Instagram, one could argue, is a social media network unlike any other. Instead of words, the site is almost exclusively based on the sharing of photos and videos. This visual twist is what has made Instagram the cultural behemoth that it is today – “Instagramming” is now a verb.

If you want ‘celebrity status’ and instant trust on this platform as an influencer or business owner, you probably see the appeal in that little blue tick already.

This famous little blue tick isn’t so easy to obtain as you may think and Instagram does have a strict review process before handing them out. If you’d like to know exactly how to get one and what steps to take to ensure your application is valid, read on!

What exactly does being verified on Instagram mean? 

Verification is a way for people to know that the notable accounts they are following or searching for are exactly who they say they are. This means that Instagram has officially verified that the account with the verified badge belongs to an authentic person who might be available as an existing public figure, well-known influencer, Celebrity, brand, or whatever organization it represents.

It is not a form of promotion or support that Instagram provides. It is the credit of the owner of the account and its recognition.

Instagram mentions that the blue tick is not a symbol to display importance, authority, superiority, or subject matter expertise. If a public figure, celebrity or brand, or organization is verified, then they are not supposed to be changing their username.

They are not under the authority of the badge therefore, they can not transfer the verified badge to any other account. Instagram accounts made to impersonate public figures, brands, or any verified account on Instagram, are the ones violating Community Guidelines, and their account will be removed from Instagram.

Even though many known brands, as well as public figures, have the blue tick or the verified badge beside their account, it’s not entirely necessary for success on the platform. Having real instagram followers that are interested in your niche and content drastically outweighs the success a Verified Tick can bring you on the platform.

Why does social media provide a verification tag? 

Social media platforms are widely used to achieve goals not only by individuals but also by businesses. A social media blue badge or tick allows you to distinguish an account from a duplicate or spam account. To experience peace of mind, social media users should ensure that their accounts are safe from threats and other issues. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn each have their verification process, but, all have the same purpose.

To verify your identity, most social media sites and networks need specific details in your account. For example, if you would like to get verified on YouTube, you’ll have to provide information regarding your company and its mission statement. The same thing applies to Facebook since the purpose of verification is to confirm that an account is genuine.

A verification badge or tick allows social media sites and networks to protect their users from frauds, scams, or impersonation. This way, if there’s one fake profile that pretends to be someone else, it will be detected easily. Businesses also can benefit from it by validating their online presence, especially when it comes to how people perceive them as a business entity.

In the end, it is a good way to have a more authentic social media presence. However, it doesn’t work in all cases. The verification process is quite strict, and the chances of failing it are quite high. In addition, many sites offer more than one verification system.

Benefits of getting verified

The verification batch by Instagram is not just something to show off. It has benefits and these includes:

Better credibility

A blue badge on an actual social media account helps a firm or company to gain credibility among followers, which essentially is quite significant. Not only that, but it also provides methods for gaining further followers while trying to promote a brand or service in the market in a subtle way. Businesses have been known to generally see improvements on their returns on advertising spend with accounts that have been verified.

Less possibility of Impersonation

An existing verified social media account provides ways that belong to minimize the fear in regards to impersonation, which is going to greatly prevent phishing as well as other associated dangers. A verified social media account helps a company or firm appear prominently inside search results related to their brand too

Higher engagement

Verified social media accounts recieve higher interaction from other accounts due to the associated trust with our little blue tick. When it comes to promotional activities, these interactions or engagements prove to be very helpful to improve business income too as it brings more exposure.

Awareness of brands and other firms

After verifying their social media accounts, companies can enhance brand awareness in their markets. This, in turn, provides opportunities to increase sales through their popularity which will help generate significant income.

Criteria to apply for a verification badge on Instagram?

For acquiring the verification badge on Instagram, there are a few criteria. You must follow Instagram’s Terms of Use and Community Guidelines. The application process is directly available in the app, and these things must be kept in mind before applying for the verification badge:

• The person wanting to apply for the verification badge must be a real person, registered business, or entity.
• The account must be the unique presence of the person or business it represents. Instagram also accepts notable entities like pets or publications.
• Instagram only allows one account per person or business to be verified. Language-specific accounts are an exception to this criteria.
• Account must be well maintained and it means that the account that is applying for verification must be public and have a bio, profile photo, and at least one post.
• The account must represent a well-known, highly searched-for person, brand, or entity.

How to apply for the verification badge on Instagram?

These are the few simple steps you need to follow to apply for the verification badge:

• Check that you’re logged in to the account for which you’re requesting a verified badge.
• To access your profile, tap profile or your profile picture in the bottom right corner.
• Tap more options as in the upper right corner, then settings.
• Tap Account, followed by “Request verification”.
• Enter your full name and provide the necessary identification (example: government-issued photo ID or official business documents).
• Follow the instructions on the screen.

