Does your business have its own dedicated Instagram handle? Then congrats on entering the sphere of social media marketing!
If you really wish to create a buzz around your product or service, you need to have a robust marketing strategy. You already have the best Instagram video editor that is going to increase your followers by many folds.
However, all your efforts will go in vain if you fail to establish your brand. Remember, one of the primary reasons that you have created the social media account is to connect with existing and potential customers and establish trust in your offerings.
So how do you earn this trust and integrity just when you are starting off as a small or medium enterprise? The best way to add credibility to your SME is through the little blue badge with a tick across it. Yes, we are talking about getting verified!
Fortunately, you do not have to be a celebrity or a multinational corporation to get your account verified on Instagram.
Steps to Get Your SME Insta Handle Verified
We will walk you through the entire process of getting your Instagram verified for your SME
1.Recognize Who Can Get Verified
Before August 2018, only celebrities, major brands, and public figures could get their Instagram accounts verified. However, Instagram updated its terms to allow well-known and highly searched for individuals, brands, or entities to earn the coveted blue badge.
Further, your business must be in a position to identify itself and in compliance with the Community Guidelines and Terms of Service as dictated by Instagram.
2.Ensure That Your SME Account is Verifiable
Once you realize that your account meets the above criteria, it is time to polish your public details to ensure greater credibility to your account.
In order to gain authority, your account needs to be:
- Authentic: The account must represent an actual person or, in this case, a business
- Unique: Yours should be the only account representing the business (unless you have specific accounts for geographic locations or regional languages)
- Complete: Your account details, such as profile photo, bio, etc. must not be left blank. Further, you must have posted at least once. Further, your website must not contain any links to other social media channels or contain any adding requests.
- Public: All the content that you post to your Instagram account must be publicly viewable.
- Notable: As per Instagram, accounts assigned to “well-known, highly searched for persons, brand, or entity” are eligible for verification.
If you notice something lacking in your account, make up for it before you apply for verification.
3.Steps to Apply for Verification
Here’s how you can apply for account verification:
- Enter your SME business account credentials and log into the account.
- Tap on the Menu, then navigate from Settings to Account and then to Request Verification
- Confirm your identity by entering your full name, any aliases or company name, the category under which you are applying for verification, along with your government-approved photo ID or business document.
Once you submit all these details, Instagram will now verify them.
4.Wait
After applying for verification, all you have to do is wait. It takes about a couple of days for Instagram to process your request. Once everything has been verified, Instagram will update you on the status of your application the moment they decide on whether to accept it or otherwise.
In the unfortunate circumstance that your application gets rejected, you can retry after 30 days.
Do bear in mind that Instagram never asks its users to pay any cash for account verification. Any such communication that you may receive is a scam.
Tips for Getting Your SME Account Verified on Instagram
While the above steps to get the verification may be easy, you can improve its chances through the following ways:
- Link your other social media handles to your Instagram account. This includes your LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and everything else.
- Use a free intro maker no watermark free at the beginning of every video to make your account “notable.” This little detail can work wonders in brand creation.
- Promote your Instagram account through your website and mailing list. You may also include it in your email signature.
- While completing all the details on your profile are mandatory, writing a captivating bio could help you get your account verified. However, do not get carried away because everything that you write there must be relevant and accurate.
- The verified status of Instagram can be revoked. Plus, Instagram can ban your account for misrepresenting facts. Therefore, it is advisable to maintain honesty throughout the verification process.
- Try to make an appearance in the news to earn a “newsworthy” status. Getting your name out there will also help you end up in the list of “highly searched for” individuals/businesses/entities.
- Ensure that your blog is optimized to index in the search results. Its rank will be proportional to its probability of getting verified sooner.
- Even though Instagram dictates that an account must have posted at least once to apply for verification, ensure that you post often and regularly to establish that you have a strong presence on Instagram.
- Increase your follower count so that you count as a “notable” account.
- It is a possibility that you may not get verified in your very first attempt. So continue trying to get your account verified until you have achieved this goal!
- As stated previously, your verification badge can be revoked. So ensure that you follow all the community guidelines and terms of service to ensure that you do not lose it.
Final Thoughts
A verification badge lends authenticity to your brand. Therefore, it is highly advisable that SMEs put in the effort to unlock this feature and put it to good use. One of the biggest advantages of verification is the large follower count, which will have a cumulative effect on your brand presence.
Once you have these basics in order, your Instagram account (along with your business) is bound to flourish!