NEW YORK - TelAve -- OpenSponsorship today published findings from 1,527 completed, paid creator campaign deliverables run on the platform between January 2025 and June 2026, surfacing results that contradict prevailing influencer marketing guidance.

The Mid-Tier Dead Zone
Creators with 50,000 to 250,000 followers posted the worst cost per view ($0.19) and worst cost per engagement ($7.07) of any tier -- across 513 campaigns.

The Cost-Per-View Surprise
Mega influencers (1M+ followers) delivered views at $0.07 each, half the nano influencer rate of $0.13. However, nano creators generated views equal to 19.9% of their follower count versus 1.1% for mega -- an 18x difference in content reach relative to audience size.

Small Creators Win on Engagement

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Micro influencers delivered engagement at $3.05 per action, nano at $3.11 -- versus $5.00 for mega and $7.07 for mid-tier. Small creators buy actions 40% more cheaply.

Big Deals Are Volatile
Deals over $7,500 cost $0.41 per view -- four times campaigns under $500. Within that band, the spread runs from $0.065 to $1.18 per view: an 18-fold variance inside one spend category.

"Every influencer marketing article tells you the same thing: micro-influencers are better value. Almost none of them show you the receipts. So we pulled ours. The mid-tier finding is the one brands need to act on fastest. That creator looks credible in a deck. The data says it is the most expensive place your budget can be." -- Ishveen Jolly, Founder and CEO, OpenSponsorship (https://opensponsorship.com/)

Methodology: 1,527 completed paid deliverables, January 2025 to June 2026, each with tracked views above 100 and fees of $50 or more. Medians reported throughout. Metrics: cost per view and cost per engagement. Data pulled July 2026. Dataset weighted toward sports, wellness, food, and lifestyle.