Instagram verification is very important when you are building a business or a personal brand. That little blue check next to your Instagram name makes people feel you're somebody they should pay attention to, or take serious. It also helps prevent your followers from getting scammed by pages pretending to be you. (This is a rampant issue right now, especially in the spiritual corner of the ‘gram.

I’ve complied this list of tips on how to get Instagram to help steer you in the right direction to get verified and offer some solutions. Let’s get to it.

Hootsuite has a great blog post with tips on how to get verified on Instagram. Hootsuit is a well known company so their tips are definitely something to consider, but they are a separate company from Instagram, and their tips are ot official statements:

1. Don’t try to buy a verification badge

We’ll get this one out of the way first: that guy in your comments who says his friend works for Instagram? Please do not give him money.

Same goes for any third-party app or random account that offers “full refunds.”

Same goes for an account that DMs you because they want to sell you their badge because they “don’t need it anymore.”

Instagram scammers know that people and businesses feel outsized emotions about the blue checkmark, and some are pretty effective at appearing legit, so stay on your guard. And remember that Instagram will never request payment, and will never contact you.

2. Monitor for imposter accounts

If you’re struggling with persistent unauthorized, fake, or fan accounts impersonating your brand, then we have good news for you. You’re a prime candidate for verification on Instagram. After all, distinguishing real accounts from fake ones is verification’s stated purpose.

Your annual social media audit should make it clear whether impostor accounts are a problem for you. You’ll want to monitor and document these accounts using a social media monitoring tool like Zerofox’s Hootsuite integration.

3. Get more (real) followers

Look, we don’t have the numbers but it honestly feels sometimes like you need a ridiculous number of followers in order to get verified. There is absolutely no evidence that this is a real rule, but—it can’t hurt? Or maybe correlation does not imply causation after all?

Actually, what is more likely is that as people or brands get more noteworthy on and off Instagram, follower counts rise alongside.

If you want to hedge your bets and play it both ways—chicken and egg—here’s some inspiration for how to get more Instagram followers.

Pro Tip: Just don’t try to take a shortcut and buy your Instagram followers. (Plus, breaking the Community Guidelines and then asking Instagram to examine your account is a very effective way to get your account shut down.)

4. Delete any cross-platform links in your bio

In what some might call a slightly petty move (we would never dare), Instagram insists that verified accounts can’t have so-called “add me” links to other social media services in their Instagram profiles. You can include links to your website, landing pages, or other online properties, just definitely don’t link to your YouTube or Twitter account.

On the other hand, if you have a blue checkmark on your Facebook profile but not on your Instagram account, Instagram does explicitly encourage you to link to your Instagram account from your Facebook page to help prove your authenticity.

5. Be highly-searched for

Social media is all about serendipitous, organic discovery (this is what the Instagram Explore page is for, anyway—and making it big there can have a real impact on your engagement and follower count).

But when it comes to verification, Instagram wants to know if people care about you enough to tear themselves away from the seductions of the feed and spontaneously type your name into the search bar.

While Instagram doesn’t provide analytics on this data, we’d put money on the fact that Instagram’s verification team does have access, and will check up on how often users are searching for you. Which leads us to our next point…

6. Apply when your name is in the news

Google yourself. Has your brand been featured in multiple news sources? Did a recent press release or white paper get picked up? Do you have a sound bite or a profile in a major international publication? Paid or promotional content definitely does not count.

If PR hasn’t been a priority for your brand thus far, you might have a more difficult time proving how “notable” you are. Especially because there’s no place to submit your proof: Instagram does its own research, so it’s up to you to make sure your news is above the fold and impossible to ignore.

If you’ve recently experienced a windfall of attention, or you’re planning a big announcement, think about capitalizing on it and applying for that checkmark while your name is hot.

7. Work with an agency or publicist

If you have the budget and the ambition, hire a reputable digital agency that has access to Facebook’s Media Partner Support tools. Your publicist or agent will be able to submit requests to claim usernames, merge accounts, and get accounts verified through their industry-only portal.

Is verification guaranteed? Of course not. But a request from an industry professional through the Media Partner Support panel carries more weight and distinguishes you from the crowd.

8. Be honest

This tip should be a no-brainer, but because the consequences are dire we feel compelled to highlight it. In your application to be verified, you have to be truthful above all else.

Use your real name. Choose an appropriate category. Definitely don’t falsify any government documents.

If you stretch the truth anywhere in your application, Instagram says that it will not only deny your request, but it may delete your account as well.

9. Make sure you profile and bio are complete and effective

Instagram’s listed requirements for verification (a bio, a profile pic and one post? really?) are a low bar. You don’t just want to meet it. You want to hurtle over it.

Optimizing your Instagram bio will not just impress the verification team when they come to check you out, but can pay ongoing dividends in the form of new followers and conversions.

Hootsuite offers a lot of insight, however Instagram doesn’t much information on exactly how much press they require or the details of what the consider in the verification process, but they did state the following in their Help Center: 

“Right now, only some public figures, celebrities and brands have verified badges. You can request a verification badge with the steps below: However, submitting a request does not guarantee that your account will be verified.

If your account does not have a verified badge, there are plenty of other ways to show people that you’re authentic. To demonstrate authenticity on your professional account, you can:

• Write description in your Instagram profile bio to tell potential customers more about your business.

• Use Stories to provide a behind the scenes look at your business.

• Encourage customers to tag your business so people can see posts from customers using your product or service.

10. TrapLA’s “PPP Capsule”: Press Placement Package can help you.

When you purchase the PPP Capsule you get an interview written --and published on the TrapxLA blog. PPP Capsule add-ons include a promo post on the TrapxLA Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts as well as getting your own email blast that’s sent to our thousands of subscribers that include influencers and DJs.

Have you tried getting verified before? Leave a comment and let us know what happened? Or head over to our Instagram page and talk to us about it.

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