How to Track Subscriber Acquisition Sources for Telegram News Growth

If you're running a Telegram news channel and your subscriber count has stalled, the problem isn't always your content. It might be that you don't know where your new subscribers are coming from. Without tracking acquisition sources, you're guessing which promotions work, which platforms drive real growth, and where to spend your time. The good news? Telegram gives you the tools-you just need to use them right.

Why Tracking Acquisition Sources Matters

Telegram doesn’t show you a built-in dashboard that says, ‘500 people came from Twitter, 200 from Reddit.’ You have to set this up yourself. But once you do, you stop wasting energy on channels that don’t convert. You stop copying what other news channels do and start doing what actually works for your audience.

For example, a small independent news channel in Ohio grew from 12,000 to 47,000 subscribers in six months-not because they posted more often, but because they tracked where their signups came from. They found that 68% of new subscribers clicked through from a single Reddit thread. That one insight led them to focus all their outreach there, and their growth rate doubled.

Without tracking, you’re flying blind. With it, you can optimize every post, every share, every ad.

How Telegram Tracks New Subscribers

Telegram doesn’t track referral sources natively like Google Analytics does for websites. But it does give you something better: unique invite links. Every Telegram channel has the ability to generate custom invite links with UTM parameters or unique identifiers. These links let you see exactly where each new subscriber came from.

Here’s how it works: go to your channel’s settings, tap “Invite Links,” and create a new link. You can name it something like https://t.me/yournewschannel?start=twitter or ?start=reddit. When someone clicks that link and joins your channel, Telegram logs the start parameter. You can then check your channel’s analytics to see how many people joined via each link.

That’s it. No complex setup. No third-party tools needed. Just different links for different sources.

Setting Up Your Tracking System

Start simple. Don’t try to track 20 sources at once. Pick the top 5 places you think are driving growth:

1. Twitter (X)
2. Reddit
3. Facebook Groups
4. Your website or blog
5. Email newsletter

Create a unique invite link for each. Use clear, consistent naming:

• ?start=twitter
• ?start=reddit
• ?start=facebook
• ?start=website
• ?start=email

Use these links everywhere:

• Post them in your Twitter bios and pinned tweets
• Include them in Reddit comments where relevant (follow community rules)
• Add them to your email signature and newsletter CTAs
• Embed them in blog posts that mention your channel

Track these links for at least 30 days. Don’t change them. Don’t add new ones. Just watch what happens.

Where to Find the Data

Open your Telegram channel. Tap the channel name at the top. Then tap “Statistics.” Scroll down to “New Members.”

Here, you’ll see a breakdown of how people joined:

• By public link
• By invite link (your custom ones)
• By search
• By mention in another channel

Click “Invite Links.” You’ll see a list of all the links you created, with the number of people who joined through each one. You’ll also see the date they joined, so you can see spikes after you post something.

Pro tip: Check this every Monday morning. It takes 30 seconds. Over time, you’ll start noticing patterns. Maybe your email list drives high retention. Maybe Reddit brings in lots of people, but they leave after a week. That’s valuable.

What the Numbers Tell You

Let’s say your data looks like this after a month:

At first glance, Reddit looks like the winner. But look closer. Only 22% of those subscribers stayed past a week. That means you’re spending energy bringing in people who don’t care. Email, on the other hand, brought in fewer people-but nearly 8 out of 10 stuck around. That’s the kind of audience that shares your posts, replies, and helps you grow organically.

Now you know: focus on email and website traffic. Reduce Twitter ads. Stop posting in Facebook groups. You’re not losing much by doing less there.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Most people mess this up in three ways:

1. Using the same link everywhere. If you use the default invite link for Twitter, Reddit, and your newsletter, you can’t tell which one works. You’ll never know.
2. Changing links too often. If you update your links every week, your data gets messy. Stick with one version for at least 30 days.
3. Ignoring retention. It’s easy to celebrate big spikes in new subscribers. But if they leave in a week, you’re not growing-you’re spinning your wheels.

Another mistake? Thinking you need fancy tools. You don’t. Telegram’s built-in stats are enough. Third-party trackers like Bitly or UTM builders add complexity without adding value. Stick to Telegram’s native links.

What to Do Next

Here’s your 7-day action plan:

1. Create five unique invite links with clear start parameters.
2. Replace every public invite link on your social profiles, emails, and website with the correct one.
3. Post a single message in each source (e.g., one Reddit thread, one Twitter thread, one email blast) with your new link.
4. Wait 7 days.
5. Check your Telegram analytics. Note which source brought in the most retained subscribers.
6. Double down on that source. Drop the one that brought in zero or low-retention users.
7. Repeat every month.

You don’t need to be everywhere. You just need to be where your people are. And you won’t know where that is until you track it.

Advanced Tip: Combine With Content Timing

Once you know which source works best, pair it with your best-performing content. For example, if Reddit drives the most new subscribers, and your breaking news posts get the most engagement, post those right after you drop a link in a popular subreddit.

Try this: post your most urgent news update at 8 a.m. on a Tuesday, then immediately share your ?start=reddit link in a relevant thread. Watch how the signups spike within minutes. You’ll start seeing which topics and timing combinations create the biggest growth surges.

That’s how you turn random traffic into steady growth.

Final Thought: Growth Isn’t About Volume. It’s About Fit.

Telegram isn’t Twitter. It’s not Instagram. It’s a private, text-first space where people subscribe because they trust you. The goal isn’t to get 100,000 subscribers who never read your posts. It’s to get 10,000 who open every message, reply, and forward your updates.

Tracking acquisition sources isn’t about vanity metrics. It’s about finding the people who will stick around-and then finding more of them.