We’ve all seen it before – the “Verified” tick badge has become very popular on social media platforms in the past few years. It is often viewed as a symbol of status and popularity on a social platform, and many Instagram influencers are dying to get it to shine on their profiles. But how exactly can you get verified on Instagram?

On Instagram, the blue verified badge stands as a symbol of authenticity and popularity, it is explicitly meant to represent public figures, celebrities and global brands that use this platform. However, most of us would agree that this white tick on a blue background stands for something more than that – it has a certain appeal to it that makes the page stand out and appear “cool” compared to all the others.

Most of the other social platforms have a similar feature such as this one, like Facebook and Twitter, and their symbols are almost identical to each other. The verified button has become a globally recognized mark of authenticity, success and popularity, and it’s to no surprise that every Instagram influencer wants to have it on their profile page.

Many are asking: “How do I verify my Instagram account?” 

In this article, we are going to explore this topic in-depth, so you can have a clear idea on what it takes to get verified on Instagram. We are going to take you through the whole process of how to verify an Instagram account, step-by-step, so you too can finally get that shiny blue badge on your Instagram account page.

Official Statement from Instagram

As of August 2018, Instagram made the verification process available to the general public. Users can now simply log into their app and send their request for verification in hopes of getting that shiny blue badge on their pages. The application process is simple and it only takes a few minutes:

1. In the Instagram app, head to Settings
2. Scroll down and find Request Verification
3. Type in the requested information and send your request

Note: Make sure Instagram is up-to-date before doing this. 

Although anyone can apply for this process, specific requirements have to be met in order to get that verification badge on your profile page. Anyone can request verification, but it doesn’t mean getting the approval is easy! 

Instagram Verification Requirements

According to Instagram, verified badge means that “an account is the authentic presence of the public figure, celebrity or global brand it represents”, and your account has to be in line with Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. This means that community accounts or pages that post unoriginal content (such as meme accounts, pages that post random comedy videos found on internet etc.) are not eligible for verification badge.

So, what exactly does Instagram mean when they say “public figure, celebrity or global brand”? 

The basic premise is that an account is in public interest, meaning that other people search for it on a large scale. Instagram wants to keep the verified badge only for the most popular and famous influencers that are more likely to be impersonated by others. On their official page, Instagram lists 4 additional requirements that each account needs to meet:

• Authentic: Meaning that your account has to represent a real person, registered business or entity.
• Unique: Only one account is allowed per person or business, so it has to be the only one to get verified.
• Complete: Your account must be public and have a bio, photo and at least one post. Instagram also says your account must not contain links to other social media pages.
• Notable: This is probably the most important requirement of them all. By “notable”, Instagram is simply saying that your account needs to be popular. It should be featured in multiple news sources, and they don’t consider paid or promotional content as a legit source for review.

If you fulfill these requirements and your account doesn’t break any community rules or ToS, then you are fully eligible to apply for that blue verification badge. However, a much more difficult challenge is to achieve this status of “public figure”, as Instagram did not give any definite answer as to what exactly that status entails. Rumors say that having a verified badge on other social media platforms such as Facebook can help you to achieve the same on Instagram.

If your request was rejected, you will receive the notification in your app saying: “Your account wasn’t verified because it doesn’t meet the criteria for verification. You can submit another request in 30 days.”.

You might be wondering: “What can I do to improve my chances to verify my Instagram account?” 

The short answer is that you need to become a popular influencer with a decent following. To do this, you can take some simple steps to grow your account in order to reach that public figure status.

Simple Steps to Become a Famous Instagram Influencer

Your best bet at achieving that verification badge is to become a famous Instagram influencer. This means you have to grow your account and influence a lot of people, but you also have to build an authentic brand image of your page which can help you on your path to verification.

1. Maintain a Consistent Brand Image

The best way to grow your Instagram account is to stand out from the crowd. You will have to decide which direction it is that you want to take when it comes to your Instagram page. This means you have to set a goal for your content and overall brand image, something that you will follow and stand-by.

Most of the popular influencers that got famous on Instagram did so by standing out from the crowd and creating unique content that appealed to a broad audience. Maintaining a consistent brand image will allow you to reach many loyal followers while also giving you bonus points when it comes to getting that blue badge next to your username.

2. Increase your Engagement Rate

High engagement rate screams “High Quality” to both people and Instagram’s algorithm. It is a symbol of a quality page that deserves recognition, so it’s one of the key factors for getting verified on Instagram. Engagement Rate is calculated based on the number of likes and comments compared to the total amount of followers.

You can use free online calculators like Phlanx to find out your Engagement Rate percent.

The best way to increase your engagement rate is to compel your audience to engage with your account, whether that’s through comment sections, likes or story replies. Give them an excellent reason and a call-to-action, so you can be assured your followers will begin to engage with you on a more frequent basis. Interact with your audience and they will interact with you, resulting in a higher engagement rate which in the end leads to more success on the Instagram platform.

