IZEA Managed Services Bookings Reach 45% YoY Growth to Date in Q1

Company Awarded Multiple Contracts from New and Existing Customers

Orlando, Florida, March 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IZEA Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: IZEA), the premier provider of influencer marketing technology, data, and services for the world’s leading brands, announced today that it has reached a new milestone for Q1. IZEA’s Managed Services bookings for Q1 2021 to date are now 45% greater than Managed Services bookings for all of Q1 2020, with four weeks of business development activity still remaining in the quarter. The year over year bookings growth for Managed Services builds upon IZEA’s record Q4 2020 bookings. IZEA previously reported that its Managed Services bookings increased 48% in Q4 of 2020, as compared to Q4 2019.

The growth builds upon the award of contracts by two Fortune 200 customers in late February. The most recent expansion of Managed Services bookings is the result of being awarded multiple influencer marketing contracts from a mix of both new and existing customers. Those customers include two of the top five global consumer packaged goods companies, a Fortune 100 retailer, and Fortune 500 apparel maker.

Bookings are a measure of all sales orders minus any known or expected cancellations or refunds with respect to such sales orders or refunds. Management uses bookings to inform expectations of total sales activity. Bookings are not always an indicator of revenue for the quarter and could be subject to future adjustment. Revenue from Managed Services bookings are typically recognized over a 6-month period on average.

In addition to Managed Services growth, IZEA’s total active SaaS customer base increased to new record numbers in February 2021, largely driven by signups for IZEAx Discovery, the company’s self-service influencer discovery tool. The active customer count for IZEAx Discovery in February 2021 has more than doubled as compared to February 2020. The company is also seeing continued positive sales momentum with IZEAx Unity Suite new customer wins, particularly among the more affordable pricing tiers introduced last year. The number of new Unity Suite customers signed thus far in Q1 2021 has already exceeded Q4 of 2020.

“Our team is executing on multiple fronts and I am pleased with the momentum we continue to build,” said Ted Murphy, IZEA’s Chairman and CEO. “Team IZEA is seeing a steady stream of renewals and expansions of contracts from Fortune 500 customers, a testament to our industry leadership and commitment to providing high quality customer service. Not only are we seeing repeat business, but we are also seeing a strong expansion of our active customer base from our SaaS efforts. We are benefitting from the aggressive investments we are making in marketing and engineering, combined with a more accessible and affordable software pricing structure. We have made this transition knowing that there would be near term negative impact on licensing revenue, but believe that lower price points will create a much larger revenue opportunity long term as more companies license IZEA technologies.”

About IZEA Worldwide, Inc.
IZEA Worldwide, Inc. (“IZEA”) is a marketing technology company providing software and professional services that enable brands to collaborate and transact with the full spectrum of today’s top social influencers and content creators. The company serves as a champion for the growing Creator Economy, enabling individuals to monetize their content, creativity, and influence. IZEA launched the industry’s first-ever influencer marketing platform in 2006 and has since facilitated nearly 4 million transactions between online buyers and sellers. Leading brands and agencies partner with IZEA to increase digital engagement, diversify brand voice, scale content production, and drive measurable return on investment.

Safe Harbor Statement
All statements in this release that are not based on historical fact are “forward-looking statements” intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “hope,” “estimate,” “believe,” “intend,” "likely," "projects," “plans,” "pursue," "strategy" or "future," or the negative of these words or other words or expressions of similar meaning.  Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding expectations concerning IZEA’s ability to increase revenue and bookings, growth or maintenance of customer relationships, and expectations concerning IZEA’s business strategy. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, as a result of various factors including, among others, the following: competitive conditions in the content and social sponsorship segment in which IZEA operates; failure to popularize one or more of the marketplace platforms of IZEA; our ability to establish effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting; our ability to satisfy the requirements for continued listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market; changing economic conditions that are less favorable than expected; and other risks and uncertainties described in IZEA’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements made in this release speak only as of the date of this release, and IZEA assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in expectations, except as otherwise required by law.

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