Let’s talk about a recent win we at Feature Digital had with one of our clients, a Forex Trading Academy. They came to us with a straightforward request: “We need more people in our Telegram channel.”
This forex Academy was doing okay, but they wanted to kick things up a notch. They knew that the more members they could reach, the more lives they could change through financial education. That’s where we came in with our Meta ads expertise.
The Lay of the Land
Before we dive into what we did, let’s set the scene. Our client was teaching people how to trade foreign currencies – you know, dollars, euros, yen, that sort of thing. Their target audience was:
- Complete newcomers who’d heard about forex and wanted to learn more
- Hobby traders looking to get serious.
- Even some experienced traders wanting to sharpen their skills
Now, the forex education market is crowded. There are YouTube gurus, Instagram “experts,” and countless online courses. Our client had been relying on word-of-mouth and organic social media growth. They’d built up a decent following, but growth had slowed. They were stuck at a fixed number of Telegram subscribers and hadn’t seen significant growth in months.
Our Game Plan?
We looked at a bunch of different ways to get the word out, but we kept coming back to Meta ads. Here’s why:
Huge user base: With over 2.8 billion monthly active users, Meta ( Facebook and Instagram, which it owns) gave us a massive pool to fish in.
Laser-focused targeting: Meta lets you get super specific about who sees your ads. We could zero in on people interested in forex, finance, and online learning.
Cost-effective: Compared to other ad platforms, Meta often gives you more leads for less money, especially in the education sector.
We set some clear goals for the campaign:
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- Bring in 1,000 new Telegram subscribers in 45 days
- Keep the cost per new subscriber under $1
- Convert at least 20% of ad clicks into Telegram joins
Setting Up Shop
We created a variety of ads to see what would work best;
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- Video ads showing a quick forex trading tip
- Image ads with eye-catching “Escape The Matrix” creatives
- Carousel ads showcasing student success stories
We targeted several different audience groups;
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- People interested in forex trading, stock market, and financial education
- Users who had engaged with competitors’ content
- Lookalike audiences based on the client’s existing Telegram subscribers
Our initial budget was set at $50 per day, with the flexibility to scale up if we saw good results which we actually did scale it up to $150 per day at the moment
Lights, Camera, Action!
We launched the campaign on June 1st and let it run for the full 45 days until now. But we didn’t just set it and forget it. Oh no. We were in there every day, tweaking and adjusting:
- We found that video ads were outperforming images, so we created more video content.
- The 25-34 age group was responding best, so we allocated more budget there.
- Ads mentioning Escape The Matrix did better than general ads, so we made more of those.
The Results Are In
And here we go, the numbers blew us away:
- We brought in +2,520 new Telegram subscribers – smashing our goal of 1,000
- The cost per new subscriber averaged out to $0.30 to $0.60, well below our $1 target
In just 45 days, we more than doubled the size of our client’s Telegram community. They went from 3,000 to nearly 6,000 subscribers.
Bumps in the Road
It wasn’t all smooth sailing. We hit a few snags:
- In the first week, we noticed our ads were being shown to a lot of people in countries where our client doesn’t operate. We had to refine our geographic targeting.
- Facebook initially flagged some of our ads for promoting financial products (which have stricter rules). We had to tweak our ads to fit Facebook policy.
- Halfway through the month, engagement dipped. We realized our ad frequency was too high – people were seeing the same ads too often. We created new variations to keep things fresh.
What We Learned
This campaign taught us a lot:
1. Video is king, especially for complex topics like forex trading. Short, valuable video tips got the most engagement.
2. Community proof is powerful. Showcasing the active Telegram community in the ads boosted click-through rates.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Based on this success, here’s what we’re planning next:
1. We’re going to test more ad creatives and wide our lookalike audience
2. We’re creating a lead magnet – a free forex ebook – to capture email addresses of people who aren’t ready to join Telegram yet.
3. We’re setting up a retargeting campaign to re-engage people who clicked on the ads but didn’t join Telegram.
Wrapping It Up
This campaign was a big win, not just in terms of numbers, but in proving that with the right strategy, even a niche topic like forex education can find a big audience on Meta (Facebook & Instagram).
Our client now has a thriving online community, nearly twice the size it was a month ago. Each of those new subscribers represents someone eager to learn about forex trading, creating a ripple effect of financial education.
Remember, the key to success wasn’t just in launching the ads, but in the constant refinement and optimization. In digital marketing, complacency is the enemy of progress. Always be testing, always be improving.
