---
title: "Influencer Performance Report 2026 – Ad Specialist"
description: "Analysis of 1,975 influencer collaborations: acquisition costs on Instagram, YouTube and podcasts, tracking gaps, repeat bookings and forecast accuracy."
canonical: https://www.adspecialist.de/en/studien/influencer-performance-report-2026/
---

# Influencer Performance Report 2026 – Ad Specialist

> Analysis of 1,975 influencer collaborations: acquisition costs on Instagram, YouTube and podcasts, tracking gaps, repeat bookings and forecast accuracy.

Kanonische URL: https://www.adspecialist.de/en/studien/influencer-performance-report-2026/

## Influencer Performance Report 2026

1,975 live collaborations, 16 brands, 782 creators. Our booking data reveals acquisition costs on Instagram, YouTube and podcasts, tracking coverage, repeat bookings and forecast accuracy. As of 9 September 2026.

## The study in 60 seconds

- **Problem**: Three in four collaborations use a discount code, but fewer than half have a dedicated link. Actual views are recorded for only 30% of bookings. Much of the channel is judged on estimates.
- **Finding**: Instagram buys the cheapest reach, while YouTube delivers cheaper new customers for two of three comparable brands. Commission outperforms fixed fees on ROAS; repeat creators account for 78% of volume.
- **Implication**: Give every placement a link, start with YouTube for products that need explanation, combine commission and fixed fees, and plan with ranges rather than a single forecast.

## A DISCOUNT CODE ISN'T A TRACKING SETUP.

Three in four collaborations use a discount code, but fewer than half have a dedicated link. The code measures only people who enter it. Someone who watches, searches for the store and buys without the code is missing from that analysis. We therefore manage collaborations through links and attribution, beyond coupon redemptions.

## The dataset in three numbers

- **Live collaborations**: Bookings marked Live or Completed, launched in 2025 or 2026, drawn from 10,533 records in our client databases.
- **Brands, 782 creators**: D2C brands across 14 industries, from children's furniture to e-bikes. Brands and creators are anonymised.
- **Have a tracking link**: More than half of collaborations run without a dedicated link. Chapter 1 explores the cost.

## Chapter 1: How many collaborations lack a tracking link?

Share of the 1,975 live collaborations with each field recorded.

| Kategorie | Share of collaborations |
|---|---:|
| Discount code assigned | 73.8 |
| Content link recorded | 50.7 |
| Tracking link available | 44.1 |
| Actual views reported | 30 |
| UTM parameters set | 9.2 |

Quelle: Ad Specialist booking data: 1,975 collaborations marked Live or Completed, launched in 2025–2026. Exported 24 August 2026.

## Which channels are measured, and which are estimated?

Share of collaborations by channel with a tracking link and reported actual views.

| Kategorie | Tracking link | Actual views reported |
|---|---:|---:|
| YouTube | 85.2 | 85.2 |
| Podcast | 91.2 | 22.1 |
| Instagram | 26.7 | 12.6 |

Quelle: Ad Specialist booking data: 1,972 collaborations on Instagram, YouTube and podcasts, launched in 2025–2026.

Podcasts report downloads rather than views. Their low rate of reported views reflects the metric, not a lack of measurement.

## Chapter 2: Which channel buys the cheapest reach?

Effective cost per thousand impressions: total booking cost divided by actual views, multiplied by 1,000. We calculate the median per brand, then the median across brands, so one large client doesn't dominate. See [calculating CPM](/en/blog/tkp-berechnen-so-sparst-du-bei-influencer-kampagnen/) for what the metric does and doesn't tell you.

| Kategorie | Median effective CPM |
|---|---:|
| Instagram | 37.73 |
| YouTube | 52.82 |
| Podcast | 73.65 |

Quelle: Ad Specialist booking data: collaborations with costs and reported actual views, launched in 2025–2026. Each brand has at least ten bookings per channel and five with both values.

Without controlling for brand, the dataset medians are €35 for Instagram, €54 for YouTube and €73 for podcasts.

## Chapter 4 in numbers: repeat creators drive the business

- **Rebookings**: Of 851 bookings with a recorded booking type, 384 are repeat bookings and 467 are first bookings.
- **Creators booked repeatedly**: Out of 782 creators with at least one live collaboration in 2025 or 2026.
- **Of collaborations**: Involve creators booked more than once during the period.

