What does the blue checkmark mean on Instagram? It’s an account verification badge, and it proves that the account is genuine. Verification badges confirm that the celebrity, public figure, media, or brand accounts are legitimate. Without it, you could be looking at a fake account.
Are you interested in getting verified on Instagram and earning that blue checkmark? Here are some things to consider and steps to take.
What are the benefits of getting verified on Instagram?
There are benefits to getting verified on Instagram. Getting that little blue verification checkmark on Instagram provides you with a much higher level of authenticity. This can make casual visitors more interested in following you. It also increases your trustworthiness and loyalty among your existing followers.
Does getting verified on Instagram really matter?
Instagram verification matters. With over 200 million businesses on Instagram, verification of your account helps you take your presence and influence to the next level. Instead of blending in with the crowd, you’ll stand out in your industry.
Ultimately, Instagram verification solidifies your position as a legitimate, valuable, influential leader. It indicates the exclusivity of your brand, and businesses prefer to work with verified Instagram accounts.
What types of accounts does Instagram verify?
You may be asking, How do I get a blue checkmark on Instagram? There is no exact playbook for getting verified on Instagram. It’s not as simple as just having thousands of followers; there are news anchors with 1,000 followers who are verified on Instagram.
Getting verified is also not as straightforward as simply being in a certain industry. For example, there are major fitness influencers who are verified, while many others are not.
Can you still get verified on Instagram? Yes, you can. However, Instagram does not verify every account. An account is required to meet certain criteria before Instagram will consider it verified. The first and most important of these are that the account cannot violate Instagram Community Guidelines and must comply with the Terms of Use. Beyond this, your chances of Instagram granting verified status to your account are increased if your account is:
- Authentic
- Unique
- Complete
- Notable
Let’s go into more detail on each of these criteria.
What does Instagram mean by Authentic when it comes to verification?
An Authentic account represents a real person, registered business, or entity. Instagram will not verify a profile representing a fictional character, a fake person, a meme account, a fan account, or a business that doesn’t exist.
For example, @prattprattpratt is an Authentic Instagram account, because it represents actor Chris Pratt who is an actual person, not a fictional character.
What does Instagram mean by Unique when it comes to verification?
A Unique account represents the one-of-a-kind presence of the person or business. Only one account per person or business may be verified, with exceptions for language-specific accounts. For example, @apple is a Unique account because it represents the one and only Apple Inc. corporation.
Note that Instagram will not verify general interest accounts, such as @puppymemes, because this does not possess a sufficient level of uniqueness (it is also a meme account, which is another disqualifier).
What does Instagram mean by Complete when it comes to verification?
A Complete account has all the necessary information displayed. This means the account is public, not private, and has a bio and a profile photo. Your account must be active when you apply for verified status, meaning you have posted at least one photo (it also helps to put at least some type of caption on the photos you post).
An example of a Complete account is the automotive company @honda, which includes a bio, the company logo as its profile photo, and has posted content going back many years.
What does Instagram mean by Notable when it comes to verification?
A Notable account is one in which other users are interested. This is the most subjective requirement: Instagram only verifies profiles with a certain level of notoriety. It must represent a well-known, highly searched-for person, brand, or entity. Instagram reviews accounts that are featured in multiple news sources, and doesn’t consider paid or sponsored media content as sources for review.
An example of a notable account is @therock, the verified account of actor Dwayne Johnson, who is one of the most popular actors today with over 295 million followers. Googling Dwayne Johnson yields thousands of search results across hundreds of websites and news media outlets.
What Could Cause Your Instagram Verification To Be Denied?
You could apply for Instagram verification and have your request denied. Here are some reasons why this could happen:
- You violated Instagram’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Use
- You misused hashtags, spammed accounts, or posted questionable content
- Your account is not official
- Your profile is not complete or not active
- You are promoting a business that Instagram doesn’t like
- You aren’t noteworthy enough as an entity
Keep in mind that if you receive a verified badge using false or misleading information during the verification process, Instagram will remove your verified badge and may take additional action to disable your account.
What steps can you take to make it more likely to get verified on Instagram?
You may be wondering, How do I get verified on Instagram in 2022? Applying for Instagram verification is actually the easy part. As you probably guessed from the discussion above, qualifying for Instagram verification can be the hard part. Here are some actions you can take to help increase your odds of being granted Instagram verification.
- Monitor for impostor accounts using a social media monitoring tool
- Grow your followers list, but be sure they are real accounts
- Delete cross-platform links in your bio
- Make yourself highly searched-for by providing content followers want to see
- Apply when you are at a peak in notoriety when your name is in the news
- Work with a professional agency or publicist
- Be honest, don’t stretch the truth about yourself
- If you’re turned down, redouble your efforts on the steps above and re-apply later
I hope you’ve enjoyed and found this information useful. If you have additional experiences or tips to share related to getting verified on Instagram, post in the comments below and we can keep this discussion going!
— Sean