In the past, Instagram wasn’t clear on who got the blue verified check status on their account. It seemed that many celebrities and popular accounts got it but others didn’t and no one seemed to know why. Prior to August 28th, 2018, users were not able to request verification directly from Instagram.
Though you can now apply for verified status on Instagram, simply applying for it does not guarantee you will achieve it. Here are 10 tips to help you get verified on the social media platform.
1. Build a Following and Engagement
To reach influencer status and warrant becoming verified on Instagram, you should have a strong following with high engagement. You must have a clearly defined niche because even though it seems like you would gain more followers by trying to appeal to everyone, you’re not likely to increase your engagement that way. You must establish trust in recognition for your expertise in a particular topic area. While this is a long term strategy, you can also buy Instagram followers to get a boost and create social proof.
If you’ve built a reputation on another social media platform such as Facebook or YouTube, it can also make it easier to build your Instagram following and engagement. For best results, that engagement must be genuine and meaningful rather than a bunch of nice picture comments on various posts. Those meaningless comments don’t do anything to improve your credibility as a thought leader in your industry. You will need to find your best site to buy Instagram followers and likes from and you should also look for a good source of likes and views for natural improvements.
2. Cross-Promote Your Other Social Media Accounts
One of the best and easiest ways to build your following on Instagram or any other social media platform is to promote all of your social media networks. This way, your Instagram followers may choose to follow you on YouTube or like your Facebook page. Your Twitter followers may choose to follow you on Instagram and your Facebook followers may also join you on Instagram.
Establishing popularity across a range of social media websites indicates that you are more of an Internet celebrity and therefore more likely to be considered for Instagram verification.
Your entire online presence needs to come across as a single outlet for your brand’s personality. As such, you want your blog, social media websites and YouTube page to link together seamlessly to represent you. If you want to be an influencer, you need a varied online platform that reaches far and wide. Instagram needs to be just one piece of the puzzle.
3. Avoid Poor Social Media Practices
Instagram, like other major internet platforms, can easily spot attempts to gain the system. Avoid taking shut shortcuts such as buying followers or making spammy comments in an attempt to grow your audience and engagement faster than usual.
Always be sure your posts meet Instagram’s Community guidelines and that you are consistently following the rules. If Instagram finds any reason to ban you, you will have wasted all of the time and effort you put into building your online presence and brand and will be removed from the network rather than verified.
4. Increase Your Visibility with Popular Hashtags
If you want to help your post reach a bigger audience, use popular hashtags. You can use third-party flat forms such as Hashtagify or Tagblender to help you get ideas and ensure you are not working with a list of banned hashtags. You can get general trends for popular hashtags.
It’s important however you only use hashtags that are relevant to your Niche. You will never be accepted as an influencer if you create posts that are not relevant to your followers just for the purpose of using a trending hashtag and extending your reach.
It’s a good idea to create a hashtag for your brand and encourage your followers to use it often.
5. Remain Active on Your Account
If you’re not actively using the platform, you’ll never be Instagram verified. When the advance can buy to see if you’re worth verification, they’ll be looking for regular activity.
Beyond actively posting great photos, I take advantage of your Instagram insights and use those analytics to plan content that resonates with your followers. Pay attention to posting times a name to post new content when your followers are the most active.
Take time to engage with your audience by responding to comments, liking posts and exploring relevant hashtags.
6. Boost Earned Media
If you want Instagram to give you their seal of approval, you need to show them that you’re worth it. Take a second to Google yourself to see what comes up. If nothing comes up, you need to fix that because if your brand is not widely recognized, there isn’t anything to verify.
An algorithm is not deciding who should get the verification badge on their account. Real people are reviewing every request manually and they are likely to use search engines to see what comes up for outside credibility.
7. Request Verification
Go to your Instagram profile and tap on the menu icon in the top-right corner of your profile. From there, select the settings icon on the bottom right of your screen and then select “Account” from the settings menu.
Scroll down until you see request verification and tap it. A form appears with your account name pre-filled. Add your full name. For businesses, and the full name of whoever manages your Instagram.
Tap “Choose file” to attach a copy of your photo ID. A driver’s license, passport, or national identification card will work for people. For businesses, you must use any official business documents such as Articles of Incorporation, a utility bill, or tax filing.
You can either open your camera and take an in-focus photo of your ID or loading image of your ID from your phone.
Tap the send button at the bottom of the screen to submit your verification request.
Your request will then go to an individual moderator at Instagram who will review your account and decide whether or not to approve you for the badge. The process could take several weeks, so it’s not a bad sign if you don’t hear anything right away.
Once Instagram has made its decision from you will receive an in-app notification telling you whether or not you are Instagram verified. If the request is denied, you can submit a new one after 30 days.
8. Make Sure You’re a Public Account
Private accounts will not be eligible to become Instagram verified.
9. Don’t Request Verification for Multiple Accounts
According to Instagram, your account must be the unique presence of a person or business that it represents. You cannot have multiple verified accounts for yourself for your brand. There is an exception for language-specific accounts such as McDonald’s Italy versus McDonald’s China for instance.
10. Be Honest
If you provide any misleading or false information when applying for verification, your verified badge will be removed and you may even face suspension from Instagram or worse a permanent ban
Getting verified on Instagram helps you prevent imposters and copycats, shows that you are newsworthy, and does a great deal for Instagram SEO.
