Platform begins expansion beyond the Blogosphere
Orlando, Fla. (September 5, 2012) – IZEA, Inc. (IZEA:OTCQB), the world leader in social media sponsorship, announced today that its flagship SocialSpark platform, now integrates with Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. The new feature-set allows SocialSpark bloggers to easily share their sponsored content without leaving the platform, while providing additional insight on social reach and sharing for brands.
SocialSpark is an online marketplace that connects brands with bloggers to create sponsored blog posts. It was the second platform developed by IZEA, introduced in 2007 and completely re-imagined in 2010. Today’s news is the first step towards deeper social media integration and campaign analytics that span beyond the blogosphere.
“We already know that over 60% of bloggers share their sponsored blog posts outside of the SocialSpark platform,” said Ted Murphy, CEO of IZEA. “This update allows us to track those shares and report back to advertisers. Our goal is to demonstrate the total value of every sponsorship and create high value opportunities for our bloggers. The more our bloggers share, the more reach they leverage and the more they will earn. We want to reward them for activities outside of the blogosphere, through a single platform and simple interface.”
SocialSpark users can login to their account and attach their Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest profiles through the “My Properties” area inside Settings. Advertisers will begin seeing social sharing data within the next 30 days. The data will enable advertisers to determine overall social reach, in addition to existing analytics, such as blog traffic and demographics.
“While we are excited to add Facebook and Twitter integration to SocialSpark, this is the first time we have included Pinterest in any of our platforms,” said Ryan Schram, Chief Marketing Officer, IZEA. “We believe that Pinterest is an ideal content distribution network for sponsored blog posts – especially for products targeted toward the female demographic. We already have significant interest from our advertisers and look forward to expanding Pinterest support throughout our ecosystem.”
Bloggers and advertisers interested in learning more about SocialSpark should visit www.socialspark.com.
About IZEA
IZEA, Inc. (“IZEA”) is the world leader in social media sponsorship, operating multiple marketplaces including Staree, WeReward, SponsoredTweets and SocialSpark. IZEA connects advertisers with social media publishers, helping them monetize their social media presence. The company has completed over three million social media sponsorships for customers ranging from small local businesses to Fortune 50 organizations. For more information about IZEA, visit www.izea.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based largely on IZEA’s expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond IZEA’s control. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of, among other factors, competitive conditions in the social media sponsorship segment in which IZEA operates, failure to popularize one or more of the marketplace platforms of IZEA and general economic conditions that are less favorable than expected. In light of these risks and uncertainties, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information contained in this respect will in fact occur. Please read the full statement and disclosures here: http://izea.com/safe-harbor-statement/.
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