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Neil Patel

Why Your Business Isn’t Verified On Social Media (And What To Do About It)

Neil Patel

When it comes to managing social media accounts for your business, the research, scheduling, and posting might seem boring or tedious.

But the logistical and management steps behind the fun posts are key components for promoting your business and building a strong online presence.

And, ultimately, they lead to better connections with your audience.

Luckily, there are ways to make the mundane parts of social media a little easier.

But first, one of the most important things you can do is get verified online.

Whether it’s your personal account, your business account, or both, getting that little “check mark” next to the profile name is massively important.

It provides instant social proof and credibility when anyone looks up you or your company online.

Verification can also help with networking or to push your company toward the forefront of your industry as a trusted option.

Getting verified can be pretty difficult to do, and it might take some time, but it is definitely possible. And it’s worth it.

But maybe you’ve already tried to become verified and you were rejected.

Or perhaps you just don’t know where to start.

Unless you’ve got a huge following like Beyonce, becoming a verified account takes some commitment and trial and error.

If you already have a massive following, you probably aren’t verified because you either haven’t proved it to Twitter, or Twitter hasn’t noticed yet.

Or, if you don’t have a huge following, you haven’t proven your identity and told them why other users need to know that your account is official.

If you’ve tried to become verified before and you’ve been rejected, you’re probably not following the rules closely enough. For some sites, it’s a lot harder than others to show your worth.

But don’t give up.

I’m going to explain why your business isn’t verified on social media.

And then we’ll walk through how to become verified on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Snapchat. 

Why getting verified matters

Twitter was one of the first social media platforms to introduce verification, and it took awhile for it to become as important as it is today.

It began as a way for the platform to identify which Twitter accounts belonged to celebrities.

But now, it’s evolved into a way to verify which accounts belong to brands, companies, and influencers as well.

Basically, it serves as an instant way to tell other users, “Hey, this account isn’t just your average Joe — pay attention to it!”

This is especially useful for trying to target younger users, who are the prime social-media demographic.

About 60% of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 29. Twitter is checked by 81% of Millennials every day.

Having that badge of proof means that your account is worth following, paying attention to, and interacting with. It’s how you know it’s really me on Facebook:

It immediately shows customers that any other accounts with that name are fake.

Which isn’t as huge of a problem for me as it is for mega brands like Walmart. Check out this fake Walmart YouTube account:

Looks pretty legit at first glance, right?

There’s an official Walmart logo as the profile picture, and the description even says “Walmart Official YouTube Channel.”

But upon further inspection, the account only has two video uploads and three subscribers.

So this fake account was probably created to gain followers, create a scam, or even potentially destroy Walmart’s brand by impersonating the company.

Based on the videos on this channel, it was probably created to use the Walmart name to gain subscribers or views:

See how much trouble it is to find out if the account is real or not? Since it has no check mark, we can deduce that it probably isn’t real right off the bat.

But not every brand or company is verified, including Walmart’s official YouTube page.

So you can’t be sure until you evaluate things like the account’s number of followers and the kind of content on the page.

If it had a check mark, there would be no guessing or research.

The benefits of verification are pretty easy to identify, and while the process can be easier said than done, it’s pretty painless overall.

The processes for getting verified are unique to each social media platform. So let’s go through the big ones.

Here’s how you can get verified on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and SnapChat.

1. Facebook

Facebook’s blue verification check mark identifies accounts that are media organizations, global brands, or public figures (like Khloe Kardashian).

The gray check mark means that businesses (like Starbucks) or certain pages in specific locations are authentic.

Facebook for influencers

To verify your personal account to become an influencer in your industry, begin by making sure that your Facebook page is updated.

Add a recent profile picture and make sure your profile information is all filled out.

If you haven’t been posting regularly (on Facebook or any social media platform), you’ll need to wait until you’ve regularly posted for a consistent amount of time before trying to verify it.

