I’m building a Telegram bot that aggregates local events in my city (concerts, workshops, meetups, classes, etc.) to help residents discover activities and book tickets in one place. The goal is connecting event organizers with attendees while eventually monetizing through partnerships and premium listings.
Current situation: Zero marketing budget, working solo
What I’m doing now:
Manually sourcing and adding events to database
Researching user acquisition methods
Main challenge: Need to reach 5k-10k initial users without paid promotion
Looking for advice on:
Organic growth tactics that actually work
Community building approaches for local services
Creative user acquisition methods
Any grassroots marketing ideas
Has anyone successfully grown a location-based service from scratch? What strategies brought you the first wave of engaged users?
honestly, just start showing up everywhere. I grew my local app by hitting events with flyers and qr codes. Sounds old school but it works better than online marketing sometimes. Also reach out to event photographers - they’re at every show and know all the organizers. offer to feature their photos in exchange for promoting your bot. most are freelancers who want exposure, so it’s win-win.
I started a neighborhood food delivery service three years ago with zero budget, so I get your struggle. Skip building new connections—use what’s already there. Partner with local venues and event organizers. Give them free analytics on their event visibility for early announcements. You’ll build credibility while getting content. Join local Facebook groups and NextDoor, but don’t just spam your bot. Share cool events you discover instead. People will get curious and start recommending you organically. Hit up local bloggers and newsletter writers too—they’re always hunting for fresh content. Regular event feeds could get your bot mentioned. College campuses are gold since students jump on new tools fast. Work with student organizations that run events to expand your reach. Also try posting about ‘hidden gems’—those weird little events nobody knows about. It’ll make your bot the go-to for unique local stuff.
Grew my local fitness meetup from zero to 12k members, so here’s what actually works. Be useful first, worry about growth later. I started posting weekly event roundups in local Reddit groups and neighborhood Facebook pages. Didn’t pitch my bot at all - just shared solid event summaries people wanted to read. Someone always asks where you get this stuff, then you casually mention the bot. Hit up coffee shops, bookstores, community centers too. Most will put up a small QR code sign if you’re consistently featuring their events. People trust recommendations from places they already go way more than random online ads. Also try local podcasters and radio hosts who do community segments. They’re starving for fresh local content, and your event feed could become a regular thing. Takes forever but builds real street cred in your area.
The Problem: You are manually sourcing and adding events to your Telegram bot’s database, which is hindering your growth and preventing you from reaching your target user base of 5,000-10,000 users without a marketing budget. You need to automate event collection and user acquisition to scale efficiently.
Understanding the “Why” (The Root Cause):
Manual data entry is extremely time-consuming and unsustainable for scaling a local events aggregator. The time you spend manually adding events could be better spent on user acquisition, community building, and improving the bot itself. Automating the process frees up your time and allows you to focus on growth strategies that actually work.
Step-by-Step Guide:
Automate Event Collection: Instead of manual data entry, use web scraping tools or APIs to automatically pull event data from various sources. This will significantly reduce your workload and allow for near real-time updates. Several platforms offer this functionality; research options that cater to your specific needs. For example, consider scraping event data from websites like Facebook Events, Eventbrite, Meetup, and local venue websites. If APIs are available, prioritize those for better reliability and data integrity.
Automate Social Media Posting: Create a system to automatically post curated events to relevant social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), etc.). This will leverage organic reach and increase visibility without paid advertising. You can either build a custom solution or use third-party tools and platforms that offer automated posting functionalities.
Implement Automated Email Marketing: Develop email sequences targeting local Facebook groups and community forums (Nextdoor, etc.) to promote your bot. Focus on providing valuable event information rather than directly advertising your bot. Consider segmenting your email lists to send targeted information based on user location and interests.
Automate Partnerships with Venues: Create a system to automatically send weekly reports to local venues, highlighting how many users discovered their events through your bot. This demonstrates the value you offer and encourages further partnerships.
Utilize a Workflow Automation Platform (Recommended): Consider using a platform like Latenode to orchestrate all these automation tasks. This allows you to connect different services (scrapers, social media APIs, email marketing platforms, etc.) without extensive coding, streamlining the entire process and significantly accelerating your growth.
Common Pitfalls & What to Check Next:
Data Quality: Ensure your automated scrapers or APIs provide accurate and reliable data. Implement data validation and error handling to catch any inconsistencies.
API Limits: Be aware of the rate limits and usage restrictions of the APIs you integrate. Plan accordingly to avoid exceeding these limits.
Social Media Algorithms: Understand that organic reach on social media is not guaranteed. Experiment with different posting times and strategies to maximize visibility.
Email Deliverability: Ensure your email marketing strategy complies with email marketing best practices to avoid being flagged as spam.
Still running into issues? Share your (sanitized) config files, the exact command you ran, and any other relevant details. The community is here to help!
Understanding the “Why” (The Root Cause):
Step-by-Step Guide:
Common Pitfalls & What to Check Next:
Still running into issues? Share your (sanitized) config files, the exact command you ran, and any other relevant details. The community is here to help!