The blue check mark that appears next to an account name on Instagram is coveted and for good reason. Instagram badges verify the authenticity of brands and provide an opportunity for increased visibility and credibility. If you are looking to gain more traction on the platform and improve your digital branding efforts, you want to get your brand verified on Instagram.
How to Get Your Brand Verified On Instagram
Instagram established badges to help people find public figures, celebrities, and global brands without being misled by fake accounts. This essentially means that Instagram has confirmed the authenticity of the account to let users know they can trust the account is represented by the person or brand claiming ownership. In other words, Instagram helps you build credibility through these verified badges.
While earning a verified badge on Instagram is a challenge, there are some steps you can take to increase your likelihood of gaining verification. So, how do you get a verified badge?
Why Should Your Brand Be Instagram Verified?
Why would you want an Instagram verified badge? The whole purpose of this badge is to communicate your credibility. Celebrities, famous public figures, and brands are verified in order to let their followers know they are indeed communicating with the actual celebrity, public figure, or brand. You can guard your brand against impersonators or spoof accounts by earning a verification badge.
Using a celebrity example, consider Jennifer Lawrence, star of The Hunger Games movie series. She doesn’t use social media…yet you can find a profile under her name on Instagram.
The lack of the blue verification badge on this account helps fans realize that this user is not actually Jennifer Lawrence.
How Can Verification Benefit Your Brand
1) Keeping your Brand Credible
Brand credibility can mean the difference between a profitable brand and a failing brand. Any loss of credibility will not only cause a decline in your audience on social media but can also trigger customers and potential customers to take their business elsewhere.
An Instagram verification badge is their stamp of approval and signals to Instagram users your brand can be trusted.
2) Top of Search Results
As it is now well understood that users are known to create duplicate accounts of popular brands, without verification, your brand can end up outranked by a profile of a similar name or an impersonator. Verifying your brand on Instagram ensures you appear at the top of search results for searches of your brand name.
3) Expand Visibility
Once you achieve verified status on Instagram, users are more likely to encounter your account before others, providing an opportunity for more traffic.
Steps to Make Your Account Verification Worthy
While the task may seem daunting, it’s not impossible to become Instagram verified!
For smaller brands, the odds are even greater but a little creativity goes a long way.
1. Start With Followers
You want to grow your following to start. Some brands have done just fine by having a few thousand in their audiences, even less than 2K, but it’s easier to be verified with a large following.
This isn’t easy to do in a short period of time, sadly, but there are things you can do today to get one step closer.
SEE ALSO: How to Grow Your Instagram Followers
Aesthetics Are Important
Quality photos and videos that capture your audience’s attention are important for both your brand identity and your verification pursuit. Provide enjoyable content for your audience by considering the aesthetics of your profile and posts on the platform.
SEE ALSO: How to Take Awesome Pictures with Your Phone
Insights Tell All
If you have a business profile on Instagram check your profile insights. This information may be used to plan content that will resonate with your target audience and at the time that they’re most active.
Produce Great Content
Great content is important for getting users to know, like and trust your brand. You want to pique your audience’s interest and position your brand as a source of value.
SEE ALSO: 7 Creative Ways to use Instagram’s Multi-Photo Post Option
Engage with Followers
Keep the social in social media. Get the conversation started with your followers and encourage engagement with your posts. Engagement is a factor considered by Instagram for verification. It pays to interact and stay active.
SEE ALSO: 5 Engagement Tactics to Grow Your Instagram Following
2. Keep it Real
Yes, you want followers. However, they have to be real users. Brands have attempted purchasing followers and creating their own but this is counterproductive when it comes to seeking verification. Make sure your followers, comments, engagements, and likes from authentic and from real people.
3. Establish a Strong Social Media Presence Externally
Social media is highly intermingled. Your success on one platform can benefit your performance on another. For instance, having a verified profile on another platform or extremely large following on another network can work in your favor by signaling your brand credibility. With that in mind, you should keep a strong social media presence outside of Instagram to increase your chances of becoming verified on Instagram.
Recognizable brands on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube have a better chance of becoming verified. However, a verified Facebook page doesn’t automatically guarantee you will have a verified Instagram profile.
4. Hold An Active Account
Activity is a factor in verification. An inactive Instagram account will not be verified. Remain consistent on the platform and interact frequently. Not only does this increase your chances of becoming verified, but consistency and activity are also important for gaining and maintaining a following.
5. Complete Your Profile
While this may seem obvious, you want to make sure you complete all profile fields for your account. You can’t prove you are who you say you are with incomplete fields.
How to Request Verification
There is no official form, number, or email address you can use to be verified on Instagram, but you still can contact Instagram to seek verification. It’s all about talking to the right people. Here are a few options!
- Get in contact with an agency that represents celebrities and large brands. They’ll usually have a connection with Instagram that can speed up your request.
- Speak with Instagram support. You’re going to have to contact them more than once. Stay persistent with your request…they’re hard to get ahold of!
- Spend money on Facebook ads. You’ll be more likely to reach a support team member this way.
- Prove your account is at risk for impersonation and it can be damaging to your brand. If you can demonstrate there is a real threat, you’ll increase your chances.
Final Thoughts
Yes, there’s a lot of time and effort to be put into the verification process, but you will reap the rewards from increased credibility and visibility. If you decide to seek verification, stay diligent. The process is tedious, but not impossible and can have lasting benefits for your brand.
