Ukrainian Telegram: Features and Its Place Among Global Trends

On December 16, the first ERA Telegram conference took place in Kyiv — a dedicated event focused on Telegram marketing and the platform’s key trends for brands and businesses in 2024. The conference covered topics such as business monetization, collaborations and partnerships, as well as market insights and research.

Telemetrio — an analytics and channel discovery platform — conducted an extensive study of Telegram across multiple metrics. At the conference, Oleh Fliak (Head of Product) and Anastasiia Bohdan (Head of Development) shared their most important insights.

Why Researching the Ukrainian Telegram Market Is Essential

Since 2019, the analytics platform Tgstat had been publishing reports based on Telegram research. However, as it’s a Russian service, Ukrainian audience data was excluded from the reports starting in 2022.

In 2023, the Adsell.me team conducted a survey focused on the Ukrainian market, but Telemetrio’s approach goes beyond surveys — their research is based on both user feedback and proprietary platform data, making it a comprehensive report.

The analysis of the Ukrainian Telegram audience was conducted not only by the Telemetrio analytics team but also with the help of volunteers and influencers in the Telegram channel niche.

Global Experience of Using Telegram

We analyzed the total number of Telegram channels worldwide and tracked their growth dynamics over time.

So, as of 2023, there are 6 million Telegram channels worldwide, with 33,000 of them based in Ukraine.

In terms of channel growth dynamics, the leading position is held by [country name], while Ukraine ranks 4th, showing a 20% increase over the year.

Based on the analysis of user experience, the following picture emerges:

Here we see different leading positions — India takes first place.

In particular, Ukraine has 94 million total subscriptions, which reflects significant overall growth and puts the country in 7th place globally. When it comes to the number of channels with over a million subscribers, Ukraine ranks 6th.

The first 1,000 subscribers to a Telegram channel form the core audience — they help shape the direction of your content and define the tone and structure of the channel.

— Anastasiia Bohdan (Head of Development)

By the end of the year, Ukraine could become one of the leaders in the number of million-subscriber channels on Telegram, potentially ranking among the top three countries with the highest number of such channels. However, it is important to consider that subscriber and view inflation methods recorded in the aggressor country distort the statistics and do not reflect the real situation.

Currently, only 5% of channels in Ukraine belong to the most popular category — “News and Media.” Therefore, there is significant room for growth.

Development of Telegram in Ukraine

Ukraine stands out for its dynamic growth on Telegram. As of 2023, the country has identified 33,000 channels, including a leading channel that gained 1.5 million subscribers in one year. Equally impressive is the growth of the “Air Forces of Ukraine” channel, which reached half a million subscribers, reflecting a more conscious consumption of information.

Such success indicates continuous effort in managing the channels, including analyzing and optimizing their content. Additionally, information has been studied regarding the cities from which users most frequently access the channels, highlighting an important aspect of the audience.

Advertising Analytics Trends

Advertising analytics trends revealed an interesting fact about Thursday being a popular day for viewing advertising materials, which once again highlights the importance of research both at the macro level and ongoing analytics of your own channel and promo campaigns.

Brands that ranked top in terms of ad views reflect the trend of increased investments from large companies:

In terms of demographics, 29% of Telegram users reside in Kyiv, of which 10% are internally displaced persons (IDPs). Among the advantages cited are ease of use, popularity, and the availability of new features.

News channels lead in popularity, yet slightly less than half of users consider the messenger sufficiently secure. Nevertheless, user trust in Telegram surpasses that of traditional media.

Interestingly, during the war, Telegram became not only a primary source of information but also a platform for gatherings and volunteering. Channel administrators actively participated in posting for charity fundraising and addressing critical military needs. For example, the Prytula Foundation had 3,000 posts published. Thus, Telegram is also about social responsibility and volunteerism.

The high activity in Telegram has resulted in increased investments in promotion. According to the report, not only large brands invest in advertising, but administrators themselves spend significant amounts to boost their channels.

It is worth noting that the purchase of advertising on a channel is influenced by the following factors:

• reach
• placement cost
• number of subscribers

Therefore, it is especially important to monitor the quality of the audience and the ER (Engagement Rate) and ERR (Estimated Reach Rate) metrics.

In conclusion, it is important to note that in 2024, the entertainment content segment is actively developing in Ukraine. Although news channels are currently leaders, they are beginning to burn out as users become more demanding about the quality of information. Thus, entertainment content may become a promising niche for those who aim to impress their audience with originality and creativity.

P.S. The 65-page report was available exclusively to conference participants, so be sure to follow our channels to be the first to learn about new events and exciting insights!