Want a Verified Instagram Account? You'll Have to Pay for it Monthly
To pay or not to pay… that is the question?!
Well, as if we don’t have enough problems as small business owners, Meta has announced that they are piloting a program where you can pay a monthly fee to have a verified account.
I think we should thank (or not thank) Elon Musk for this one after he launched a paid subscription for verified Twitter accounts.
And the real question is - is it worth it for you as a small business owner?
The answer: potentially… maybe… sometime in the future…
At the time of publishing this blog post (February 20, 2023) there are a ton of unknowns with this new program. There are definitely some pros. A TON of cons. And a lot of unanswered questions! So, let’s dive in!
What is the Meta Verified program?
To answer this question, let’s take it straight from the official Meta announcement:
“[It is] a new subscription bundle that includes account verification with impersonation protections and access to increased visibility and support. We want to make it easier for people, especially creators, to establish a presence so they can focus on building their communities on Instagram or Facebook.”
Ok cool, so what exactly does that mean? As an account holder, this could look like:
A verified badge on your Facebook and Instagram accounts - which used to be reserved for big brands, celebrities, and people that could drum up enough press to earn that pretty blue check mark
Protection from impersonation - those spam accounts that use your likelihood to scam people… yeah, it will be easier to get rid of them and protect YOUR reputation
Additional support - you’ll get help from a REAL person to assist with any account issues you are having
Increased use of the platforms - you will have more prominence in certain areas of the platform and you will have exclusive access to certain features which could lead to more reach for your business on Instagram so more of your followers will see your posts
Right now, they are beta testing this in New Zealand and Australia and the cost in U.S. dollars is $11.99 a month on the web, and $14.99 a month on iOS and Android devices.
Who has access to the Meta Verified program?
Again, at the time of writing this blog post, it is VERY limited to who can actually apply, and not just limited by location. Straight from the announcement again, here are the requirements:
There are (unknown) minimum activity requirements, such as prior posting history
You have to be 18 years of age or older
You have to supply a government issued ID that matches your profile name and photo of the account you are applying for
Must be an individual (businesses at this time CANNOT apply, but personally, we foresee that changing in the future!)
Should you join the Meta Verified program?
While it is too early to say, and there are so many unanswered questions, we see *potential* in this program for small businesses and creators.
Does it suck to have to pay to have access to these features? Yeah, of course. This even feels like a bit of a “money grab” from Mark Zuckerberg. You might feel like he is just trying to take advantage of the whole subscription business model, and you may not want to subscribe to this mentality.
BUT… and this is a huge BUT… there is potential for this program to significantly help small business owners market their businesses on social media with more success and with more security. Things that we WANT for social media.
Here are some things to consider…
PROS OF THE PROGRAM
You have so much more security if someone is trying to impersonate you and scam your followers and audience, while also having access to customer support in the event of account issues - you can say goodbye to your fears of losing your account!
Having the verification badge CAN lead to increased visibility on the platform. While we can’t stand the fact that we have to pay for this, again, this is a major complaint with the platform right now - not having enough reach. This could potentially alleviate some of your concerns!
You would have access to exclusive features including the blue checkmark, and it may help build trust within your online community and potential new followers, so that they know who you are, and you are who you say you are!
CONS OF THE PROGRAM
The first major con is that it is not available to businesses right now, but again, we can foresee that changing in the future!
Your name must match your ID so it might be hard to verify your business name and Instagram handle if you don’t have the proper paperwork. We also won’t know how this will work when it comes to adding in keywords to your name section, and what the requirements are for your profile
In order to change your name, username, photo, and other personal information you have to go through the verification process again. This is a HUGE pain if you are wanting to quickly update something on your profile.
There are just so many unknowns…
Oh, and the fact that we have to PAY for it
Overall thoughts about the Meta Verified program
We think that it has the potential to be valuable to small business owners. The program DOES help solve a lot of the problems that we are currently facing with these platforms (like with organic engagement, security, and trust with followers). But there is also a HUGE potential for backlash from average users, and we don’t know what the downfall of this rollout will be.
When the program is available to us, we might take a deeper look into it and see if the pros outweigh all of the cons. The additional security, support, and exclusive features ALONE might be worth the money… plus it is a business write-off!
In sum, while this is definitely debate-worthy, we still don't know enough details to form an opinion. We can only guess or speculate.There's no need to stress out about it. Most likely whether you join it or not, it won't be something that will have a big impact in our businesses for now.
So no need to worry.
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Manu Muraro is the founder of Your Social Team, an Instagram training membership and content shop to help social media managers and Instagram savvy women entrepreneurs to beat the algorithm and grow their organic engagement (yes, even in 2021).
This year she also launched Your Template Club, a Canva Template subscription to provide social media managers and Instagram savvy business owners with content templates designed for engagement in their inbox.
Born and raised in Brazil, Manu moved to the U.S. in 2000 right out of college to work for Cartoon Network, where she made an award winning career in creative and strategy. In 2017, Manu started Your Social Team with the mission of helping women entrepreneurs and social media managers grow engagement and sales through Instagram without the overwhelm.