How to Get a Verified Instagram Account

If you follow a celebrity, influencer or a large brand, you may have noticed a blue tick next to their Instagram username. Nope, that symbol is not an emoji, that blue tick is a verification badge and is a converted status symbol for many. 

While having a verified badge doesn’t increase your chances of being seen in social feeds, it does help your followers distinguish your account from a clone or a fake account. And, that’s the whole point of the badge: the badge is a signal to Instagram users that this account is the brand, celebrity or influencer’s true account. 

Anyone can apply to have their account verified on Instagram, and in this blog, we’ll explain how to apply for Instagram verification and offer tips on how to optimize your Instagram account before applying. 

• What Is a Verified Instagram Account?
• Who Is Eligible to Be Instagram Verified?
• How to Get a Verified Instagram Account?
• How to Grow Your Insta Into a Badge-Worthy Account?

If you’re interested in perfecting your Instagram profile, check out our blog on How to Write the Perfect Professional Instagram Bio.

What is a Verified Instagram account?

According to Instagram, the verified badge means “Instagram has confirmed that an account is the authentic presence of the public figure, celebrity or global brand it represents.”

Verified accounts assure the authenticity of the users or brand. Having a verified Instagram account will help build brand credibility and prevent fraud. Additionally, some features on the social media network are only available to those verified or business accounts with over 10,000 followers.

Who Is Eligible to Be Instagram Verified?

Anyone can apply for verification...but that doesn’t mean everyone gets it. Generally, verified Instagram accounts are granted to public figures like sports stars, actors, CEOs, politicians and brands. This is because they’re more likely to be impersonated. It's also free to apply (sorry, but that tick symbol cannot be bought).

According to Instagram, “only Instagram accounts that have a high likelihood of being impersonated have verified badges.” In simple words, verified Instagram accounts are hard to obtain. 

Sorry, but they do also state that “general interest accounts” like meme or fan accounts do not qualify. 

Whether you apply from a personal account or a business account doesn’t appear to have an impact. There are a few other criteria that Instagram explains they use to evaluate verification applications. According to Instagram’s website, your account needs to be:

• Authentic: This account must truly be owned by the global brand, celebrity or influencer claiming to be the owner of the account. Otherwise, this would be a violation of the app's community guidelines. It must also be a real person or brand applying, not a fictional brand.
• Unique: Only one account owned by the global brand, celebrity, or influencer can be verified, with the exception of language-specific accounts. So if your brand operates multiple Instagram accounts, choose wisely. 
• Public: Only accounts that have a privacy setting set to “Public” — not “Private” — can be verified. 
• Complete: Is your Instagram bio complete? You’ll need to guarantee that your bio, with a full name, and profile picture is complete. You must have also posted at least once.
• Notable. Again, unless the account represents “a well-known, highly searched for person, brand, or entity,” you may struggle to get that blue tick.

One interesting stipulation that the app's verification process states is that your bio cannot link to your other social media accounts, like Twitter or TikTok.

If you’re interested in perfecting your Instagram profile, check out our blog on How to Write the Perfect Professional Instagram Bio.

How to Apply to Get a Verified Instagram Account?

Applying to get verified on Instagram is actually quite a simple process. Let’s take a look at the application process. 

Step 1: Go to the menu icon in the top right corner of your profile

Step 2: Click on the Settings icon

Step 3: Click on the Account section

Step 4: Select Account Verification from the list

Step 5: Fill out the form and attach a government-issued photo ID or an official business document.

Step 6: Click Send

That’s it! Follow these step-by-step instructions to request verification. It may take several attempts to get that blue checkmark, but you can apply for Instagram verification more than once. So, don’t give up!

How to Grow Your IG into a Badge-worthy Account?

Use the guide below to grow your following before you get that elusive blue tick!

Provide quality content

Share content that provides value to your target audience. Content can be informational, humorous, musical, or anything useful for your followers. If we create a hub that constantly posts quality content, we’re likely to retain our followers. Learn more about the best content to post on Instagram here.

Be Active

The more active you are the more chances you will have to connect with the people. Building a following isn’t just about creating great content, due to the recent social media algorithms we can no longer rely on visibility ‘just happening’. Engaging with your audience, potential audience and influencers will boost your following as your message has a better reach and therefore chance of getting more followers.

Use hashtags

Another way to expand your reach on Instagram is to use hashtags. With Instagram's new ‘follow’ hashtags feature, you’ve got a great chance to reach new audiences, boost your following and increase the risk of gaining a verified Instagram account.

Did you know that posts with at least one hashtag receive an average of 12.6% more engagement than posts without? 

Creating a branded hashtag is a good way to encourage user-generated content. Using generic hashtags like ‘like for like’, may boost your likes, but they won’t attract the right audience. 

Post pictures that tell stories

They say a picture paints a thousand words. Instagram being the image focused platform that it is, provides an opportunity to tell stories to your audience. In Meltwater’s previous blog, best B2B Instagram accounts, there are loads of great examples of how to be interesting on Instagram. Many use content that tells a story through profiling their employees, audience or causes.

National Geographic’s Instagram is notoriously good at posting pictures that tell stories.

Avoid buying fake followers

Don’t buy followers on Instagram. You may think that artificially increasing your followers, may help you get Instagram verified, however, this isn’t the case. Generally the followers you’ll get by paying will be bots. Instagram is cracking down on bots and unethical activities, so chances are your follower count will decrease soon after paying for them. In fact, many brands are cracking down on Influencer fraud including Unilever. Don’t fall into this trap yourself, learn how to combat fake influencers in this previous post.

Even if we can’t get an Instagram verified account, we can create an engaged following, so use the tips above in your social media strategy!