It’s 2 am in the morning. I’m sitting at my desk, contemplating an online-business idea that I think would do wonders in this world. I already have the perfect brand name. And I kind of have an idea what my logo would look like as well. Within the next few days, I purchase my domain name, I register my business name and well, I feel unstoppable. Over the next few weeks, my website is up, everything is running as it’s supposed to, and we are ready for a launch. It’s now time to utilize social media ads to drive traffic to my website and get some sales! Before the launch date, I work towards setting up my brand’s social media presence. I’m thinking, a profile on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter should suffice. I navigate to the Instagram app and try to register my new profile. Within a few minutes, I have tried several usernames that would match my brand name and identity, but they are all taken. I quickly realize that every username I want is taken. And, well, I don’t want to settle for random special characters adding to my username. This is my brand that we’re talking about. The worst part? Most usernames that I’d like haven’t even been active for years! So, how do I claim Instagram usernames that are not active so I can make use of them.

Why It Matters

You are known on the social media platform by your username. That’s how people remember you. Now, I could either go with, as a random example, @pinebox which matches my domain and my business name. Or I could go with @pinebox123 or @pinebox__

As you can imagine, the latter options are really not ideal at all. Worst of all, the username that I wanted for my business were not even in use. I’m talking about usernames that last posted around 3 years ago! And here I am with the perfect idea about to launch my business, and I have to settle for a username that ends with a random string of special characters and numbers.

Sorry, Every Username You Want is Taken

Could it be that all the usernames that are inactive are locked forever? I didn’t think so. I mean, Instagram has about 2 billion active users. Now, consider the fact that a single user can create multiple accounts, and that Instagram has been here for over a decade, you’re talking about billions and billions of usernames that were registered but never used. Are they all just gone?

There has to be a way. Some brands always seem to find a way to get the perfect username on all platforms. I’ve seen brand with less than 1000 followers verified on Instagram as well. What are they doing that I can do to improve my digital identity?

I mean, its 2022, and your online identity is everything. Everything from your username to your feed, to your website, to your PR – everything matters. So, how do we claim Instagram username that are taken but not in use? There had to be a way!

How You Can Get the Perfect Username

So, is there a way I can avoid having an underscore at the end of the username? Yes! Let me introduce you to what the insiders of the social media world call a media partnership portal. A portal is a way for digital agencies to make requests of sorts with the social network.

Let’s back up a bit. For a social media network, like Instagram, the most important user is one that has a huge ad spend, right? Of course! Now, who do think spends most on Instagram? Well, these would be established brands. It could be anyone from real estate developers to hotels to technology start-ups to literally anyone. But who do you think would be the single point of highest spend? Well, it’s the digital marketing agencies.

Large brands typically outsource their marketing to agencies. A typical agency that is managing several large brands would be one of the top spenders on Instagram. On behalf of their clients, these agencies, would be spending anywhere from a couple of hundred thousand to a couple of millions a month with Instagram.

Such agencies get a special access via Instagram partnership wherein they get a dedicated manager within Instagram for support requests. Why? Because Instagram doesn’t want such agencies to have any issues while they are spending millions with Instagram. Makes sense, right?

Now, such agencies are provided what we call a media portal. This is a portal that the agency can log into and make a variety of requests. Anywhere from requesting a username to apply for a verification to asking for help with a locked account.

And this is how it is done. So, if a username is inactive long enough, you can have it claimed in no time. All you’d need is a reputable agency that has access to such a portal and you’re golden! Within a few days, you can have your desired username that perfectly resonates with your brand and online identity. Brilliant, isn’t it?

Conclusion

Yes, it may seem like every username you want is taken. And that is indeed the case. But that is not the end of the road. There is always a way out. Whether you’re looking to get a username on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or even TikTok – there is always a way to go about it. And the one and only way around this would be to have an agency submit a request on your behalf so that the username you’d like is reassigned to you. And now, we know, how some brands always seem to get hold of perfect usernames and blue badges. They have their digital agencies to do for them!

And that is how you claim Instagram usernames. So, with a bit of luck, I found the agency for me. I had them claim me the username I wanted. And before I knew it, I had consistent usernames across all social channels, that matched my brand name and domain name as well!