Tips to increase the probability of getting verified 

Getting verified on Instagram is the best form of validation for brands and social media creators. Obtaining that “blue tick” not only validates your authenticity but it also gives you more influence over your online presence by ensuring that your profile is the sole one representing your brand.

Getting your Instagram account verified is not easy, and that is not something that everybody can do, however if you follow the following tips, your account will be primed and ready for approval:

Finish your Instagram profile

Instagram verifies your identity aspect by looking at your profile.

Make sure your profile is decked out by including a well-written bio and a profile picture that represents your company, brand, or self. You can, for example, include your company’s logo in the profile photo, along with your brand’s tagline and website in the bio.

Having a well-rounded and authentic-looking profile can also help you gain credibility with your audience, which is the best way to capture more Instagram likes, followers and overall engagement, and media attention. Here are some guiding points for writing your profile:

• Your business name should be at the top of your bio as the account name.
• Write a mix of English and your target language in your bio.
• A good profile includes a tagline and keywords that can be used to promote yourself and explain what you do.
• Include a link to your website, app or bookings page.
• Include graphics that represent what you do. Show some work you’ve done, behind the scenes content or promotional content with your logo in it.

Create and maintain your other social profiles

Having a large following on other platforms can certainly assist your Instagram account to appear more genuine.

For example, there are clear ties between Twitter and press releases. Enjoy the benefits of this! When your identity is revealed in the news or the media, take advantage of the media coverage to grow your social profiles and following.

The likelihood of someone following you on Instagram due to articles about you is higher than if there were none. Time to start thinking about Public Relations and Press Releases (PR).

Since we’re on the topic, let’s discuss the effects of PR and associated articles. When you have your interview or article in a blog or publication, use that opportunity to expand your social network.

Now, here’s why this is important: when you write an article about yourself and submit it to news outlets, it gives you more social proof. Social proof directly relates to building trust with potential followers.

When potential followers see your article, they know that other people already follow and engage with your social profiles! The result? A lot more people will start following you too.

This works well for both personal and business content accounts.

Maintain your account’s activity

This may seem obvious, but if you don’t actively use Instagram, you’ll never be verified. When administrators come to see if you’re worthy of Instagram verification, they’ll look for consistent activity. It is pointless to start the verification process if you are not using the platform.

You can’t just sit back and verify that you’re using the account without obvious evidence of activity. This may sound obvious, but it is one of the most important factors for getting verified on Instagram.

Username selection should be unique and catchy

You have to have a unique username. This means that you should pick a name that only one person (you) can use for your Instagram account. Instagram has no problem with duplicate usernames. However, they do check for this one thing when it comes to verification.

The username you use for your Instagram account should be something easy for you to remember but also speak to your brand’s voice. Don’t add to many dashes, dots and hypens in there.

See what comes up when you Google yourself

Nothing? Fix this because there is nothing to verify if you don’t have a widely recognized brand.

Remember that it is not an algorithm that decides who gets a blue tick on their Instagram account. Real people manually review each request, and they are likely to use search engines like Google to see what comes up for some outside integrity.

Finally, starting to figure out how to get verified on Instagram requires putting in the effort before making a request.

It’s difficult, but that’s why verification badges are so valuable and trusted.

Increase your searchability

Being well-known and highly searched for is one of the most important requirements for getting verified on Instagram. This means you should be more active in public relations and try to get your name out there organically.

For example, you may wish to issue press releases in advance of forthcoming company disclosures or product launches. Because Instagram conducts its research, having to apply when your name has lately been in the news can raise your odds of getting verified.

Another valuable  thing you can do to get verified faster is to use branded hashtags in your posts. This can help you to promote yourself on the platform. To get verified, make sure you are always posting with relevant hashtags.

For example, if you sell vegan cosmetics, it might be helpful to use #vegan and #veganskincare in your posts. Likewise, if you live in California, use #California when posting to Instagram.

This makes it easy for Instagram’s algorithms to detect that your brand is ‘interesting’ and relevant to what people are searching (they look through the number of likes and comments on your posts).

To make sure you are being consistent with these kinds of hashtags for verification purposes, comment on other people’s photos.

According to Facebook’s manual pages on increasing “searchability,” using hashtags on your posts entitles you to a larger audience for that particular post.

Keep an eye out for impersonator profiles

While attempting to claim that your identity is under threat may feel like an attention-seeker strategy, this tip comes straight from Instagram:

“Accounts representing well-known figures and brands are verified because they are vulnerable to impersonation.”

Your verified badge distinguishes you as the one-and-only you. It increases trust in your followers by demonstrating that they are not attempting to follow a random impersonator. People would like to know that they are following the real deal.

For example, Netflix’s verified account status ensures that users are following the correct account.

Notifying Instagram that you are at risk of being impersonated may prompt them to take action.

