Tanish Bilish, Eight Media Maker and We Digital spoke to Spot about trends, new formats and changes in the cost of integrations. The agencies also shared the ratings of the most expensive Telegram channels in the Uzbek and Russian-speaking segments.
Telegram remains one of the leading platforms for promotion in Uzbekistan, but approaches to advertising on it differ markedly. According to a study by Insight Business, the messenger is popular among Uzbek users: its audience in the country ranges from 18 to 24 million people, and Uzbekistan is in second place in terms of the number of Telegram channels.
At the same time, it is important to distinguish between official advertising through Telegram Ads, available since 2021, and integration into channels. The first tool is less popular with advertisers in the country. One reason is the high entry threshold. If you independently run ads on the Telegram Ads platform, you will need a budget of €2 million. At the same time, Telegram leaves only €1 million available, and holds the remaining amount as a deposit..
However, there are mediation services that help run ads with less investment. These services offer ad campaign management for a fee.
In addition, Telegram continues to develop the format of built-in advertising. Now sponsorship messages can contain photos or videos. If earlier ads were displayed only at the bottom of channels, now they can appear between other posts. At the same time, channel owners receive a share of the income that Telegram earns from advertising in their channels.
What has changed in approaches to advertising in Telegram in Uzbekistan, what trends are observed, how the cost of integrations is changing - representatives of the agencies Tanish Bilish, We Digital and Eight Media Maker told Spot about this.
Interest in native advertising - organically embedded in author content - continues to grow. According to Umid Gafurov, founder of the Tanish Bilish agency and creator of Troll.uz, embedded advertising via Telegram Ads remains unpopular among local advertisers.
"The demand for native advertising in copyright channels is not decreasing. Subscribers better perceive the content built into the channel style. And official advertising through Telegram Ads is more like banners along the roads - suitable if you need to flash in front of users, but native posts work better for deep interaction, "he explains.
Akbar Arzumetov, head of Eight Media Maker, agrees with him. He notes that advertisers are now trying to approach each campaign individually.
"The same texts for all channels no longer work. Now unique content, dynamic emoji and branded elements are important. A solvent audience is increasingly connecting Telegram Premium so as not to see ads. Therefore, the official Telegram tools do not yet show high efficiency, "he adds.
Anastasia Park, Influence & Media Director of We Digital adds that companies are increasingly using videos, animated emojis and even partisan methods of promotion. However, such innovations, as she notes, remain the choice of the most daring brands.
At the same time, the problem of "markups" remains. According to We Digital, it proposes to use popular services such as TGStat to combat them, which analyze subscriber engagement and identify suspicious activities. Beyond that, there are two other approaches: check manually, comparing reach and engagement, and request analytics from channels.
Umid Gafurov recommends the most common way: to look not at the number of subscribers, but at CPM. According to him, Tanish Bilish always provides advertisers with prices in CPM, which greatly simplifies the comparison of the effectiveness of different channels.
According to Tanish Bilish, the cost of integration depends on the popularity of the channel:
| Channel type | Audience | Integration cost |
|---|---|---|
| Thematic channels | up to 100 thousand subscribers | 300 − 500 thousand soums |
| Medium channels | up to 500 thousand subscribers | 1 − 2 million soums |
| Copyright channels and media | more than 500 thousand subscribers | 2 − 15 million soums |
News channels are in stable demand, as Telegram will remain the main source of news for users in Uzbekistan.
"High interest remains in author channels, but their quality leaves much to be desired. Among the popular categories are e-commerce, retail, education, IT products, fintech and food tech, "notes Umid Gafurov.
Akbar Arzumetov also adds that in addition to large channels, interest in niche sites is growing, where there is a smaller audience, but the quality of traffic is higher.
In addition, channel authors make money from built-in Telegram ads. The company positions its advertising model as beneficial for authors - 50% of the revenue from official advertising goes to channel owners. However, the current practice makes one think that a significant part of the income remains with the platform, while for most authors such monetization remains unprofitable.
For example, the founder of Troll.uz spoke about the results of monetizing his channel through official advertising in 2024. According to him, revenues were unexpectedly low: for the entire year the channel earned only 23 TON, which is equivalent to $124. This averages about $13 per month. After adding the "stars" function, income increased by another $28, but even taking this amount into account, total earnings do not even cover basic expenses, such as paying for the Internet.
According to experts, Telegram remains attractive for business due to its low CPM and high conversion. Unlike other social networks, Telegram algorithms do not limit organic coverage, which makes the platform especially effective for the e-commerce, fintech and education sectors.
"The Telegram advertising market in Uzbekistan is huge, although its volume is not yet comparable to the market for outdoor or television advertising. Nevertheless, Telegram has become a mandatory tool for PR specialists and marketers. Growth continues thanks to the massive use of the messenger among the country's population, "Akbar notes.
"Everyone who needs traffic in the form of clicks on links, one way or another use Telegram. Conversion from Instagram and YouTube is several times lower. The latter do not want users to follow external links, so their coverage is greatly reduced, "adds Umid.
According to experts, the Telegram advertising market in Uzbekistan continues to grow. Its volume already exceeds $10 million, but is still inferior to Instagram, since in the latter the prices for placement are much higher.
According to Umid Gafurov, Telegram is constantly introducing changes. If rumors about the introduction of algorithms like Instagram are confirmed, this will change the distribution of advertising budgets in favor of high-quality and interesting channels.
Akbar Arzumetov notes that the introduction of algorithms can lead to greater automation and a change in the rules of the game, but the main task will remain the same - adaptation to the needs of the audience.
At the same time, Umid Gafurov adds that in the face of constant changes in Telegram, it is important for advertisers to be flexible.
"The market is adapting to any innovations. The main thing is to maintain focus on the quality of content and audience analysis, because these parameters will remain key to the success of any campaign, "he said.
Spot asked agencies for a rating of the most expensive Telegram channels in the Uzbek and Russian-speaking segments. According to Tanish Bilish, the top 5 Uzbek-language channels included:
| Name | Category | Number of subscribers | Cost* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kun.uz | news | 1 178 090 | 23 000 000 |
| Xushnudbek.uz | author's | 589 005 | 7 500 000 |
| Davletov.uz | author's | 83 161 | 7 500 000 |
| Bank kuni | author's | 124 952 | 6 800 000 |
| Qalampir.uz | news | 274 223 | 6 000 000 |
Top 5 channels in Russian:
| Name | Category | Number of subscribers | Cost* |
|---|---|---|---|
| «Пик Скатарсиса» | author's | 13 719 | 13 600 000 |
| Troll.uz | author's | 98 233 | 10 300 000 |
| Kun.uz (rus version) | news | 85 108 | 9 500 000 |
| «Наблюдения под чинарой» | author's | 14 024 | 6 200 000 |
| Repost.uz | news | 107 380 | 5 000 000 |
The Eight Media Maker agency prepared the rating without specifying specific prices, since various factors such as taxes and agency services can affect the cost.
Top 5 channels in Uzbek:
| Name | Category | Number of subscribers |
|---|---|---|
| Kun.uz | news | 1 178 090 |
| Daryo.uz | news | 413 474 |
| Qalampir.uz | news | 274 223 |
| Troll.uz | author's | 98 233 |
| Xushnudbek.uz | author's | 589 005 |
Top 5 channels in Russian:
| Name | Category | Number of subscribers |
|---|---|---|
| Troll.uz | news | 98 233 |
| Repost.uz | news | 107 380 |
| Gazeta.uz | news | 87 357 |
| UzNews.uz | news | 69 943 |
| «Эффект Макаренко» | author's | 35 497 |