When running ads on LinkedIn, it’s important to track their performance beyond vanity metrics like clicks and impressions. You want to know if your ads are driving real business value by generating leads and revenue. The good news is LinkedIn does provide options for tracking ad revenue, allowing you to measure return on ad spend (ROAS). In this article, we’ll explore how to track revenue from LinkedIn ads using conversion tracking, offline conversion tracking, and campaign reporting.
Use LinkedIn conversion tracking
One of the best ways to track revenue from LinkedIn ads is by setting up conversion tracking. This allows you to track when someone takes a desired action after clicking your ad. Here’s how it works:
- Set up conversion tracking in LinkedIn Campaign Manager. You can track website conversions like email signups or purchases. Or track offline conversions like phone calls.
- Add the LinkedIn Insight conversion tracking pixel to your website to track online conversions.
- When someone clicks your ad then completes the conversion you’re tracking, it will be attributed to the ad and show up in your LinkedIn Campaign Manager reporting.
This makes it easy to see how many sales, signups, phone calls, etc. your LinkedIn ads are driving. You can calculate revenue directly from online conversions like purchases. For offline conversions, you may need to assign an estimated value to each conversion.
Some benefits of using LinkedIn conversion tracking include:
- Provides clear attribution showing your ads drove the conversion
- No need to manually match ad clicks with later conversions
- Works for both online and offline conversions
- Free to set up as part of LinkedIn Campaign Manager
How to set up LinkedIn conversion tracking
Setting up LinkedIn conversion tracking takes just a few steps:
- Log into LinkedIn Campaign Manager
- Under the “Measurement” tab, click “Conversions”
- Click +Add conversion
- Choose the type of conversion to track (web, offline, etc)
- Enter conversion details like category and value per conversion
- Get and add the Insight Tag tracking pixel to your website (for online conversions)
- Test that the tracking is working
- Start tracking revenue from your LinkedIn ads!
You can track multiple conversion types to get data on different lead actions and revenue channels from your LinkedIn ads.
Use LinkedIn offline conversion tracking
For revenue actions that happen offline like phone calls, form submissions, or in-person sales, you can use LinkedIn’s offline conversion tracking. This allows you to track revenues driven from LinkedIn that occur offline.
Here’s how offline conversion tracking works:
- Visitor clicks on your LinkedIn ad
- They are tagged with a tracking cookie for a 90-day period
- The visitor later completes an offline conversion like calling your business
- You upload offline conversion events to LinkedIn via CSV or API
- LinkedIn matches the conversion to the ad click using the tracking cookie
- The offline conversion is attributed to your ad in campaign reporting
This makes it easy to track phone call inquiries, form submissions, in-person sales, and other offline activities that result from your LinkedIn ads. To quantify the revenue impact, you can assign a monetary value to each conversion type you are tracking.
How to set up LinkedIn offline conversion tracking
To enable offline conversion tracking for your LinkedIn ads:
- In LinkedIn Campaign Manager, click “Conversions” under the Measurement tab
- Click +Add Conversion and choose “Offline Conversion”
- Enter a Conversion Category like “Phone Call” or “Sales Meeting”
- Enter a value for each conversion (optional but recommended)
- Choose the conversion window (1-90 days from ad click)
- Input your offline conversions into LinkedIn via CSV file or API
- LinkedIn will match conversions to ad clicks and show revenue data in your campaign reports
Be sure to assign values to your offline conversions to quantify revenue impact. Track multiple conversion types to measure different lead outcomes and revenue channels.
Analyze LinkedIn campaign reports
In addition to conversion tracking, you can also track revenue directly in your LinkedIn campaign reports. Here are some of the key reports to analyze:
Conversion Tracking Report
This shows you how many conversions and revenue you’re driving from your LinkedIn campaigns and ads. It aggregates data from your conversion tracking tags. Use this to optimize for conversions and revenue.
ROI and ROAS Reports
LinkedIn’s ROI report shows return on ad spend for your campaigns. The ROAS report displays return on ad spend by ad set or ad. This helps you identify and double down on your most profitable ads.
Conversion Funnel Report
See how users move through the conversion funnel from ad impression down to conversion. Determine where dropoff is happening in the funnel.
Conversion Latency Report
This shows the time from ad click to conversion. Use this to build audiences who convert quickly vs. those who need more nurturing.
Conversion Device Report
See conversions and revenue broken down by device like desktop vs. mobile. Identify your most profitable devices to further target.
Analyzing these campaign reports provides powerful insights into your highest converting and most profitable ads, audiences, and channels. Use these insights to optimize both your ads and your offers to maximize LinkedIn ad revenue.
Tips for tracking LinkedIn ad revenue
Here are some top tips for tracking revenue from your LinkedIn ads:
- Set up conversion tracking for every key action: signups, purchases, calls, etc.
- Pay close attention to ROAS – double down on your most profitable ads
- Assign monetary values to offline conversions to quantify revenue
- Analyze conversion latency to optimize your follow-up sequences
- Regularly refresh your audiences based on high converters
- A/B test ad creatives, calls-to-action, and landing pages
Tracking the right conversions and regularly optimizing based on revenue data are the keys to driving ROI from LinkedIn ads.
Frequently asked questions
Can you connect LinkedIn ads directly to Google Analytics?
Yes, you can connect your LinkedIn campaigns to Google Analytics under LinkedIn Campaign Manager measurement settings. This allows you to track leads and revenue in Google Analytics generated from your LinkedIn ads.
What’s the difference between conversions and leads in LinkedIn ads?
Conversions specifically track when users complete a desired action like a purchase or signup. Leads are contacts generated – usually conversions are a subset of overall leads.
How much revenue can you expect from LinkedIn ads?
Potential LinkedIn ad revenue depends on factors like audience, offer, and vertical. Most advertisers see a positive ROI from LinkedIn ads in the range of 2-5x spend. Top performing ads can drive up to 10-20x return on spend.
Can you track ROI for LinkedIn Sponsored Content?
Yes, you can use conversion tracking pixels and offline conversion tracking to measure ROI and revenue from LinkedIn Sponsored Content and Sponsored InMail campaigns. Treat them like display ads.
Is conversion tracking available on LinkedIn’s self-serve platform?
Yes, self-serve advertisers on LinkedIn can access the same conversion and offline conversion tracking features as managed accounts. This allows you to track revenue across LinkedIn ads.
Conclusion
Tracking LinkedIn ad revenue is crucial for understanding campaign profitability and ROI. By leveraging LinkedIn’s conversion tracking tools, offline conversion tracking, and analyzing campaign reports, marketers can unlock powerful insights into their highest converting and most profitable ads, audiences, and tactics. Focusing LinkedIn advertising on revenue-driving outcomes can help generate a significant return from your LinkedIn ad spend.
Ad Platform | Conversion Tracking | Offline Tracking | ROAS Tracking |
Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Google Ads | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
As you can see in the table above, all major paid social platforms make conversion tracking and ROAS analysis available to advertisers. This allows you to track revenue across channels and optimize campaigns for profitability.