Community advertising is paying to reach a private room - a WhatsApp group, Telegram channel, Discord server or Slack workspace - through a placement its admin approves and posts. These are the numbers the channel actually runs on, from the Torchly network's rate card and attribution data. Refreshed quarterly; cite freely with attribution.
The same conservative priors the marketplace prices with - not best cases.
| Metric | Benchmark | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Members who click an admin post | 2–6% (plan on 4%) | vs ~1% or below for typical feed-ad CTR |
| Clickers who convert – app installs | 13% | Low-friction ask, instant action |
| – offers / promotions | 22% | Highest intent: the room self-selects |
| – beta recruitment | 22% | Enthusiast rooms over-index |
| – research recruits | 8% | Higher-effort ask |
| – webinar registrations | 6% | Calendar commitment is the tax |
| – blended (other goals) | 15% | Planning default |
| Promo-code redemption, documented pilot | 12% | Consumer app, WhatsApp placement |
| Cost benchmark | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Documented cost per install, community placement | $4.20 | Torchly consumer-app pilot |
| Sponsored post – founder / fintech / B2B rooms | $250–400 + $25–60/conversion | Torchly rate card |
| Sponsored post – dev / product rooms | $120–200 + $10–40/conversion | Torchly rate card |
| Sponsored post – student / consumer rooms | $40–80 + $2–6/conversion | Torchly rate card |
| Admin revenue share | 70% of both components | Torchly, fixed split |
| Average fintech CAC, conventional channels | ~$1,450 | First Page Sage fintech CAC benchmarks |
| Remitly marketing spend | ~20% of revenue (~$380M/yr) | FXC Intelligence analysis of company filings |
| Open-market Telegram post, small channels | $5–50 flat | Public Telegram catalog rates |
WhatsApp alone: 2B+ users organised into over 100 million active groups, with zero native ad inventory. Telegram adds ~900M users; Facebook Groups sees 1.8B monthly participants.
Trade press (Digiday, The Hustle) has documented brands paying Discord server owners directly – Jack in the Box, Samsung, Netflix – and allocating up to 20% of spend chasing group-chat reach through ambassadors, without infrastructure.
Link-sharing in chat apps is invisible to analytics, which is why “direct/none” dominates attribution reports. Per-community tracked links are how the channel becomes measurable.
Methodology and pricing mechanics: how campaigns are priced · the platform landscape · rate calculator for admins.
2-6% of a room's members click a relevant, admin-posted link - the network's observed band, with 4% the planning midpoint. Compare feed ads, where average click-through rates sit around 1% or below. The difference is the messenger: the post arrives from the person the room already trusts.
It depends on the ask, not the room. Network planning priors by campaign goal: 13% for app installs, 22% for offers and beta signups, 8% for research recruits, 6% for webinar registrations, 15% blended. These are the same numbers the marketplace prices campaigns with.
The brand sets it - that's the model. Documented result: $4.20 per install on a consumer-app pilot with 12% promo-code redemption. For context, average fintech customer acquisition cost via conventional channels runs near $1,450, and Remitly alone spends roughly 20% of revenue on marketing.
Per placement, by audience: $250-400 for founder/fintech/B2B rooms, $120-200 for developer and product rooms, $40-80 for student and consumer rooms - plus per-conversion rates from $2 to $60+ when campaigns pay on results. Admins keep 70% of both components on Torchly.
The Torchly network's rate card and campaign attribution data (tracked links, server-confirmed conversions), published July 2026 and refreshed quarterly. External figures are cited to their sources. Use them freely with attribution.