A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine, Alex Brands, launched Rite of Way, a fragrance brand inspired by ancient archetypes.

Alex is one of - if not the - sharpest brand strategists I know. So I was watching Rite of Way’s go-to-market (GTM) strategy closely.

Rite of Way’s GTM did not include paid social. Instead, the rollout featured notable press, a launch event at a premier boutique in NYC, and a well-put-together capsule that added an extra touch.

It also included the IG Verification.

I was particularly intrigued by this decision.

Paying $15/month for that blue check mark? Is it really worth it?

So, I asked him lol

Fair enough. Then I remembered another friend building a brand from the ground up also did this. So I asked them, as well…

Ok, yeah. I decided to look further. I sent the following message out to a handful of eCommerce groups I’m in to see what else I could learn.

Here were some of the more interesting responses that came back.

So, it sounds like the IG Verification is worth paying $15/mo for if you(’re):

• doing partnership/biz dev outreach via IG DMs; to influencers, brands and/or leads

• have less than 50K followers

• value optics

• are investing in organic content equally or just as much as paid

But forget what I or my peers think. What does AI think? I threw in a prompt and here’s what I got back…

I think the key here is credibility.

For years (a decade?), as Instagram users, we put a lot of respect on the blue check. It was earned, not given.

Well, now it is given. Still, theres’s something inside all of us that still respects it. We still get a little more excited when we get DM’d by an account with that blue check. Even a like on a post.

I think I’ve seen enough. For $15 a month? It’s worth it.

But, before I begin recommending this to clients, I am putting my money where my mouth is. I’ve added the blue check to one of my own accounts - Founders Basketball.

When we added the blue check about 48 hours ago, we were at 183 followers. Now we’re at 197.

I must add the caveat that we had an event last night, which always gets us a handful of follows.

And it’s a small sample size.

But I’m interested to see what happens over the next few weeks.

So there you have it. A little deep dive on whether or not the IG Verification badge is worth $15/month.

It’s a small detail, but not an insignificant one.

After all, the devil is in the details, right? 😈

Shoot me an email ([email protected]) if you want to chat through more.

See you next time ✌️