Use your Telegram chatbot in groups and channels

Your SendPulse Telegram chatbot can work not only in private chats but also in Telegram groups and channels where it is an admin. Online schools, coaches, media publishers, and agencies that run communities for their clients use it to publish content, welcome new members, and control who has access.

With your chatbot in a group or channel, you can do the following:

Publish posts and campaigns in the group or channel.
Run a flow when a user joins or requests to join.
Approve join requests only from users who meet your conditions.
Check whether a subscriber is a member of the group or channel.
Block and unblock members automatically.
Sell access to a private group or channel.

Here's how businesses can use a chatbot in groups and channels:

Paid communities. An online school sells monthly access to a private group. The chatbot checks the subscription status, sends an invite link to students who paid, and blocks those whose subscription has expired. To set this up, read Manage Telegram subscription payments.
Onboarding new members. A coach runs a private channel. When someone requests to join, the chatbot sends the community rules and approves the request after the user replies. To set this up, read Run a flow when a user joins your Telegram group or channel.
Content distribution. A media publisher sends news from SendPulse to its channel on a schedule. To set this up, read Publish posts in a Telegram channel or group using your SendPulse chatbot.

Let's talk about how to add your chatbot to a group or channel, publish posts, welcome new members, manage member access, and sell access.

Add your chatbot to a group or channel

To use your chatbot in a group or channel, first check your group or channel type, because it affects how blocking works. Then, make your chatbot an admin there in the SendPulse settings or manually in Telegram.

To make sure your chatbot is an admin, go to your chatbot management page and open the Channels and groups tab. The tab lists every group and channel where your chatbot is an admin.

Some features need specific admin permissions. To block and unblock members, your chatbot needs the Ban Users permission. To receive and approve join requests, it needs the Add Subscribers permission in channels or Invite Users via Link in groups.

Publish posts in a group or channel

To share news, offers, or updates with all members at once, send a campaign to your group or channel. Go to Chatbots, click Create campaign, and select your group or channel. In a channel, the post appears on behalf of the channel.

You can send a campaign to a group or channel only on a paid pricing plan.

Welcome new members and process join requests

To greet new members or let only selected users in, run a flow when a user joins your group or channel. Go to your Telegram chatbot and click Create a new trigger. Select the Join a Telegram group or channel checkbox and select the group or channel.

Telegram doesn't let chatbots start conversations, so your chatbot can message a new member only in the following cases:

The user is already subscribed to your chatbot.
The user sent a join request to a private group or channel through an invite link with Request Admin Approval turned on. Telegram lets your chatbot message this user for 5 minutes after the request or until an admin processes it.

The user becomes a chatbot subscriber after they send a message or click a quick reply button.

You can also create invite links on the Channels and groups tab of your chatbot. Each link can have an expiry date, a member limit, and join request approval. Optionally, you can run a flow only for users who join through a specific link.

Manage member access

To control who stays in your group or channel, combine the Filter and Action elements in a flow. The Member of a channel or group filter condition checks whether the subscriber is a member. The following actions change the subscriber's access:

Block in a group or channel removes the subscriber from the group or channel.
Unblock in a group or channel or approve a join request lifts the block or approves the subscriber's pending join request. An unblocked member rejoins through a link, so send them an invite link after this action.

Blocking works differently in private and public groups and channels. You can't block the group or channel owner.

Sell access to a group or channel

To charge for membership, link access to a subscription product. Create the product in the CRM system and add its product card to your flow. Then, use the Product subscription filter condition. If the subscription is active, your chatbot sends the subscriber an invite link. If it's inactive, your chatbot blocks the subscriber and sends the product card again.

After these steps, your chatbot publishes content in your group or channel, welcomes new members, and grants or removes access automatically. Next, you can create an automated flow, create a Telegram chatbot campaign, or create a Telegram chatbot menu.