If you’ve completed these steps already, head to Facebook’s Request a Verified Badge form.

Select the kind of page you’re looking to verify and complete the form accordingly by providing an email address, official website link, and more:

Be sure you have a digital copy of your ID since Facebook will use this upload to verify that it’s really you.

Facebook will process the request within a few days, but it could take a few weeks, so be on the lookout for their reply.

Facebook for businesses

To verify your business’s account, begin by updating the profile like before. Once you’ve done this, go to the “Settings” page.

Then, click “General,” and go to “Page Verification” to verify the page.

Enter in your business information like your company’s phone number, country, and other details.

Then click the “Call Me Now” button, and Facebook will call you to give you a verification code. Once they’ve called, copy the verification code and enter it in.

You should expect to hear back from Facebook about verifying a business page within a few days.

2. Twitter

According to Twitter, they approve “account types maintained by users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas.”

So if your account doesn’t fit into any of these areas, trying to verify it is kind of pointless.

But if you do, Twitter gives some verification tips to increase your chances of getting verified.

For example, you have to have:

  1. A verified phone number
  2. A confirmed email address
  3. A bio
  4. A profile photo
  5. A header photo
  6. A website
  7. A birthday (if your account is not a company, brand, or organization accounts)
  8. Tweets set as public in Tweet privacy settings

Once you’ve met all these criteria, you can submit a formal verification request.

Be sure to fill out the form and include some backstory, in 500 characters or less, about why Twitter should verify your account.

You’ll also have to provide some website links that back up your claims.

You can expect to hear back from Twitter within about a week’s time.

3. Instagram

Out of all social media platforms, Instagram is probably the most selective when it comes to handing out verified badges.

According to Instagram, “Accounts representing well-known figures and brands are verified because they have a high likelihood of being impersonated.”

“We want to make sure that people in the Instagram community can easily find the authentic people and brands they want to follow.”

So becoming verified was pretty easy for someone like Justin Bieber:

If you’ve already got a huge following or you’re a mega brand, Instagram will probably go ahead and verify your page without you having to do anything:

But if you’re not, focus on these two key tactics in the meantime:

  1. Build your following and post engaging images.
  2. Add as much identity-supporting information as possible to your profile to make it appear official, even though there’s no check mark.

If you take the time to make your account legitimate without having the official Instagram seal of approval, people will notice.

And hopefully, after a while, Instagram will too.

4. LinkedIn

Since LinkedIn is kind of like the Facebook of the professional world, you might think that their verification process would be a lot like Facebook’s.

But it’s not. LinkedIn verification process works a little bit differently.

LinkedIn hands out check marks on the LinkedIn Lookup app.

These check marks prove that someone actually works for the company they’ve specified.

And this checkmark is miraculously easy to get.

All you have to do is request verification from LinkedIn and wait for a four-digit code to land in your business email address.

Then, enter the code into LinkedIn Lookup, and ta-da! You’re verified.

However, if someone doesn’t have a check mark on LinkedIn, it doesn’t necessarily mean that their profile isn’t legit.

It probably just means they haven’t completed the verification process yet.

Another way to prove your credibility on LinkedIn is to get an invite to its Influencer program, like Bill Gates.

Since LinkedIn doesn’t allow people to apply to the Influencer program, your chances of joining the club with Bill Gates aren’t super high.

But, LinkedIn will be more likely to notice you if you start publishing your content on their platform.

You can also get a gold LinkedIn logo by upgrading to a Premium Membership like I did.


Anyone who pays for a Premium Membership gets this logo, but it makes things look a bit more official in comparison to those who don’t have it.

5. YouTube

Verifying your YouTube account and verifying your YouTube name have almost nothing to do with one another, but they’re usually thought of as the same thing.

Here’s the difference between each kind of verification and why they’re both important.

Step 1. Verifying your YouTube account

Usually, this can be done once you first make a YouTube account.

