- Conclusion
What is a Telegram Chatbot?
A Telegram chatbot is a program that replies to messages on Telegram autonomously. Think of it as a well-trained robot that can interact with multiple customers at the same time, 24/7.
The chatbot for Telegram is trained beforehand on how to interact with different customers and what answers to give. For example, if a customer is asking for product-related information, the chatbot can provide an authentic answer instantly.
Simply put, the Telegram chatbot is a bot that is readily available to chat, assist, and provide the required information to customers 24/7.
How Does a Telegram Chatbot Work?
The working principle of a Telegram chatbot is like a human brain. It was taught beforehand on how to continue the conversations with the customers for specific queries.
Whenever a customer asks a question, the chatbot looks for a similar question in its knowledge base and then replies with the corresponding saved answer.
Telegram chatbots are built through chatbot builders like ManyChat. These builders provide a visual chatbot builder to create a conversational flow on how to continue the conversations with customers.
There are usually three main elements in a conversational flow:
- Trigger: It informs the chatbot when to begin the conversation.
- Action: It informs the chatbot what to do.
- Condition: It performs checks based on predefined conditions to respond accordingly.
To better understand, let’s consider an example and see how a chatbot Telegram typically works.
If you initiate the Telegram chatbot of Chatimize, you will get the below response:
The conversational flow of the above chatbot is created in ManyChat as follows:
So, the three elements discussed above work as follows:
- If a customer sends a message with the keyword “Hi”, “Hello”, or “Hey”, the chatbot responds with the above flow (the trigger).
- Before responding, the chatbot validates whether the customer is new or talked before (the condition).
- If the customer is new, they get the message we showed above. Otherwise, it receives the second message (the action).
This way, you can first create a Telegram chatbot with a visual builder and then let it respond to customers’ messages based on triggers, actions, and conditions.
How to Use Chatbot in Telegram?
It is very easy and intuitive to use a Telegram bot. All you have to do is follow the three simple steps.
First, launch the Telegram app on a desktop or phone and search the Telegram chatbot in the search bar.
Afterward, tap “Start” to begin the conversation with the chatbot.
Once the chatbot shows up, start interacting with the chatbot.
Why Use Telegram Chatbot?
Before we discuss the steps to create a Telegram chatbot, it is important to understand why we should use one. There are many reasons why a chatbot for Telegram can be beneficial. Some of the main ones are as follows:
1. Customer Service Chatbot
The first and the major benefit of using the Telegram bot is to provide automated answers to customers. Whenever customers ask questions from the chatbot, it will instantly provide authentic answers. In addition, it can respond to queries from multiple customers at the same time. This way, you can save significant labor costs and increase customer satisfaction.
2. Telegram Group Chatbot
You can use the chatbot for a Telegram group as follows:
- Send a greeting message to new group joiners.
- Ban users sending inappropriate words.
- Answer questions asked by users in the group.
In short, a Telegram bot helps to manage groups efficiently.
3. Sales Chatbot
A telegram chatbot can also serve as a virtual sales agent that can help boost sales. It can assist customers with product recommendations, placing orders, tracking orders, and other sales-related activities. In addition, you can use it to send a sales message (discounts or product releases) to hundreds of Telegram contacts.
4. Internal Communication
A Telegram chatbot is also usable as an internal communication bot to keep employees engaged. You can use it to manage schedules, share news, get feedback, etc.
How to Create a Telegram Chatbot? Step-by-Step Process
A Telegram chatbot may look challenging to create, but once you go through the below steps, you will notice how easy it is to create a chatbot. So, start with the below steps one by one to create a working Telegram chatbot:
Step 1. Launch Telegram and Start a Conversation with BotFather
Launch the Telegram app on your computer or smartphone. Search for “BotFather” and tap “Start” to begin the conversation.
Step 2. Use “/newbot” to Create a New Bot
Now, you have to create a new bot. For that, type “/newbot” in the conversation with BotFather.
Afterward, type the name of your Telegram chatbot.
After that, BotFather will ask you to specify the username for the bot. So, type the username that you want to represent for your business.
Step 3. Generate and Copy the Telegram API Token
By this step, your Telegram bot is created. So, copy the Telegram API Token, as it is required for later use.