3. Increase Your Follower Numbers

You might be wondering why this step isn’t the first one. Well, it turns out that the number of followers does not directly correlate to the status of a “Public Figure” on Instagram. You can have 50,000 followers and some movie star who just made his account with 500 followers still has a higher chance of getting verified.

However, having more followers is still a positive thing and it’s a step in the right direction when it comes to Instagram fame. The more followers you have, the larger your influence is and therefore it’s easier to be considered a public, authority figure that’s “likely to be impersonated”. So if you’re still stuck in this process of verification, increasing your amount of followers is a good place to start.

There are many ways to reach more followers and grow your Instagram page.

You should start off by posting high-quality content with proper hashtags, at the right time. A study by sproutsocial.com shows that the best time for posting on Instagram is early in the morning (6 AM) and after-work hours, between 4-5PM, on Thursdays.

Additionally, as we mentioned above, you might want to increase your engagement rate and maintain a consistent brand image, which all helps build credibility and grow a decent following on Instagram.

4. Network with Other Influencers

Another great way to become a popular influencer is to build connections with other influencers. Networking is an important skill that has a lot of benefits, and you should try to develop it fully. Connecting with other influencers in your own niche will give you access to better information, more followers and at the same time increase your chance of getting verified.

Instagram already mentioned that your account should be cited in multiple news sources, so if other influencers who are already verified acknowledge you, it will be way easier to get Instagram to do the same.

To build a great Instagram influencer network, you have to reach out to other influencers and ask them to collaborate with you. There are many things you can do, such as trading post tags or story mentions between each other, or just having a good old friendly chat about your common interests.

5. Promote Your Brand on Other Social Platforms

Last but not least, you should always be working on promoting yourself on other social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. This will help in many ways – it will drive traffic from other platforms to your Instagram account and it will also make you more likely to achieve that public figure status that Instagram is talking about.

Make sure your accounts all share the same name & username, otherwise you might run into some problems. If your username is already taken on some platform, try adjusting with some small additions like adding the word “Official” in front of it. Feel free to use your creativity and experiment with different options!

Avoid These Bad Practices

Taking the proper steps to grow your Instagram presence and reach a larger audience is important, but you should also avoid doing things that can damage your reputation. Instagram can easily spot accounts that are trying to “game” the system and use it to their advantage.

Some of these bad practices include buying fake followers & likes or using bots to grow your numbers. 

Never buy fake followers. Even if we take away the fact that Instagram can find out and remove your account, it’s still a bad and pointless practice that should be avoided at all costs. Buying fake followers only works as a placebo to get a higher number, without any results to back it up. You’re wasting your money, time, and are potentially risking having your account banned.

On top of all that, no marketers want to work with someone who bought fake followers. There is actually an easy way to differentiate real followers from the fake – you can use this free Instagram software tool to detect fake followers and fake likes on an account. [Insert Article #2 here]

You should also avoid using any bots that automatically like or comment posts. This may seem like a good idea to boost your engagement rate, but it’s actually just spamming and easy for users, marketers and Instagram employee’s to see through. It’s far better to connect in a real, human way and you will be way more appreciated for doing so. Nobody likes getting spammed by bots, so don’t do it.

Alternative Ways to Get Verified on Instagram

The verification process can be a difficult and frustrating experience, so naturally some people prefer to avoid dealing with all that stress. For this reason, some have found an alternative way to get verified on Instagram, and it’s not so legal.

According to Forbes, there’s an underground “black market” community that helps with verification on Instagram.

The rules are simple – you pay and they deliver the results. This can be done either through Instagram employees, hackers or digital agencies & publicists that work directly with Instagram to get their clients verified. The problem with this method is that there’s no guarantee whether it will work or not, and you are risking getting scammed for your money in the process. Is it all worth it just to get that blue badge?

Apart from being completely illegal to bribe Instagram employees, hiring a hacker or buying fake followers to get some agency to verify you, it also reflects negatively for all the brands, businesses and marketers who want to find Instagram influencers to work with.

Influencer marketing drives real results [Insert article #3 here] and many brands and businesses use it as an essential part of their campaign. They are looking for legit influencers with real numbers, and having a verified badge is a big plus when it comes to this process. However, all marketers should be aware of these bad practices and they should avoid Influencers who use them at all costs.

Many marketers are wondering how to contact Instagram influencers…

Well, if you want to find out how and why to reach out to influencers for your marketing campaigns, click here to find out! [Insert Article #1 here]

Conclusion

Getting verified on Instagram and earning that little blue badge is a fairly difficult task, but it’s an important one. There are many benefits that go along with that badge, so every brand and influencer should strive towards it. The key step is to build an authentic account with a large following and you can do exactly that by following some of the steps found in this article. 

Finally, I believe we can all agree that it’s way easier and safer to take the legit route to Instagram verification. Trying to cheat the system doesn’t work, and it’s also not necessary when there are simple ways to achieve the same results – legitimately.