YouTube will remind you at the top of your video manager page to give a cell phone number to tie to your account.

Once you’ve done this, and you should, YouTube will send you a verification code that you can enter in to prove that your account is real.

Completing this step is crazy important because you’ll get to enjoy these additional features:

Step 2. Verify your YouTube name

This is that almighty little check mark placed next to a YouTube channel name.

And tons of creators are trying to get it.

There’s not an actual application process to become verified, much like Instagram, but Google reviews channels often to determine who deserves to be verified and who doesn’t.

To ensure that your channel is eligible to receive the verification, Google looks for three things.

Here’s what Google suggests doing to increase your chances of becoming verified:

  1. Connect your YouTube channel to Google+.
  2. Authorize your Google+ page.
  3. Have a substantial subscriber following.

Work on these steps and Google should verify your page once they think you’ve earned it.

6. Pinterest

Being verified on Pinterest means that users will know that it’s really your company pinning to boards on the platform.

To start, make sure that the Pinterest account is a company one and not a personal one.

Then, confirm your website.

Next, include a “Pin It” button on your site.

From there, change your profile picture to your business logo.

To start, select the “Settings” option:

Scroll down to the bottom of the page where you added in your website URL.

Then, click the Verify Website button to the right:

Click that, and the following instructions will appear.

Follow each step accordingly and you’ll be all set.

7. Snapchat

On Snapchat, verified users get something a bit different than the typical check mark.

They get an emoji of their choice.

For example, Kim Kardashian owns the 🍑 emoji:

This is important because it’s virtually impossible to find a Snapchat user unless you know exactly what their account name is.

But with the use of emojis, finding any “verified” account becomes easy.

You don’t need to know their account name. You can just enter in their actual name.

Which is perfect for celebrity accounts like Justin Bieber or Kylie Jenner, since their account names are “rickthesizzler” and “kylizzlemynizzl.”

Snapchat has recently taken this a step further by providing a list of related accounts to follow when you scan a code with your phone’s camera:

It looks like this will be the status quo for verification on Snapchat for awhile.

If you have a substantial following on the app, reach out to Snapchat representatives and find out if your account is worthy of verification.

You’ll have to provide some proof of your identity if you’re lucky enough to get them to agree to verify your account.

If you aren’t a Snapchat VIP, it might not be worth it to you to take these steps to verify your account.

But, you never know if Snapchat will say yes or no, so it doesn’t hurt to just ask.

You can contact Snapchat through their “Contact Us” web page.

If they deny your request, you can always inquire about becoming verified at a later date once you’ve built an even larger following on their platform.

The more followers and connections you have on the app, the better chances you’ll have of Snapchat taking the time to make your account official.

Conclusion

Getting verified on every social network isn’t a one-size-fits-all task.

And it isn’t easy to do on every single platform.

At least, not if you’re not a high-powered celebrity or tween idol.

If you’ve tried to become verified on a platform and you’ve been rejected, try to follow the platform’s requirements more closely.

Then, submit your request again once you’ve met all of the criteria.

If you do it right, you can get those check-mark credentials that everyone desires to help you build brand awareness.

And you can fight fake accounts by proving your credibility and trustworthiness.

Facebook and Twitter let you apply to become verified, and you’ll hear back from them within a matter of days (or sometimes weeks).

You can even tell Twitter exactly why you think you deserve a check mark.

Instagram is a bit more tricky, as you’ll have to build a following and wait for them to reach out to you.

You can easily verify yourself on LinkedIn Lookups with a short code, or you can upgrade to a premium account for a flashy gold logo like I did.

On YouTube, start off by verifying your account. Then, you can move on to verifying your YouTube name.

With Pinterest, verify your website and add a “Pin It” page to your site. Make sure that your company’s Pinterest page includes your logo as the profile picture.

Reach out to Snapchat if you think your following on the app is large enough to earn your own custom emoji.

Which social media platforms do you think are most important for verification?

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