Step 4. Pick the Telegram Chatbot Builder and Configure with Telegram
Now, you have to choose a chatbot builder to design the bot flow. For this guide, we will use ManyChat, as it is an easy-to-use and feature-rich visual chatbot builder.
So, go to the ManyChat website and create a free account. To do that, click the “Get Started Free” button.
Choose “Telegram“.
Sign in to your Telegram account and complete the required verification.
Next, you have to connect ManyChat with the Telegram chatbot you made earlier. For that, click Settings > Telegram > Connect.
Click “Create new bot“.
Paste the API token you copied earlier and click “Connect“.
After this stage, you have successfully linked ManyChat with the Telegram bot.
Step 5. Create the First Flow for the Telegram Bot (Automated Answer Questions)
Now comes the main part of creating a Telegram chatbot, i.e., creating the conversational flow.
Let’s consider that you are selling courses online, and you want to trigger the chatbot when the customer sends a message with the keyword “course”.
To create the conversational flow, go to the “Automation” tab in ManyChat and click “New Flow“.
Click “Add Trigger” to specify the trigger element for the chatbot to launch.
Select “Telegram” from the left sidebar and choose the trigger type as “Telegram Keyword“.
Specify “Course” as the trigger keyword and click “Create“.
Now, whenever the bot receives a message with a course keyword, this workflow will trigger. To specify the message reply, choose “Telegram“.
Type the answer you want to assign for the customer message.
To add the button in the message, click “Add button” and specify the button title and its action, i.e., navigate it to your website.
This way, whenever someone clicks the button, it will take them to your website. After this answer, you can send a new message to the customer about whether the answer fulfills their query. So, create the next flow question as per the below figure.
If the customer says “Yes“, you can send a last thank you message.
If the customer says “No“, you can ask if they want to talk to a customer support agent.
If the customer says to connect to the customer agent, then we will first notify them that we are connecting them to the support agent. Afterward, click the “Actions” option.
Choose “Live Chat” from the left sidebar and select “Mark conversation as Open“.
Next, you have to add another action to assign the live agent. So, click “Assign conversation“.
Select the support representative who will handle such requests.
Lastly, you have to add an action to notify the support representative. For that, click “Notify Assignees“.
If the customer has picked the live chat option, the support representative will receive the email and can directly join the conversation from there.
That’s it! This way, you have created your first complete conversational flow. You can keep following the above steps to create more flows and create a full-fledged Telegram chatbot.
Best Practices for Telegram Chatbot
Now that we know how to create a Telegram chatbot, you can confirm how easy it is to create a chatbot. However, a few tips and tricks can elevate the experience further. So, let’s quickly talk about a few best practices for the Telegram chatbot:
- Use Templates: Start with templates and pre-designed scenarios instead of creating a chatbot from scratch. They include the commonly used workflows and messages, which speed up the creation process.
- Make the Chatbot Speak Your Business Language: Spend time customizing the chatbot interaction with customers. Make its conversational flow match with your business language and ensure it keeps customers engaged and provides authentic replies.
- Integrate with Ticketing and CRM Systems: Integrate the chatbot with the ticketing and CRM system. This will help the chatbot keep tracking customers’ chats and support tickets. Simply put, it’s like giving a chatbot a memory and making it become smarter in its conversations.
- Live Chat Support: Make sure that the chatbot builder you pick has the option to transfer the conversation to a human customer representative.
- Keep Improving: It is not possible to create a perfect chatbot the first time. Therefore, closely monitor customers’ interactions with the chatbot and then improve the conversational flow accordingly.
Overall, a chatbot requires some effort at the start to create a fully functional and resourceful chatbot. Afterward, there is an ongoing process of improving the interactions.
Conclusion
Telegram chatbot is an advanced and much-needed way to interact with customers in 2024. As evident from the above discussion, a chatbot can assist your business in many ways, such as generating leads, increasing sales, resolving customer queries, managing group chats, etc. So, it’s time to create your first Telegram chatbot using the above steps and optimize your business operations.
One last note! If you also interact with customers on your website, WhatsApp, email, and other platforms, then you can VOC AI Chatbot to create a unified chatbot for them. To wrap up, chatbots are becoming necessary, so integrate them and become more competitive.