Instagram is one of the leading social media platforms which essentially work on the principle of people uploading photos and follower of those people seeing those pictures, commenting on them and liking them. It has been at the heart of social media marketing with brands and people showcasing their items for promotion and marketing. With this new race of social media marketing people want to get ahead of their competitors and do good for their business, increase profits, have a bigger social media presence so people can know about them. One way you can do that is to get verified on Instagram.
So, what this means is that they need to show they are authentic in order for them to be in a better position to make a sale or attract more customers. In this era of identity theft and fake profiles verification process is highly sought after so it safe guards your identity and brand but it’s not such a simple process in case of Instagram. What it actually does is makes you official but is it something worth going for? In this article we will tell you what verification is and how can you get verified.
What is Instagram’s Verification Badge?
A Verified badge for Instagram can be found as a blue checkmark next to someone’s name or handle in the search or their profile. What this badge basically signifies is that the profile representing the said person or brand is authentic and official. Celebrities, brands, politicians and well-known businessmen have a high likelihood of being impersonated so these checkmarks are basically an indication for their authenticity. Instagram has come up with these verification badges to make sure an Instagram user finds the right profile for a brand or celebrity he/she is looking for.
Instagram has a strict rule and procedure for pages that have these badges and they review the content of these pages to make sure the badges should be there or removed. Any account promoting something else than what it represents or posting spam or content not keeping in with Instagram’s guidelines will lead towards the removal of the badge. Moreover, these badges cannot be transferred to other accounts or sold to someone nor can they be purchased. These badges are exclusively for someone who has very high probability of being impersonated and are given on individual basis by Instagram moderator. You cannot request for these, buy these, or fool your way to get one.
What this Verification Badge do?
The entire purpose of this badge is for Instagram network to know that this particular page representing the brand or person is real and official. All content publicized on it is genuine and not fake and this is actually them. In this way, even when impersonated the imposter won’t be able to damage your name. This badge does not give one any kind of special privileges nor any additional security. Furthermore, it does not provide you with any access technical support from Instagram or unlocks more, new or special features for you. It won’t make it any harder for someone to hack into your account. It’s just a show of you being you.
Can I Request Instagram for a Verification Badge for my profile?
Contemporarily, only celebrities, brands and public figures have verified badges according to Instagram. Also, you cannot request or purchase a verification badge from Instagram. So, if you’re not well known or don’t have a huge public presence or social media following you won’t certainly be noticed by the moderators of Instagram for a badge. What you can do then is link you account with other official websites or social media accounts you have so that people can know that this is your official page.
What if you have a verified Facebook profile?
A lot of people will be having the question that if you have a verified Facebook profile then shouldn’t you automatically be entitled to an Instagram verified badge? We know that Facebook owns Instagram and people do have this thought that when Facebook is owning Instagram then a badge on Facebook will mean that you can get a badge on Instagram automatically or its easier for you to get it on Instagram. But this is not true, these two even though belong to Facebook group are entirely different with different teams managing them and different websites. Moreover, they don’t have the same login. What Instagram says is that brands, celebrities and public figures are the ones currently having verified badges on Instagram and not all people with verified accounts on Facebook have a verified Instagram badge. Accounts that have a very high likelihood of being impersonated are the ones currently having verified badges on Instagram to stop identity theft and prevent damaging of a person or brands reputation.
If you don’t have a verified badge on Instagram but do have one on Facebook then what you can do is link both accounts for people to know that this is your official Instagram page. You can also link any other official page, social media account or website you have to let all your followers know about your real and official Instagram page.
So how can you get verified on Instagram?
A lot of people want to be verified and have that blue checkmark next to their Instagram account but unfortunately verification on Instagram is a really difficult process. Instagram chooses which accounts to verify and there is no process, application or request you can make neither can you purchase the badge. Additionally, Instagram verifies celebrities, well-known business men, public figures and brands mostly. So, what can you do to make Instagram look towards you? There are several ways to get the Instagram moderators to notice you and below we list all those. All you need is a little patience, presence on other social media platforms, and active engagement on Instagram. In the event you still don’t verified then don’t worry there are other ways for you to show people that your account is legitimate – link it to all your official accounts.
1. Have a very big presence – a lot of followers
Let’s begin our discussion with the most obvious way of getting yourself to be verified – be popular. There is no rule on the number of people Instagram requires to verify you but it helps with the process of you getting noticed. Now there are two approaches one can take – either get big on Instagram or get big on other social media platforms first.
If you start of with Instagram and put in effort and time to amass a huge following then people know your account is authentic and real and even when impersonated you wouldn’t be affected much. So, it wouldn’t be a high priority for Instagram to verify you. On the other hand, if you have big social media presence on other platforms then when starting off on Instagram you will be at a bigger risk of being impersonated. Hence, Instagram will look towards your verification for better user experience.
Nevertheless, there are many ways for you to get famous on Instagram.
Hashtags: The main feature used by people to browse for something is hashtags, so always try to use popular hashtags to get people to notice you. Then it’s just if they see what they like they will decide to follow you. Also, always pay attention to what is trending and use those hashtags as people like use hashtags to discuss a matter.
Interaction: Browse different pictures using hashtag and like random photos, leave good thoughtful comments which might encourage the user to look you up and follow. Try to avoid obvious spammy comments which would cause others to be annoyed. Treat each picture as a conversation opener and engage with people
Promote Instagram on other Social Media sites: If you are popular on other social media sites then use them to your advantage and promote your Instagram pictures on those platforms. Also, link these accounts.
Golden Hours: Research has shown that 2 am to 5 am are the golden hours of Instagram where people like to browse Instagram maximum so use these hours to post pictures and use popular hashtags.
Bio: Create a bio that attracts people, be original be thoughtful and use hashtags in your bio so your profile appears in search results.
Good Content: Instagram relies on images so you should always post good quality images.
2. Get Impersonated – or be at a risk of impersonation
The entire question of verification is based on someone being impersonated and that someone by Instagram’s current standards must be a famous person or celebrity. So, if you get impersonated you don’t necessarily get a verification badge but you might get on Instagram’s verification watchlist and maybe in the next round you do get the badge or maybe when you get impersonated again or if you get a big social media footprint.
3. Be Active
If you haven’t posted in over a month or you are not a regular on Instagram no matter how big your presence is or how many times you are impersonated you won’t be verified so you need to keep an active profile. Like photos, comment, share pictures and regularly update your profile.
4. Avoid Negative Actions
Buying Followers: There are many sites that will allow you to buy followers and instantly increase your following but be careful that Instagram will recognize this instant boost in followers and it’s unlikely that it will verify you with having fake followers.
Spam: Fake accounts posts spam comments that can easily be identified, they will be short and repetitive. So always delete comments from accounts you think might be fake or spam.
Instagram’s community guidelines: It is obvious that if you don’t adhere to Instagram’s guidelines then it won’t verify such accounts that do not follow community guidelines. So, go through these guidelines carefully and always make sure you’re not posting content that violate guidelines.
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