Knowing about SEO will be helpful

SEO is the abbreviation for Search Engine Optimization. This is the process of improving your site or account, in the case of Instagram searches.

Instagram, although a social media platform, is also a search engine. It uses keywords in your profile, posts and hashtags to deliver the relevant information you are searching for. By utilising SEO effectively in your Instagram posting, you are increasing the organic visibility of your profile and content for specific searches.

This is how SEO will help gain the verification badge. It just so happens that it enhances your profile interaction in an organic way.

Make your posts unique

Creating and maintaining a distinct and authentic Instagram account is critical for getting verified. That is why we recommend personalizing your posts to help you distinguish your account from imposters.

For example, you could develop a distinct brand voice, aesthetic, feed aesthetic, content theme, or hashtag strategy that is distinctive to your account and incredibly hard (or impossible) to replicate.

Other ways to personalize your posts are that you can share behind-the-scenes content to give your audience some inside look at your brand! Who else would have such original content besides you?

Optionally, encourage individuals to tag you in posts to enhance brand engagement through user-generated content (UGC) or labeled hashtags.

Some Instagram history so you know where this all started

Instagram, which was purchased by Facebook in 2012, has become a part of daily life, with over a billion registered accounts. Everyone appears to be on Instagram these days, from tiny businesses to large corporations, news organizations to cultural institutions, celebrities, photographers, and artists, not to mention the economy of influencers that have sprung up in its wake.

It enables the users to not only post their thoughts but also communicate among themselves, add fun filters, stories, stickers, and much more.

It is indeed the most used social media app in the world, having millions of users and around billions of followers.

Instagram was founded on October 6, 2010, by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. The website was launched publicly in 2012. In the beginning, there were only a few photos in their account, but as time passed by, their account became more inviting to other people because they uploaded numerous pictures with different colors and filters that attracted other people to follow them.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that we all enjoy cheering for a well-taken selfie.

Instagram demographics 2022

Instagram is a popular photo editing, sharing, and social media application on the internet. It has taken over Facebook as the social media platform of choice for many with its ability to immediately share photos from anywhere in the world.

So who are your audience on the platform?

This is how Instagram users are broken down by age:

• 13-17 years old: 8.5%
• 18-24 years old: 30.1%
• 25-34 years old: 31.5%
• 35-44 years old: 16.1%
• 45-54 years old: 8%
• 55-64 years old: 3.6%
• 65 years old and up: 2.1%

(source- Global State of Digital 2022 report)

The gender balance is fairly even, with total male users (50.7 percent) slightly topping total female users (49.3 percent) by a hair. (However, this isn’t true in every age group; for users aged 35 and up, for example, women outweigh men.)

Of course, this is a fairly binary approach to gender. There are many non-binary users on the platform, but they are not counted in the statistics that Instagram currently collects.

Evolution of Instagram over the past 10 years

The app, which started as just a photo-sharing app, has evolved a lot in the past few years and it seems to receive different opinions from all around the world.

Instagram’s growth beyond photo-sharing

The Instagram app swiftly established itself as a legitimate competitor to Facebook’s dominance of the social media market, and few were surprised when Mark Zuckerberg’s company purchased Instagram for $1 billion only two years later.

Since this acquisition, Instagram has grown beyond simple image sharing in its quest to become a one-stop shop for all social media users’ demands and to compete with new competitor apps.

Instagram Stories debuted in 2016 at a time when Snapchat was dominating the social media landscape. In 2018, the app released IGTV, and more recently, Reels, a long-awaited video-sharing tool dubbed a “TikTok clone.”

In addition to addressing competitor USPs, the advent of Stories, IGTV, and Reels increased brand advertising potential. And now, in 2020, it is not an exaggeration to claim that Instagram is a social commerce powerhouse, with the app producing $20 billion in ad income in 2019.

With so many advertising opportunities, it’s no surprise that Instagram is marketers’ second favorite channel for influencer partnerships in the next 12 months, according to TAKUMI’s latest whitepaper, which polled 3,500 marketers, influencers, and customers across the UK, US, and Germany. Over half of marketers (55%) chose Instagram, somewhat less than YouTube (58%) but much more than TikTok (35%), TV advertising (29%), and OOH (22%).

Instagram, in addition to boosting consumer engagement, has been shown as a platform that drives conversions, with 11% selecting it as the marketing medium most likely to lead to a transaction. This figure increased considerably among younger customers, reaching a quarter (25%) of 16-24-year-olds.

The process of getting verified on Instagram is quite difficult, but with some effort and a big brand voice, you can level up your account to ‘Verified” status and your account and gain more traction on the Instagram platform. From the level of growth that the Instagram platform has seen over the years, it’s no wonder that the ‘little blue tick’ is so highly sought after. Give these tips a go, and grow your reach with a verified Instagram account!

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