LinkedIn Ads Metrics Explained: Full UI and API Reference
This LinkedIn Ads metrics guide reviews the measurements available across Campaign Manager and the API. It explains what each metric is meant to capture, when an event is counted, which fields are returned in reporting, and where certain metrics become unavailable because of reporting cuts, pivots, privacy limits, or API version requirements.
Table of contents
- Core Metrics
- Message Ads Metrics
- Social & Viral Metrics
- Lead Gen Forms & Document Ads
- Event Ads & Newsletter Metrics
- Video Metrics
- Conversions & ROAS
- Reach & Frequency
- API Reference
Core Metrics
As in other advertising platforms, LinkedIn provides a set of foundational reporting metrics such as spend, impressions, and clicks. It also separates activity that stays inside the platform from traffic that sends users to an external destination, which makes it easier to distinguish between LinkedIn-native engagement and outbound website intent.
Spend, Traffic & Clicks
These metrics are available across all three finder methods. By default, the /adAnalytics endpoint returns only impressions and clicks. Everything else must be explicitly requested via the fields= parameter. Maximum 20 metrics per request.
Heads up on spend fields: costInLocalCurrency and costInUsd are returned as strings, not numbers. Always cast to float before doing any arithmetic. Use costInUsd for cross-account roll-ups.
| Metric | API field | Notes & gotchas | Demo pivots |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impressions | impressions |
For Sponsored Content: visual impressions. For Message Ads: as of July 2024, impressions are no longer reported. Use sends instead. |
✓ all |
| Clicks (chargeable) | clicks |
Paid clicks only. Excludes likes, comments, profile clicks, and company page clicks. | ✓ all |
| Landing page clicks | landingPageClicks |
Clicks that navigate to the external destination URL through the CTA button or headline. Subset of clicks. |
✓ all |
| Company page clicks | companyPageClicks |
Clicks on the advertiser logo or company name. These go to the LinkedIn Company Page, not the destination URL. | ✓ all |
| Card clicks (carousel) | cardClicks |
Per-card click counts for Carousel Ads. Not available with demographic pivots. | ⚠ no demo |
| Spend (local currency) | costInLocalCurrency |
String type. Currency matches the ad account's billing currency. | ✓ all |
| Spend (USD) | costInUsd |
String type. Useful for normalizing across accounts with different billing currencies. | ✓ all |
Message Ads Metrics
These are the reporting metrics used to analyze the Message Ads format, formerly known as Sponsored InMail. They focus on delivery into member inboxes, message open behavior, and clicks on elements inside the message itself.
| Metric | API field | Notes & gotchas | Demo pivots |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sends | sends |
Messages delivered to member inboxes. Primary reach metric for Message Ads since July 2024. | ✓ all |
| Opens | opens |
Open rate = opens ÷ sends. | ✓ all |
| Action clicks (InMail CTA) | actionClicks |
Clicks on the primary CTA button inside the message body. | ✓ all |
| Text URL clicks | textUrlClicks |
Clicks on hyperlinked anchor text within the InMail body. | ✓ all |
Social & Viral Metrics
Social reporting on LinkedIn focuses on engagement signals and their viral mirrors. This is where organic amplification appears after members interact with or reshare your ad, making it possible to separate paid delivery from the extra engagement created by distribution inside the platform.
No reaction-type breakdown. The reactions field is aggregate-only. It excludes Like, which is counted separately in likes, and aggregates all other reaction types — Celebrate, Support, Love, Insightful, Curious, and Funny — into a single number. Per-type breakdown is not available in the adAnalytics API or Campaign Manager UI.
Engagement
| Metric | Paid field | Viral field | Demo pivots |
|---|---|---|---|
| Likes | likes |
viralLikes |
✓ all |
| Comments | comments |
viralComments |
✓ all |
| Shares | shares |
viralShares |
✓ all |
| Follows | follows |
viralFollows |
✓ all |
| Reactions (all types) | reactions |
— | ✓ all |
| Total engagements | totalEngagements |
viralTotalEngagements |
✓ all |
| Other engagements | otherEngagements |
viralOtherEngagements |
✓ all |
Lead Gen Forms & Document Ads
This group brings together LinkedIn-native conversion formats that happen inside the platform. It includes one-click lead generation behavior and document consumption signals, which are useful when the campaign goal is to capture contact details or measure deeper interaction with downloadable content.
| Metric | Paid field | Viral field | Demo pivots |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leads submitted | oneClickLeads |
viralOneClickLeads |
✓ all |
| Form opens | oneClickLeadFormOpens |
viralOneClickLeadFormOpens |
✓ all |
| Full document completions | documentCompletions |
viralDocumentCompletions |
✓ all |
| Document @ 25% | documentFirstQuartileCompletions |
viralDocumentFirstQuartileCompletions |
✓ all |
| Document @ 50% | documentMidpointCompletions |
viralDocumentMidpointCompletions |
✓ all |
| Document @ 75% | documentThirdQuartileCompletions |
viralDocumentThirdQuartileCompletions |
✓ all |
| Download clicks | downloadClicks |
viralDownloadClicks |
✓ all |
Event Ads & Newsletter Metrics
These metrics help evaluate promoted LinkedIn events and newsletter-related actions. They combine registration reporting with deeper event-consumption signals, including the newer watch-time measurements that show how long people stayed engaged with the Event page.