## Chapter 5: How many contacts lead to one live collaboration?

Status of all 7,425 booking records dated 2025 or 2026, from first contact to publication.

| Kategorie | Booking records |
|---|---:|
| Declined | 3144 |
| Live | 1949 |
| Contacted, pending | 1024 |
| In negotiation | 360 |
| Booked, not yet live | 119 |
| Interested | 112 |

Quelle: Ad Specialist booking data: all records dated 2025 or 2026, across all statuses. Exported 24 August 2026.

Across all years since 2021, the decline rate is 31% and the live rate 42%. Outreach was broader in 2025 and 2026.

## Chapter 6: How accurate are view forecasts?

Actual views relative to the pre-launch forecast. 635 collaborations since 2021 with both values, excluding zero values left unmaintained after launch.

| Kategorie | Share of collaborations |
|---|---:|
| Below 50% of forecast | 6.5 |
| 50–80% | 13.4 |
| 80–120% | 39.8 |
| 120–200% | 23.8 |
| Above 200% | 16.5 |

Quelle: Ad Specialist booking data: Live or Completed collaborations with forecast and actual views above zero, launched by 1 September 2026.

The median actual-to-forecast ratio is 1.07. Including the dataset's 141 zeros brings it to 1.00 and increases the share below 50% to 23%. The export doesn't reveal whether these zeros are measured results or unmaintained fields.

## How we use the findings

Four campaign planning rules grounded in this study's data.

- **Every placement gets a link**: Every booking gets a dedicated tracking link and runs through our attribution model. The discount code remains an offer, rather than the sole measurement tool. We assess each creator by new customers, beyond views.
- **Start with YouTube for products that need explanation**: A 60–90-second integration explains the product and stays online. For two of three comparable brands, it delivers cheaper new customers than Instagram despite a higher CPM. [Explore YouTube influencer marketing](/en/channel-youtube/)
- **Combine commission and fixed fees**: Commission for breadth, fixed fees for larger creators. Affiliate delivers the highest ROAS, while fixed fees buy reach from creators who won't work on commission.
- **Rebook what works, and keep testing**: 78% of volume comes from creators booked more than once. Assessing new-customer results tells you whom to rebook after the first collaboration. Our [case studies](/en/case-studies/) show this in practice.

## Method

- **Export from our client databases**: 10,533 booking records as of 24 August 2026. Each represents a collaboration with channel, costs, views, conversions and tracking status. Brands and creators were anonymised before analysis.
- **Filtered to live collaborations in 2025 and 2026**: 1,975 records marked Live or Completed. Chapter 5 includes all statuses from the same period; Chapter 6 uses all years since 2021 to obtain enough records containing both forecast and actual views.
- **Channel comparisons controlled by brand**: We calculate the median for each brand with at least ten collaborations in a channel, then report the median of those brand medians. Every brand has equal weight.
- **Medians, with no imputed values**: All metrics use medians to limit distortion by outliers. Missing values stay missing; a zero counts only when measured.
- **Our own analysis**: We implemented and documented the calculations in a script so every figure can be reproduced with the next export.

## Q&A

- **Why use medians instead of averages?**: One collaboration with a ROAS of 40 can substantially distort an average. The median is the middle value: half the bookings are above it and half below. It describes the typical booking rather than the exceptional result.
- **Can I compare my own figures with these?**: Yes. Effective CPM, new-customer cost and the share of bookings with tracking links can be calculated from any campaign sheet. Bring those figures and we can compare them with the report.
- **Why aren't brands named?**: The data belongs to our clients. It was anonymised before analysis, and we don't publish values that could identify an individual client.
- **Will you update the report?**: That's the plan. The analysis is documented as a script and can be repeated with each new export.

## Further reading

Explore the background to the findings on our blog.

- Influencer marketing CPM: how to calculate profitable campaigns
- Social media KPIs and influencer marketing tracking in 2025
- TikTok vs. YouTube vs. Instagram: comparing influencer marketing platforms

## Related success stories

Our case studies show what these metrics mean for individual brands.

## Your success story

Book a one-to-one strategy call with Moritz and let's talk about your numbers.