Let’s face it – we all crave validation and attention. When it comes to the social-influencer-driven landscape, that validation typically comes in the form of verification. Long story short – it’s all about attaining the coveted blue ‘verified’ checkmark. Verification on Instagram provides a seal of authenticity and legitimacy from the platform. It not only gives you street-cred but allows potential customers to know they can trust your content.
The Instagram verified status is on every marketer’s wish list, but it can be a bit confusing to figure out how to go about getting it. If you’ve been wondering how to get verified on Instagram, look no further. We’ve got all the answers in this blog.
What Does Instagram Verified Mean?
According to Instagram, accounts displaying the verified badge “means Instagram has confirmed that an account is the authentic presence of the public figure, celebrity or global brand it represents.”
In simple words, when you see the blue check (a seal with a check in the center) next to an Instagram user’s account, you know you’re following the Instagram verified account as opposed to any other account, fake or fan, which is not officially recognized as legitimate. Brands, businesses, and individuals with the Instagram verified badge are considered trustworthy.
Figure 1: Verified badge. Source: Instagram
If you feel confident in your ability to be verified, you can simply cut right to the chase and request a verified badge for your Instagram profile.
What Are The Specific Requirements From Instagram?
Instagram specifies the following five general requirements for an account to become verified:
- Authentic: The Instagram account must represent a real person, registered business, or entity.
- Unique: The Instagram account must have a unique presence – of the person or business.
- Complete: The Instagram account must be public and have a bio, profile photo, and a few posts.
- Notable: The Instagram account must represent a well-known, highly searched-for person, brand, or entity.
- No Cross-Promotion: The Instagram account should not have “add me” links that tell visitors to follow you on other social media platforms.
Read our blog, Make a Good First Impression with Your Insta Bio, where we break down the elements that go into making the best Instagram bios and give you cool tips for writing one.
How Can You Request Verification On Instagram?
The application process for Instagram verification is easy. Just follow these steps:
- Visit your Instagram profile and tap the Menu button in the top right corner
- Tap the Settings icon
- Tap the Account icon
- Tap Request Verification near the bottom
- Fill out your complete name/professional brand name and category
- Upload your ID or business documents
- Complete the required fields and then hit send to start the review process.
Once you click the Send button, your application for verification will be placed under review. Following this, they will notify you whether your request is approved or denied. According to Instagram, your account may be eligible for verification but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be designated as such. There is no guaranteed and no particular timeline for how long the process takes, but in general, it will take at least a couple of days.
Last but not the least, keep in mind that Instagram will never ask you to pay any fee for verification.
7 Instagram Tips To Help Verification
If you want to have that blue tick beside your name, then you need to turn yourself into a “public figure, celebrity, or global brand.” In other words, you must become a real influencer. Experts suggest that one must first become an influencer on a platform other than Instagram. Consider applying the suggestions presented below to another social network and build an influencer status there, before you use them on Instagram.
Learn more tips & tricks from the best, in our blog, Top 30 Instagram Influencers To Take Inspiration From.
Figure 2: Famous Instagram verified accounts. Source: Instagram
1. Build your followers, engagement
The key to being famous online is to become an authentic influencer – one with plenty of followers. More importantly, you want followers who will interact with you and engage with your posts, organically.
Start by defining your niche. Avoid being the “Jack of all trades, and master of none” as you need to create recognition for your expertise in your preferred topic area. All engagement must be meaningful and aimed at enhancing your credibility as a thought leader. Abstain from posting a series of random pretty pictures and meaninglessly commenting on peoples’ images or posts. This will do nothing to enhance your credibility as an influencer.
2. Make yourself more visible by using popular hashtags
An excellent way to help your posts reach a wider audience is to use popular hashtags. Both Instagram and Twitter suggest popular hashtags while posting content. Independent apps such as Hashtagify or TagBlender can suggest general trends for popular hashtags.
It is extremely important that you only use hashtags that are relevant to your niche. An excellent practice is to create a hashtag for your brand and to encourage your followers to use it regularly. Abstain from creating posts that are irrelevant to your niche and followers as this will nullify your credibility as an influencer.
To learn more, read our blog, Hashtag You Way To Success As An Insta Influencer.
3. Cross-promote your social media accounts
An excellent way to build your following on Instagram, or any other network, is to cross-promote across your social network accounts. This way, your Instagram followers can choose to follow you on YouTube, your Twitter followers may sign up to your Facebook page, your Facebook followers may join you on Instagram, etc.
By establishing popularity across multiple social media sites, you come across as being more of an expert or a celebrity and are more likely to be considered someone worthy of Instagram verification. Note that your entire online presence should come across as a single outlet, and therefore you want your blog, YouTube page, and all of your social media sites to link together seamlessly.
Pro Tip! We have the best content ideas that work across all social platforms. Read our blog, 15 Evergreen Instagram Content Ideas.
4. Personalize your posts
The reason that Instagram verifies selected accounts is to authenticate the fact that they are official accounts belonging to actual public figures or global brands. Therefore, you need to ensure that your account stands apart, authentically, by adding personality to each of your postings. If you merely post pictures of yourself, buildings, or landscapes, you are not adding value. For example, if you are a fashion influencer, there is little point in posting pictures of clothing – you will do far better by posting a picture of people wearing the attire, or you are modeling it!
Bonus! Achieve picture perfection with more info from our blog, All About Instagram Posting Sizes.
5. Best times to post for your target audience
To achieve maximum engagement, you should post at the times when most of your followers are checking their social media accounts. You will surely have to compete with more posts from others at those times, but if you can prove you are influential, you should be able to stand out. CoSchedule has looked at this in detail, and they have analyzed 25 studies to find the best times to post on social media and presented recommendations up to the industry.
6. Be newsworthy
It’s safe to assume by now that you have to be a “somebody” to become verified on Instagram. Simply having a big number of followers isn’t enough. You need to be newsworthy and do things that can generate multiple news sources for the report. Consider releasing a press release whenever you have something newsworthy to say or drum up press coverage if you’ve done something noteworthy. Do keep in mind that Instagram disregards paid or promotional content so your news reports must be genuine and organic.
7. Avoid bad social practices
Avoid taking any shortcuts as you attempt to build a reputation as an influencer, to gain the coveted verification tick. Never buy followers. Don’t make spam comments. And finally, ensure that all your posts meet Instagram’s guidelines.
Losing Your Instagram Verification Badge
Instagram reserves the right to take away any verification badges. Their policy explicitly states that they can take away your badge or disable your account if you:
- Advertise, transfer, or sell your verified badge.
- Use your profile picture, bio, or name section to promote other services.
- Attempt to verify your account through a third party.
Therefore, when you do receive a verified badge, consider it as a well-earned privilege, and make sure that you don’t misuse it or give Instagram grounds for taking it away.
The application process for a verification badge is quite simple. What’s more challenging is the journey you need to undertake to get verified on Instagram. Keeping your followers at the center of your Instagram strategy is the key to have more people want to follow you – it’s as simple as that!
Here’s everything you need to know about Instagram success, in our blog: Ultimate Guide To Becoming An Instagram Influencer.
In order to be “notable” and “verified” on Instagram, it’s quite clear that one needs to put in a lot of time, effort, and resources; however, it might not be possible without the help of experts. We’re at Atisfyre are happy to help you! Our AI-based revolutionary platform helps millions of influencers connect with leading brands across the world and create trusted content and insights for customer journey touchpoints at scale. We help you understand & reach your audience, engage your community and measure performance with the all-in-one platform built for connection.
Curious to learn more!? Sign up and let us help you build a true connection with your audience.