| Metric | Primary field | Related field / variant | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event registrations | registrations |
viralRegistrations |
Registration on the LinkedIn Event. |
| Post-click registrations | postClickRegistrations |
viralPostClickRegistrations |
Attributed to a click before the registration. |
| Post-view registrations | postViewRegistrations |
viralPostViewRegistrations |
Attributed to an impression without a click. |
| Subscription clicks | subscriptionClicks |
viralSubscriptionClicks |
First click on “+Subscribe” within a Sponsored Newsletter placement. |
| Event views | eventViews |
— | Views of the LinkedIn Event page after clicking the ad. |
| Event watch time | eventWatchTime |
— | Cumulative seconds spent on the Event page. |
| Avg. event watch time | averageEventWatchTime |
— | Per-view average watch time. |
| Cost per event view | costPerEventView |
— | Spend ÷ eventViews. |
| Event views >15 sec | eventViewsOver15Seconds |
eventWatchTimeOver15Seconds |
Audience and cumulative watch time beyond the 15-second threshold. |
| Event views >30 sec | eventViewsOver30Seconds |
eventWatchTimeOver30Seconds |
Meaningfully engaged audience and their cumulative watch time. |
| Event views >2 min | eventViewsOver2Minutes |
eventWatchTimeOver2Minutes |
Highest-intent event audience and their cumulative watch time. |
Video Metrics
LinkedIn's video reporting combines legacy view and quartile metrics with newer watch-time fields introduced in API version 202601. Together they help separate simple counted views from deeper watch behavior and make it easier to understand whether the creative hook holds attention.
Requires API version 202601 or later: add the header Linkedin-Version: 202601 to unlock videoWatchTime and averageVideoWatchTime.
| Metric | API field | Description | Viral variant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video views | videoViews |
Counted when at least 2 continuous seconds play with at least 50% pixels on screen, or when the viewer clicks the CTA, whichever comes first. | viralVideoViews |
| Video starts | videoStarts |
Autoplay or tap-to-play initiations. | viralVideoStarts |
| Video completions | videoCompletions |
Watched to 100% of runtime. | viralVideoCompletions |
| Video @ 25% | videoFirstQuartileCompletions |
Reached the first quartile of runtime. | viralVideoFirstQuartileCompletions |
| Video @ 50% | videoMidpointCompletions |
Reached the midpoint. | viralVideoMidpointCompletions |
| Video @ 75% | videoThirdQuartileCompletions |
Reached the third quartile. | viralVideoThirdQuartileCompletions |
| Full-screen plays | videoFullScreenPlays |
Viewer tapped or clicked into full-screen mode. | viralVideoFullScreenPlays |
| Total video watch time | videoWatchTime |
Cumulative seconds across all viewers. | — |
| Avg. video watch time | averageVideoWatchTime |
videoWatchTime ÷ impressions. A strong signal of whether the creative holds attention after the initial view is counted. |
— |
Conversions & ROAS
LinkedIn supports two different value layers in conversion reporting. The first covers website conversions attributed through the Insight Tag or Conversions API. The second extends into CRM-based revenue attribution, where closed-won pipeline and return on ad spend can be connected back to LinkedIn campaigns.
Breakout by individual conversion event: use the CONVERSION pivot in q=statistics. Each row maps to one conversion rule URN, and this pivot cannot be combined with demographic MEMBER_* pivots.
| Metric | API field | Scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total conversions | externalWebsiteConversions |
Website Conversions | Post-click + post-view combined. Attribution windows: 30-day click, 7-day view. |
| Post-click conversions | externalWebsitePostClickConversions |
Website Conversions | Attributed to a click on your ad within the 30-day window. |
| Post-view conversions | externalWebsitePostViewConversions |
Website Conversions | Attributed to an impression without a click inside the 7-day window. |
| Conversion value | conversionValueInLocalCurrency |
Website Conversions | Sum of values from conversion rules. Forms the numerator for a basic ROAS calculation. Not available with MEMBER_* pivots. |
| ROAS | revenueAttributionMetrics.returnOnAdSpend |
CRM Revenue Attribution | Revenue won ÷ ad spend. |
| Revenue won (USD) | revenueAttributionMetrics.revenueWonInUsd |
CRM Revenue Attribution | Closed-won deal revenue in CRM attributed to LinkedIn. |
| Closed-won opportunities | revenueAttributionMetrics.closedWonOpportunities |
CRM Revenue Attribution | Count of deals closed during the period. |
| Open opportunities | revenueAttributionMetrics.openOpportunities |
CRM Revenue Attribution | Active pipeline value. Returned only when dateRange.end equals today in UTC. |
| Opportunity win rate | revenueAttributionMetrics.opportunityWinRate |
CRM Revenue Attribution | Closed-won ÷ total opportunities attributed to LinkedIn. |
| Avg. days to close | revenueAttributionMetrics.averageDaysToClose |
CRM Revenue Attribution | Average sales cycle length for LinkedIn-attributed deals. |
| Avg. deal size (USD) | revenueAttributionMetrics.averageDealSizeInUsd |
CRM Revenue Attribution | Average contract value of LinkedIn-attributed closed-won deals. |
Reach & Frequency
Reach and Frequency metrics are non-aggregatable: you cannot add daily Reach figures together to get weekly Reach. Always query the exact time window you need. These metrics are subject to LinkedIn's member privacy protections, so treat them as directional signals rather than precise counts.
