Breaking news… You no longer have to be a celebrity with millions of followers to get verified on social media sites! With a little work, it can now be possible for you to achieve a verified status on your social channels.
Firstly, why bother getting verified? Verifying your social channels has a number of benefits. Primarily, it is a show of authenticity - authentic content is gold dust in 2017 with the oversaturation of fake news and ads deteriorating user trust on social media. Having a verified profile also helps your profile appear higher in search results, thereby increasing the awareness and reach of your brand. Finally, due to its correlation with celebrities, influencers and big brands, it instinctively draws attention and a sense of superiority. So, how do you go about it? Each channel has its own rules and regulations for getting verified, and it is important to remember that not everyone can get that little tick. You must bring something of value to the site, something which could be ‘copyable’ and therefore warrants getting verified.
Twitter
It would be rude to not start a verification blog with Twitter; the platform pioneered the iconic blue tick. Getting verified on Twitter is relatively straightforward, Twitter outlines a step by step checklist on what your profile must include to be considered for a verified page, this includes a verified number, website, email and a completed profile setup.
Twitter outlines the type of accounts which are eligible, these include accounts involved in; music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports and business… (So a lot of accounts are eligible). Finally, all you have to do then is provide a 500 character statement as to why you believe yourself to be eligible for a verified account, make sure you keep this concise, informative and passionate. If you think you’re ready for that, then hit this link here.
Facebook
Inevitably, Facebook copied Twitter’s iconic blue tick with their own verified tick. If you want to get the tick on Facebook, you have to complete your page setup, you will need a profile photo, cover photo, bio, regular posts, good engagement etc. Once you’ve got the basics in place then you can test your eligibility by going to settings, general and page verification.
Whether you’re a Business or a Celebrity it can take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks to hear back from Facebook support. The likelihood is Facebook won’t verify a new account just because you’ve done the setup, you need to work on your content, grow your audience and eventually, you’ll get verified.
Instagram
Instagram is one of the most difficult and selective social media sites to get verified on. Due to the makeup of Instagram, they regularly verify big brands and celebrities because of how copyable the content is. Therefore, it may be tricky for you to get verified if you don't have a big following, but nevertheless, there are a few things you can do to boost your chances;
- make sure your profile setup has been completed,
- build your audience,
- increase your engagement and finally…
- act like a celebrity/brand, i.e. pick a theme/topic and become a leader in that topic, once you become a thought leader in your chosen subject you will have a stronger chance of being verified.
YouTube
Similar to Instagram, YouTube is a tougher medium to crack. In order to be eligible for a verified YouTube profile, you must have a minimum of 100,000 subscribers… which is a very difficult number to reach if you're starting from scratch. Ensure you have connected your profile to Google+, and that it is linked to your website and finally build your views/subscribers over time.
100,000 subscribers is a daunting number, but if you produce good content it’s achievable and verification is a good stepping stone to the next 100,000. If you've already got 100,000 subscribers, why not apply now through this link.
As you can see, some profiles now offer a ‘relatively’ simple solution to getting your profile verified, whilst others are harder. Depending on who you are and what you do - verification may be particularly important. We recommend you follow these steps and when you feel your profile is ready to simply apply via the corresponding links and see what their feedback is on your profile. It is also vital to note that although verification has its perks, if your profile is not ready to be verified right now it is not the end of the world.
Ultimately it is just a little blue tick, if you really want to succeed on social then what you need to do is provide stunning content that resonates with your audience on a regular basis.
If you want support to improve your brand's content strategy and get verified or you simply want #TeamCrowd to revamp your social and take it to the next level then get in touch.
