If you’re not paying for verification on Facebook or Instagram, would you ever consider it?
What about if Meta added in some new features for paying users, like, say, the capacity to add links in Reels?
That’s one of several options seemingly on the table, as Meta looks for ways to drive more take-up of its Meta Verified program.
As you can see in this example, posted by @cmcalgary (and shared by Lia Haberman), Meta’s sending out a questionnaire to selected users to inquire about the features that they might consider paying for in its apps.
The options Meta has listed as potential additions to entice sign-ups are:
- Original content protection (via human review)
- Faster ad reviews
- Better access to customer support
- Links in Reels (8 per month)
- Customer support case monitoring
- An alternative display for brand messages
- Alternative brand verification badge (like X’s gold tick?)
There are some interesting considerations here, though I’m not sure that any of them are significant carrots that’ll drive a big boost in subscriptions.
Indeed, a year on from the launch of Meta’s “Meta Verified” paid subscription service, which provides a verification tick, added impersonation protection, dedicated support, and more, all for the low, low price of just $US11.99 per month (when purchased on the web), a lot of users have seemingly cooled on the offering.
Meta hasn’t provided any official data on Meta Verified take-up, but taking a look at Meta’s Q4 performance numbers, and using a very rudimental measure, it looks like Meta probably sold a few million subscriptions between Q2 and Q4 last year. Meta’s “Other” intake increased by over $100 million within that period, and the majority of that, presumably, would have been from Verified subscribers.
Which would be no surprise. Meta has almost 4 billion users across its family of apps (Facebook, Messenger, IG and WhatsApp), and 5 million or so subscribers would equate to less than 1% of its total user base, which is about the same rate that most social subscription offerings are seeing.
And make no mistake, an additional $100 million or so per year would definitely make the program worthy of further investment and attention. But at the same time, as with X’s paid verification initiative, the very act of selling checkmarks erodes their perceived value, so really, the more subscriptions that Meta sells, the less it’s worth either way, unless you’re factoring in the other elements.
And those do have value, especially more direct access to Meta support, but I’m not sure that it’s worth the ongoing investment for most, with the features only offering marginal, periodic value, even for brands.
Maybe, some of the above additions would be worth it, but at $144 per year, invested into platforms that are also available for free, and are both increasingly reducing reach (unless you’re creating Reels), you’d probably be better off tipping that money into ad campaigns instead.
Individual results will vary, and there will be some who are seeing benefit from their Meta Verified subscription. But right now, I don’t see it becoming a bigger consideration for the majority of users.
Though if Meta was to add a reach boost, as it did in its initial Meta Verified package, that could be of interest. But then again, that also dilutes in value the more people that sign up, and a lot of these options do seem like a road to nowhere, which shouldn’t really be included within a paid offering.
But Meta’s making money out of it, and a significant amount. Not in terms of Meta’s overall intake, but in raw numbers.
As such, it will likely stick around, but if Meta wants to get more people and brands paying, it may need to come up with better incentives than these.
