IG Verified: How this Badge is Changing the Face of PR

Social media has given brands new and varied outlets to communicate and share information. Communication channels are constantly evolving and challenging brands to adapt quickly by creating captivating content to reach target markets of different mediums. For a personal brand or business, getting an Instagram verification badge is an important way to prove authenticity.
Instagram verification impacts public relations by providing a new avenue to promote brand awareness and build lasting customer relationships. When businesses get Instagram verified, it brings them a certain level of respect and several benefits, some discussed below.

Authenticity and Social Proof
Being social media verified gives you instantaneous validity as well as boosts your brand awareness and visibility so more people will recognize who and what you are. If a platform considers your brand to be authentic other users will view you the same way, which leads to your brand amassing social proof. This is rooted in the idea that if others are approving, something must be right. This is the same thing as searching for reviews before making a purchase. When you can prove authenticity, you can maintain a favourable public image based on the content posted. This also helps with crisis management. If your brand has a negative public image, a brand can speak quickly directly to customers. Being verified will help to broadcast valid information and not false and potentially dangerous information from spam accounts, which puts you in a much better position to guide the conversation following a crisis.

Networking and engagement
Brands use social media platforms daily to drive leads, raise awareness and connect with their audiences, raise awareness, and. The IG blue checkmark can help you grow your social media presence can also help with networking and push your company to your industry’s forefront as a trusted option IG verification badges make a person or business more appealing to other brands or influencers. Working with other verified users shows that you are authentic since your account is genuine. This leads to more social media engagement from customers since they have confidence in who you say you are and will be more likely to interact with your account.

Confidence
With verification knowing that you have been verified will make you feel more confident in the content you post and the interactions you have. Influencer marketing helps build confidence when influencers post your brand and your following increases, increasing the confidence level of content. Being able to show that you are a genuine brand with the ability to post content in real-time and frequently and to demonstrate your brand’s goals.
In addition, being IG verification means a larger conversion rate. When a customer considers your brand as opposed to one without a blue checkmark, they will likely choose you because of the stamp of authentication. Another effective form of “social channel” is customer feedback to building brand awareness and trust. This is so because customers are utterly influenced by third party reviews that they view as trustworthy content. Consumers generally have reservations about paid messaging and advertising, but they tend to trust other customers since they are a third party with no hidden agenda.
As a result, today’s PR strategy almost always includes plans to either achieve Instagram verification or to leverage the power of verified accounts. This means working out strategies that will earn the brand’s page that sought after ‘blue tick’- the indication of Instagram verification. Some of these strategies may include frequent posting of creative written and audio-visual content, designed to attract the target market, strategic interactions with others through posts and likes and the use of expert graphic designers to create attractive page visuals.
Instagram verification, like many other social media features, is influencing how PR projects are envisioned, conceptualized and executed. 

---