IZEA Guides 2012 Revenues $8.6M vs $4.3M Prior Year

IZEA

today provided high-level guidance for its 2012 fiscal year. Revenue for the company is expected to double over fiscal year 2011 to $8.6 million, fueled by its May 2012 sales pipeline of $9.1 million that has increased by 50% since January 2012 and doubled since May last year. "Our client base is expanding across multiple industry verticals," said Ted Murphy, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of IZEA. "Our pipeline is growing at an average of eight percent month-over-month and we continue to see an increase in our conversion rate from pipeline to signed client. In the first quarter of this year we conducted campaigns for national and international brands such as S.C. Johnson & Son, Kraft, Walmart, Kia, Lenovo, Revlon and The Scotts MiracleGro Company." Factors fueling IZEA's outlook include the success of its localized client development strategy through the addition of team members in New York City, Seattle and Dallas. Revenue from IZEA's display advertising solution, IZEA Media, doubled from December 2011 to March 2012 and today has over 70 million monthly impressions. Further, IZEA continues to expand its celebrity network, with stars from the big screen to athletes on the field. The company's annual gross profit margin is expected to increase to 56-60%, up from 55% in 2011 and 52% in 2010. The company attributes the margin growth over the past three years to the unique value it provides to clients, optimization of existing platforms and increased demand for managed services. "As an industry, social marketing continues to grow exponentially. With recent valuations assigned to high-profile acquisitions and upcoming IPOs, there is significant up-side still emerging," said Ryan Schram, Chief Marketing Officer, IZEA. "This indicates marketers will continue to raise budgets for social and digital media in search of ways to create richer connections with their consumers. IZEA is at the center of this, connecting brands with top influencers who engage those target audiences." In the coming week, IZEA will formally unveil a new product designed to monetize sponsored photo and video posts to Twitter and Facebook. For the remainder of the 2012 fiscal year, IZEA will continue investing heavily in sales and marketing, with expected net losses ahead of investment through the year. The company expects to reach profitability in early 2013. IZEA plans to report Q1 2012 financial results on May 15.