Today’s Killer Startup: Markr
Elevator Pitch:
Markr lets you easily add visual hashtags to any photo or video, for both personal and professional branding.
Why It’s A Killer Startup:
Confession: I’m a reformed hashtag hater. When they first busted out of Twitter and all over our social media, I denounced them as a silly fad. Clearly, I am no Tech Nostradamus on this one, as hashtags are undeniably here to stay.
These days I don’t fight the little guys, integrating them instead into the parts of my life where they’re appropriate. Usually that just means Twitter and Instagram, although sometimes I’ll add them into chats as a quick reference to something that comes up a lot in my life (i.e. #guatelife in reference to specifically Guatemalan things I encounter in my day-to-day) or an almost sardonic way of poking fun at myself or my friends (i.e. #thecoolest when I do something decidedly uncool).
Now there’s a whole new way that I – and you, obviously – can utilize hashtags. An iOS app called Markr makes it easy to add visual hashtags directly to your images, making your pics meme-able instantly.
What’s a visual hashtag, you ask? Simple: it’s a hashtag that is an overlay to your pictures and videos.
Markr is a fun app for people who love sharing on social networks to clarify what’s going on in an image or just stand out from the crowd. Particularly useful for people who are interested in becoming thought leaders or social media stars, Markr can help individuals create their own personal and professional brands.
And speaking of brands, companies big and small can use Markr to join in on currently trending conversations with relevant, tagged images. The app also uses your location, so you can see what’s popular in your immediate area, connecting with people around you quickly.
Because the images are clearly tagged, there’s also potential for them to go viral more easily. Markr calls it an “insta-meme.”
It’s also a great addition to an existing marketing campaign, as creating #branded images makes it easy for your fans to share your posts – and it will always be linked back to you. Get your name out there!
When it comes to the images themselves, Markr gives you a bunch of options for customizing them. You can change both the color and the font of your hashtags, as well as the saturation, brightness, and contrast of the image. Oh, and, of course they also have filters.
I have to say – as someone who used to loudly and proudly proclaim my hatred of the hashtag, I’m having way too much fun with Markr. Give it a shot yourself and join trending conversations or start some trends of your own.
Tweetable:
Enhance your personal or professional #brand with visual hashtags from @themarkrapp
Photo Credits
Markr | Original image by André Freitas via Unsplash
