Twitter verification used to be more exclusive than a Hollywood afterparty – only about 0.06 percent of Twitter’s accounts were verified (roughly 187,000 out of 310 million monthly users). But over the summer the social media giant sent out an open invitation for qualified users to apply for the blue badge. And verification continues to be a valuable element of a strong social marketing strategy.

For content marketers, having the icon next to the username of your business brings with it a heap of benefits. Considering Global Web Index’s quarterly social media marketing report found that social media is a key resource for more than 33 percent of internet users seeking product or service information, that little blue checkmark can help push your audience through the sales funnel.

Verification makes a subtle, but impactful difference

Our verification badge gives us a subtle hint of authority.Obtaining this status is not going to quadruple your followers overnight. Your content is not ranked higher than that from unverified accounts in Twitter search results. You are not  magically going to convert all your followers into leads. So why bother?

A verified Twitter account, much like a meta description, will not have a direct impact but will still make a positive difference. Verification brings with it a sense of security. Twitter only verifies accounts that are of “public interest,” which include celebrities (of course), political figureheads, news outlets and businesses. Your followers know you’re the real deal and that your content can be trusted, increasing the likelihood you’ll be viewed as an authority in your space.

4 unique verification benefits

Once your account is verified, you will get a few perks for your efforts:

  1. You will have the ability to customize your feed directly within Twitter. You’ll no longer need to manage a third-party app to track the users you want to interact with. You can set up your account so you only see mentions or other notifications from a custom group of users, or filter out all unverified accounts.
  2. You get another way to filter out unwanted content too. If you’ve ever gotten a spammy mass Direct Message on Twitter, you’ll be glad to know verification can fend those off. Verified accounts get the VIP treatment when it comes to filtering out unwanted correspondence – now you know why your favorite celeb never tweets back.
  3. If you’re using Vine or Periscope as part of your social media marketing strategy, you’ll be happy to know verification is a three-way street. Once you’re verified on Twitter, visit the other profiles, log out and log back in with your Twitter account. Voila! You’ll automatically be verified on these networks too.
  4. While it may be fairly minor, once you’re verified, you will no longer have to deal with popups bugging you to upgrade your Twitter Analytics. You can focus on your data interruption- and distraction-free.

The process of getting verified itself is fairly quick and easy (and free), making the ROI all the more impressive.

Information you’ll need

To become a verified business, you must request the badge from Twitter. Before you even submit a request, make sure your profile has the following:

  • A verified phone number.
  • An email address associated with the brand.
  • An accurate, up-to-date bio.
  • Profile and header photos.
  • A link to your website.
  • Public Tweets.

When you request verification, you may need to show your ID. Twitter says this requirement is for individual accounts only, but when we verified the Brafton Twitter account, they did request a confirmation of identity. Scan a copy of the primary account owner’s license or passport in advance so if they do ask for it, you can fire the info off right away and reduce delays. For security’s sake, delete the file right away – they do the same once they’ve confirmed the individual is a real person.

Details you could get hung up on

It’s not a complex process to get verified, so long as you have all your ducks in a row. However, there are a few issues that could arise, mainly when it comes to your phone number. If you do not link your account to a phone number, you cannot get verified.

Don't let a small detail hold you back from getting verified.

Don’t let a small detail hold you back from getting verified.

This may seem like a simple problem. Just have whoever is in charge of Twitter use their cellphone, right? Well, yes, this will technically work. However, if the account changes hands, or more one person accesses it regularly, it becomes problematic.

Twitter will send verification codes to the linked number every time someone tries to log in from a new computer. If you have more than one person who needs to access the account, coordinating the verification codes will become a hassle quickly. The same issue arises if the primary account owner changes, especially if the individual leaves the company before you get a chance to adjust the business’s profile settings.

If you do not link your account to a phone number, you cannot get verified.

You may be able to get around this roadblock by using a third-party phone number provider and creating a number specifically for the Twitter account. Many, such as Burner App, do charge for the service, but they make it easy to transfer ownership.

Samantha Gordon is the Managing Editor of Brafton.com. With a diverse background writing and editing everything from blogs and whitepapers to romance and sci-fi, Samantha strives for greatness in grammar and quality.