OpenSponsorship says mid-tier influencers delivered worst value in paid campaign study

OpenSponsorship analyzed 1,527 paid creator deliverables from January 2025 through June 2026 and found that 50,000-to-250,000-follower influencers produced the worst cost per view and cost per engagement. The findings challenge common influencer marketing advice and suggest smaller campaigns can be cheaper and more predictable.

Why it matters: - OpenSponsorship’s analysis points to a budget leak brands may be overlooking: the 50,000-to-250,000-follower creator segment. - The study suggests follower count alone is a poor guide to value, especially when brands care about views, engagement and predictability. - The findings could push marketers to shift spend toward smaller creators or more diversified campaign portfolios.

What happened: - OpenSponsorship published an analysis of 1,527 completed, paid creator campaign deliverables run on its platform between January 2025 and June 2026. - The dataset included only accepted deals with tracked performance data. - The company said the study focuses on real transactions, not estimates or test records. - OpenSponsorship used medians rather than averages to reflect typical brand experience.

The details: - Creators with 50,000 to 250,000 followers posted the worst cost per view at $0.19 and the worst cost per engagement at $7.07. - That mid-tier result came from 513 campaigns, the second-largest sample in the study. - Mega influencers with 1 million-plus followers delivered the lowest median cost per view at $0.07. - Nano influencers under 10,000 followers came in at $0.13 per view. - Nano creators generated views equal to 19.9% of their follower count, compared with 1.1% for mega influencers. - Micro influencers with 10,000 to 50,000 followers delivered the lowest cost per engagement at $3.05. - Nano creators were close behind at $3.11 per engagement. - Mega influencers came in at $5.00 per engagement. - Deals above $7,500 had a median cost per view of $0.41. - Campaigns under $500 had a median cost per view of $0.10. - Inside the over-$7,500 spend band, the 25th percentile was $0.065 per view and the 75th percentile was $1.18 per view. - The study’s dataset was weighted toward sports, wellness, food and lifestyle categories. - The study measured cost per view as fee divided by views delivered. - The study measured cost per engagement as fee divided by likes, comments, shares and saves. - Data was pulled in July 2026. - Deliverables had to record more than 100 tracked views and at least a $50 fee.

Between the lines: - The mid-tier segment appears to combine the downside of higher pricing with weaker efficiency. - The results also challenge the common assumption that larger creator deals are automatically more scalable. - A broad set of smaller campaigns may give brands better cost control and less outcome volatility. - Ishveen Jolly, OpenSponsorship’s founder and CEO, said many influencer marketing articles repeat the same advice without showing underlying data. - Jolly said the mid-tier result is the finding brands should act on fastest because the category can look credible in a pitch deck while still being the most expensive place to spend.

What's next: - OpenSponsorship says the full report includes complete data tables, methodology and category-specific findings at the full report. - Marketers will likely use the study as a benchmark for rethinking creator mix, budget allocation and performance expectations. - OpenSponsorship is positioned to use the findings to support its athlete and creator marketing platform and its data tools.

The bottom line: - In this dataset, mid-tier creators were the least efficient option, while smaller creators delivered stronger engagement economics and larger campaigns proved more volatile.