Skip to content
Caramel Docs

Telegram channel

Reach customers on Telegram by connecting a Telegram bot you control. Once connected, you can include Telegram message steps in journeys and broadcasts alongside your other channels.

Plan Telegram is included on Business and above. On Starter, Lite, or Growth, you can add it as an add-on. See Caramel pricing for add-on costs.

Add-on To enable Telegram on Starter, Lite, or Growth: go to Settings → Messaging Channels, find the Telegram card, and click Enable add-on.

How Telegram delivery works

Section titled “How Telegram delivery works”

Caramel sends messages through the Telegram Bot API using a bot you create and own. Delivery is free — Telegram charges nothing per message. Your customers must have started a conversation with your bot (sent /start) before Caramel can message them.

Before you begin

Section titled “Before you begin”
  • Create a Telegram bot via @BotFather on Telegram. This takes under 2 minutes.
  • Copy the bot token BotFather gives you (format: 123456789:ABCdef…).

Connect your Telegram bot

Section titled “Connect your Telegram bot”
  1. Go to Settings → Messaging Channels.
  2. Under Telegram, click Configure.
  3. Paste your bot token into the Bot Token field.
  4. Click Verify connection. Caramel checks that the token is valid and retrieves your bot’s name and username.
  5. Click Save. The badge updates to Connected.

Add Telegram to a journey or broadcast

Section titled “Add Telegram to a journey or broadcast”

Once connected, Telegram appears as a channel option in the step picker when you build or edit a journey or broadcast in Omnichannel.

Important A customer can only receive a Telegram message if they have previously sent /start to your bot. Customers who haven’t initiated contact are silently skipped. Prompt new customers to start a conversation with your bot — for example, include your bot link in a welcome email or on your website.

Inline buttons and rich media

Section titled “Inline buttons and rich media”

Telegram messages can include:

  • Inline buttons — link buttons or callback buttons that let customers tap to respond.
  • Images and documents — attach a photo or PDF to a message step.
  • Formatted text — bold, italic, links, and code blocks using Telegram’s Markdown dialect.

Configure these options in the message composer when building your journey step.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”