Are you trying to get verified on social media? Here’s what you need to know.

Twitter originally introduced social media verification to verify the identities of public figures and celebrities. Since then, verified users have also included companies, brands, influencers, activists and journalists.

There are many benefits to verifying your social media accounts. First of all, the blue checkmark confirms that you are real, official and not an imitation. It is seen as an endorsement that tells people that you are credible, important and worth paying attention to. In addition, verified accounts always rank higher in the same searches. Your posts and comments will be placed on top of those from unverified accounts, which is a great way to reach a wider audience and increase your engagement. A previous study shows that the engagement ratio 30% higher for verified Instagram accounts than for regular accounts.

Undoubtedly, getting the blue badge is highly desired by anyone who wants to grow their brand or business. However, the process of getting verified can be challenging. According to research only 3.26% of Instagram accounts with more than 1,000 followers you do the verification check. In addition, 73.4% of verified accounts belong to accounts with more than one million followers, while for accounts with less than five thousand followers, only 0.87% have been verified.

Related: Here’s Why You Should Have That Blue Check Mark On Your Social Media Accounts

Myths About Social Media Verification

So, how do you get verified? There are several myths surrounding social media verification. Some people believe that you have to be famous to get the blue badge, or that you have to have millions of followers to qualify. However, nothing is true. While social media verification in the past was only reserved for celebrities and famous people, it is now open to all individuals, companies and brands. So even if you are a coach or other business professional, you are welcome to apply as long as you meet their requirements.

There are also no minimum requirements in terms of number of followers. It might be easier if you have millions of followers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be ticked blue if you only have a few thousand followers. There are plenty of examples of users with only a few thousand followers who have successfully passed the blue check mark, such as virtual insurer One Degreedigital investment platform aqumononline broker Webull Effects and financial portal MoneySmart. and journalist Peter Yeung also got his blue badge with only 1,000 followers.

Different social media platforms may have slightly different requirements. For example, Facebook and Instagram require your account to be authentic, complete, unique and noteworthy. The first three requirements are quite simple, but most people struggle with the notability requirement. And so I hope to shed some light here.

Related: How I Got Verified on Instagram Without Being Famous

Remarkability Criteria Explained

What happens when you submit your account for verification is that there will be an online Google search to determine your “prominence”. In the case of Instagram, for example, to be considered “remarkable” you need to be known, highly searched for, or important enough to talk about (i.e., be featured on multiple news outlets). There are many articles online that also mention this point of media attention to “explain” the criteria for awareness – but very little clarification is given as to what this really entails.

Basically, to increase your chances of meeting the criteria for exposure, you, your company or brand must be featured in the media and meet the following requirements:

• Newscasts only: The media outlet must be a news outlet. While there are many sizable online publications, not every publication is considered a news broadcast. Some are actually blogs and therefore do not qualify for these criteria. One way to check is to see if your article actually appears on Google’s News tab. The key here is that many articles about your business appear in Google’s News tab.

• No sponsored or paid content: Your articles cannot be sponsored or paid media placements. If you pay close attention to the various articles about online publications, you will notice that some are labeled “sponsored”, “paid content” or something similar. Some companies think they can do a “PR burst” and issue a press release through a press news wire and publish it on hundreds of sites. But sorry, these kinds of articles are essentially useless. They are considered sponsored content and therefore do not qualify for the notability requirement.

• Freshness of news: There should be plenty of recent news articles about you or your brand. If you have been in the news sporadically over the years, it will be very difficult to convince the social media platform that you are a remarkable user. Notable people or brands are talked about consistently and no less frequently than earthquakes, so to speak.

• Full Features: The articles should be full stories written solely about you or your company, for example interviews or in-depth stories about your company or products. Brand mentions (ie stories where your brand is mentioned only as an example or reference) are not eligible.

• Sufficient number of articles: As a rule of thumb, it is recommended that you aim for at least ten recent complete articles about your brand or business online. If you can get more, great! But otherwise a little more than one Google search result page is enough.

Given these terms, getting the blue badge will obviously be a challenge unless you’ve been consistently in the news. That’s why you might want to consider investing in PR activities or hiring a publicist to help you build a strong online presence and become “noticeable.” Social media verification can take some effort and investment, but given the exclusive benefits, it is well worth it.

Related: Instagram’s self-submission verification form update brings a more complete verification request