Approximate values. Up to 24-hour reporting delay. Retained for 2 years only. Not available with MEMBER_* demographic pivots. The field approximateMemberReach is also excluded from demographic pivot responses.
| Metric | API field | Reporting levels | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unique reach | approximateMemberReach |
Account / Campaign Group / Campaign / Creative | Unique accounts served at least one impression. Available in rolling windows: 1-day, 7-day, 30-day, and month-to-date. Not available with MEMBER_* pivots. |
| Frequency | Derived: impressions ÷ reach | All levels | Not returned directly by the API. Compute it from impressions and approximateMemberReach. Available as a native metric in Campaign Manager UI. |
| Cost per 1K unique reached | Derived: spend ÷ (reach ÷ 1,000) | All levels | More meaningful than standard CPM for brand campaigns because it measures cost per unique professional reached. |
| Audience penetration | UI only — not in API | Account / Campaign Group / Campaign | Unique members reached ÷ total targeted audience size. Useful for identifying saturation. |
What’s a good frequency for LinkedIn?
Unlike social platforms where 3–4 impressions can already feel repetitive, B2B buyers on LinkedIn often need repeated exposure across a longer decision cycle. Frequencies of 7–12 over a 30-day window are common for tighter ABM-style campaigns. A declining CTR over time is usually the clearest early signal of creative fatigue.
API Reference
All metrics flow through a single endpoint: GET https://api.linkedin.com/rest/adAnalytics. Three finder methods cover the main reporting scenarios. No pagination is supported and results are capped at 15,000 elements.
Finder Methods
| Finder | q= parameter | Max pivots | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analytics | q=analytics |
1 | Standard campaign, creative, and account reporting. |
| Statistics | q=statistics |
3 | Conversion breakouts by event, device plus campaign combinations, and more complex reporting requests. |
| Revenue | q=attributedRevenueMetrics |
3 (structural only) | CRM revenue attribution. Requires Business Manager plus Salesforce, HubSpot, or Dynamics 365. API version 202505 or later. |
Data Retention by Granularity
| Data type | Daily granularity | Monthly granularity |
|---|---|---|
| Performance data (account / campaign / creative) | 6 months | 10 years |
Demographic data (MEMBER_* pivots) |
6 months | 2 years |
| Revenue Attribution | — | 1 year (30–366 day range required) |
Example: Conversion Breakout by Event
GET https://api.linkedin.com/rest/adAnalytics
?q=statistics
&pivots=List(CAMPAIGN,CONVERSION)
&timeGranularity=MONTHLY
&dateRange=(start:(year:2025,month:1,day:1))
&accounts=List(urn:li:sponsoredAccount:12345)
&fields=externalWebsiteConversions,
externalWebsitePostClickConversions,
externalWebsitePostViewConversions,
conversionValueInLocalCurrency,
costInLocalCurrency,impressions,
clicks,pivotValues,dateRange
Headers:
Authorization: Bearer {TOKEN}
Linkedin-Version: 202601
X-Restli-Protocol-Version: 2.0.0
Example: Demographic Breakout by Job Title
GET https://api.linkedin.com/rest/adAnalytics
?q=analytics
&pivot=MEMBER_JOB_TITLE
&timeGranularity=ALL
&dateRange=(start:(year:2025,month:1,day:1),
end:(year:2025,month:3,day:31))
&campaigns=List(urn:li:sponsoredCampaign:99999)
&fields=impressions,clicks,landingPageClicks,
oneClickLeads,externalWebsiteConversions,
costInLocalCurrency,pivotValues,dateRange
Note: use timeGranularity=ALL for date ranges longer than 6 months when querying demographic pivots. Demographic data is retained for 2 years only. Values with fewer than 3 events are suppressed.
Example: Revenue Attribution
GET https://api.linkedin.com/rest/adAnalytics
?q=attributedRevenueMetrics
&pivots=List(CAMPAIGN)
&dateRange=(start:(year:2025,month:1,day:1),
end:(year:2025,month:12,day:31))
&account=List(urn:li:sponsoredAccount:12345)
&fields=revenueAttributionMetrics,dateRange,pivotValues