GREY-TRAFF CASE · META ADS → TELEGRAM
Crypto Telegram channel:
≈ $4 per subscriber in Tier‑1 Europe
Static creatives started at over $10 per subscriber. We switched the creative approach to video and brought the cost down to around $4.
THE TASK
Clicks were not the goal.
We needed Telegram subscribers.
We promoted a crypto project to a Russian-speaking audience across Tier‑1 European markets. Traffic from Meta Ads went to Telegram, where an automated bot welcomed the user and sent them on to the channel.
The main metric was cost per subscriber. We were not optimizing for a good-looking CTR — we cared about the actual cost of getting a person into Telegram and completing the target action.
FUNNEL
Ad → bot → channel
A short path with no extra pages: the user understands where they are going and what to do next.
START
Static creatives were too expensive.
The first static creatives brought in subscribers at more than $10 each. Increasing spend on that setup did not make sense.
We then reviewed the video formats competitors were using and moved the next round of testing into video.
WHAT WE CHANGED
The first tests made one thing clear:
there was no reason to keep pushing static creatives.
Reviewed competitor ads
We collected video formats that repeatedly appeared in crypto campaigns and used them as references for our own test concepts.
Moved from static to video
Static banners were bringing subscribers at $10+ and were not improving. We shifted the main testing budget to video, where the cost started to come down.
Kept the funnel short
Ads led into a Telegram bot. The bot welcomed the user and sent them to the channel — no extra landing pages or unnecessary steps.
This change had the biggest impact on cost per subscriber.
RESULT
After switching to video, cost per subscriber came down to ≈ $4
Some periods in the ad account showed an even lower cost per result. For this case, we use ≈ $4 as the working subscriber benchmark rather than cherry-picking the best single screenshot.
AD ACCOUNT SCREENSHOTS
Data from the ad account
Below is one of the ad accounts and several periods inside it. This is not the full campaign volume.
SUMMARY
$10+ → ≈ $4 per subscriber after switching to video.
The main change was creative format: static banners were replaced with video. The funnel stayed simple — ads still led through a Telegram bot into the channel.
CASE FAQ
What matters in this case
What traffic did we run?
Meta Ads to a Russian-speaking audience across Tier‑1 European markets. The final destination was a Telegram channel reached through an automated bot.
Why were the first results expensive?
Static creatives did not produce the economics we needed: cost per subscriber stayed above $10. We did not scale them and changed the format instead.
What made the biggest difference?
The switch to video. We reviewed the video formats competitors were using, created our own versions and tested them. After that, cost per subscriber dropped to around $4.
Can the same cost be guaranteed?
No. Cost depends on the market, offer, channel, creatives, moderation and audience quality. This case shows the approach and actual result of one campaign, not a promise that every project will get the same price.
Have a crypto project?
Message us. We’ll look at the offer, market and destination, then tell you how we would approach the first tests.