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How to Get Verified on Instagram

In this blog, we are going to talk about various ways you can increase your chances to get verified. You may have come across a lot of articles talking about ways to get verified on Instagram which more often than not is filled with speculations. In this blog, we will explore everything about the process of Instagram verification. And we mean business! Everything that you need to know, we’ll cover it in this topic.

Quick Tips to Increase Your Chances for Verification:

Web Presence

The prime factor that decides whether or not you are eligible for verification is the amount of web presence you have.  In other words, the amount of press you have on notable and credible sites. In general, if you have 10 or more full-featured articles about you on notable news sites, you should qualify for social media verification. However, the outcome may depend on where you apply, that is, with a media partner or via-in app submission. We’ll talk more about this later.

In regards to web presence, it goes without saying that you need to be featured on known sites. Having 50 articles on unknown sites and blogs will most probably not get the job done. However, having 10 full features on known sites where some of them are authority sites like Forbes, New York Times, Huff Post, or similar, can definitely get the job done.

We have an entirely separate blog about what PR works and what doesn’t. Please be sure to check it out before building PR. We’ve seen many a few people go out and build PR that doesn’t count when it comes to verification. Check out our blog for a complete Guide to PR for Instagram Verification.

Let’s assume you have ten full feature articles at hand. Is that enough to apply in-app? Yes and No. There are a few more changes you can make before applying in-app.

Page Category

The first and foremost thing you must do to increase your chances to get verified is to change your account from a personal one to a business one or a creator one if you’ve not already done that. And the next step would be to assign the right category to your page. It is imperative to choose a category that truly relates to your page. Meaning, if you’re a blogger then choose ‘blogger’ instead of ‘public figure’. And if you’re an ‘athlete’ then choose that instead of choosing something random. Be sure to also connect your Facebook page to your Instagram account as it significantly increases your chances to get verified!

Now that you’re done with turning your account into a business one and you have the right category assigned, you’re ready for the next step.

Name, Bio, Display Photo, and Website

We cannot stress how important this is. Always be sure to clearly state your full legal name under the name section of your profile. If you’re an individual then input your first and last name as per your passport. And if you’re a business, then mention the proper business name as per your trade license. Moving on, you’ll need a legitimate and concise bio. For individuals, you can mention a bit about your page, your awards, and your work/hobbies. For businesses, you may mention a bit about your vision and mission. Details on your establishment date and locations are fine too.  Oh – and don’t forget to add a professional display photo. If you’re a brand, your company logo would do fine.

To wrap it up, add a proper legal name under the name section. Add a legitimate bio and a professional display photo. Just doing this alone can drastically increase your chances to get verified.

Recent Activity

The number of posts or followers you have plays no role when it comes to verification. We’ve helped verify profiles that had 2000 followers. And we’ve seen people with 2 million followers get denied for verification. The number of posts or followers doesn’t matter. However, what does matter is your recent activity on a profile. If the last post you’ve made is 2 months back, then you’d be pushing it with verification. So, always be sure to make a bunch of posts before and during the verification process to quickly increase your chances to get verified.

With that done, you are finally ready to apply for verification. Let’s go through that in the next section.

 

The Process:

Option A: In-App Submission

One of the first things you must try is in-app submission. For Instagram, you can simply apply for verification within the app itself by putting in a few details and an ID. It usually takes a few days for a reply to come and you’d get a notification for the same. You’d either be verified or not. If declined, you won’t be able to self-apply from the app again for another 30 days. And that’s about it.

If you’re one of the few super-lucky ones, you’d get verified with in-app submission! And there is nothing like it if that happens. However, more often than not, you’d face difficulty with in-app submission. The problem is pretty simple. Anyone on the app can apply for verification. Literally anyone. And Instagram has a billion users and growing. Well, do the math. When you have something as desirable as the blue badge – that everyone wants – well, they will ALL apply for it. It is safe to say Instagram gets millions of these requests day in and day out. And that is where the problem arises. They can in no way give a detailed review to each submission as 99.99% of them are ineligible. And – well, in short, the system is broken!

And – that’s the problem with the in-app submission. Well, there is one more. When applying in-app, you’re applying by yourself. Meaning, you are not being represented by any of the social networks’ trusted channels. More on this in the next point.

Unable to get verified via self-submission? We can help!

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Option B: Media Partner

If and only if you are unable to get verified via the app, then you have another option called the media partner option. A media partner is a business that has been given special privileges by Facebook/Twitter/TikTok for services like username claims, copyright claims, unbans, verifications, merges, and so on. A media partner is typically a marketing agency that has a lot of monthly ads spend with Facebook and Instagram for their clients. Think monthly ad spend of $10m or more. Such marketing agencies are given what we call a portal. A portal is simply access to an online form where you can submit requests that are then handled by your very own concierge at Facebook.

It must be noted that just being a partner does not mean every request you put via your portal gets accepted. Only if a request is valid and eligible, it will get approved. Or else, it will be denied. In other words, just because a company has a portal – doesn’t mean they can verify anyone or claim any username. With that said, submission via media portals does significantly increase your chances to get verified due to the fact that your applications are actually given a full human review.

With that said, the biggest plus point of this method of application is having a dedicated concierge. And that means, when a request is put in, it is fast-tracked, it is given a guaranteed full review by the operator and since it is coming from a trusted media partner, it is given more weight.

And this is the reason most of our clients who get denied by the in-app submission, get verified via our service. We put in a request via our trusted media partner portal. Your application gets a full guaranteed review. Unlike the app, where millions apply on a daily basis and your application may or may not be seen by a human, our application is given full human attention. Of course, the profile should have a minimum of 10 full features on notable sites. The typical timeline for this a few business days to get a reply from the concierge which can either be an approval or a denial of request for verification.

It must be noted that, if you are denied by the app, you can still apply via a media partner without waiting a 30 day period. However, if you are denied by a media partner, you will then have no choice but to wait 30 days before re-applying.

Does this mean I can pay to get verified? Absolutely, not. If you could pay to get verified, that would mean that upon payment you’ll get successful delivery of verification. However, that is not the case. The final decision of verification still lies with the operator who gets the request. And of course, we do not charge anything for the application itself, we only charge for consultation if and when you get verified.

What To Do if Denied

If you are denied via the app, the best move would be to apply via a media partner. At Fresh Engagements, we can help with that. Check our service for Social Media Verification and get verified in no time. However, if you are denied via a media partner too – then, there is no reason to lose hope. The best way to go about it would be to use the 30 days to build more web presence on notable and reliable sites and then apply again. And sooner or later, you’ll get it. Our team will do an initial check on the first application itself and only apply if we believe the profile has a high chance of success. In other words, if you’re not eligible, we’ll let you know beforehand and help you build PR and then apply on your behalf.

It may be a good idea to look into building a Google Knowledge Panel and Wikipedia in order to make your case strong. We’ve discussed these in detail on our blog ‘Guide to Instagram Verification‘.

Conclusion

Be sure to follow our guide and prep your account before you apply for the verification via the app to increase your chances to get verified. We always suggest clients first apply in-app as there is nothing like it if you can get it via the app. If you’re unable to, we can help with our social media verification service for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok!

In case you do not have the press – feel free to contact us at support@freshengagements.com and we’d be happy to help out!

Until next time!

Leslie Dwyer

Leslie is a content researcher and writer at Fresh Engagements. When she's not writing - she enjoys reading books, running and hiking.

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