Skip to main content

LinkedIn Ads Data Source

The LinkedIn Ads connector enables you to access LinkedIn Ads API endpoints to retrieve ad accounts, campaign data, ad performance metrics, and other advertising-related information. This connector is particularly useful for applications that need to extract advertising data, analyze campaign performance, integrate LinkedIn Ads data with other marketing systems, or build advertising analytics and reporting solutions. Follow the instructions below to create a new data flow that ingests data from a LinkedIn Ads source in Nexla.
li_ads_api.png

LinkedIn Ads

Create a New Data Flow​

  1. To create a new data flow, navigate to the Integrate section, and click the New Data Flow button. Then, select the desired flow type from the list, and click the Create button.

  2. Select the LinkedIn Ads connector tile from the list of available connectors. Then, select the credential that will be used to connect to the LinkedIn Ads API, and click Next; or, create a new LinkedIn Ads credential for use in this flow.

  3. In Nexla, LinkedIn Ads data sources can be created using pre-built endpoint templates, which expedite source setup for common LinkedIn Ads API endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding LinkedIn Ads API endpoint, making source configuration easy and efficient.
    • To configure this source using a template, follow the instructions in Configure Using a Template.

    LinkedIn Ads sources can also be configured manually, allowing you to ingest data from LinkedIn Ads API endpoints not included in the pre-built templates or apply further customizations to exactly suit your needs.
    • To configure this source manually, follow the instructions in Configure Manually.

Configure Using a Template​

Nexla provides pre-built templates that can be used to rapidly configure data sources to ingest data from common LinkedIn Ads API endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding LinkedIn Ads API endpoint, making data source setup easy and efficient.

Endpoint Settings​

  • Select the endpoint from which this source will fetch data from the Endpoint pulldown menu. Available endpoint templates are listed in the expandable boxes below. Click on an endpoint to see more information about it and how to configure your data source for this endpoint.

    Get Ad Accounts

    This endpoint retrieves all ad accounts available in your LinkedIn Ads account. Use this endpoint when you need to extract ad account information, list available accounts, or get account metadata for further API calls.

    • Optionally, enter the LinkedIn API version in the Version field. The default value is typically the latest supported version. LinkedIn Ads API requires a specific version header for all requests.
    • This endpoint automatically retrieves all ad accounts accessible to your LinkedIn Ads account. The endpoint uses pagination with nextToken to handle large datasets efficiently.

    This endpoint uses GET requests with pagination through nextToken. The endpoint automatically fetches additional pages using the nextToken from the response metadata. For more information about the Get Ad Accounts endpoint, refer to the LinkedIn Ads API Documentation.

    Get Ad Campaigns

    This endpoint retrieves all campaigns available in an ad account. Use this endpoint when you need to extract campaign data, analyze campaign performance, or get campaign metadata for further API calls.

    • Optionally, enter the LinkedIn API version in the Version field. The default value is typically the latest supported version. LinkedIn Ads API requires a specific version header for all requests.
    • This endpoint automatically retrieves all campaigns for all ad accounts accessible to your LinkedIn Ads account. The endpoint uses a two-step process: first fetching ad accounts, then fetching campaigns for each account. Pagination is handled automatically using nextToken.

    This endpoint uses GET requests with pagination through nextToken. The endpoint automatically fetches campaigns for all ad accounts and handles pagination efficiently. For more information about the Get Ad Campaigns endpoint, refer to the LinkedIn Ads API Documentation.

    Reports: Get Ad Analytics (Across All Campaigns)

    This endpoint retrieves analytics data aggregated across all campaigns, with the ability to select a pivot category for customized reporting views. Use this endpoint when you need to extract campaign performance metrics, analyze advertising ROI, or build advertising analytics dashboards.

    • Optionally, enter the LinkedIn API version in the Version field. The default value is typically the latest supported version. LinkedIn Ads API requires a specific version header for all requests.
    • This endpoint automatically retrieves analytics data for all ad accounts and campaigns. The endpoint uses a multi-step process to fetch accounts, campaigns, and analytics data, with pagination handled automatically.

    This endpoint provides comprehensive analytics data including impressions, clicks, conversions, and other performance metrics. The endpoint supports pivoting by various categories for customized reporting views. For more information about the Ad Analytics endpoint, refer to the LinkedIn Ads API Documentation.

Endpoint Testing​

Once the selected endpoint template has been configured, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current settings. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

  • To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.

  • If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.

Configure Manually​

LinkedIn Ads data sources can be manually configured to ingest data from any valid LinkedIn Ads API endpoint. Manual configuration provides maximum flexibility for accessing endpoints not covered by pre-built templates or when you need custom API configurations.

With manual configuration, you can also create more complex LinkedIn Ads sources, such as sources that use chained API calls to fetch data from multiple endpoints or sources that require custom authentication headers or request parameters.

API Method​

  1. To manually configure this source, select the Advanced tab at the top of the configuration screen.

  2. Select the API method that will be used for calls to the LinkedIn Ads API from the Method pulldown menu. The most common methods are:

    • GET: For retrieving data from the API (most LinkedIn Ads endpoints use GET)

API Endpoint URL​

  1. Enter the URL of the LinkedIn Ads API endpoint from which this source will fetch data in the Set API URL field. This should be the complete URL including the protocol (https://) and any required path parameters. LinkedIn Ads API endpoints typically follow the pattern https://api.linkedin.com/rest/{resource}.

Ensure the API endpoint URL is correct and accessible with your current credentials. You can test the endpoint using the Test button after configuring the URL. LinkedIn Ads API requires specific version headers (LinkedIn-Version and X-RestLi-Protocol-Version) for all requests.

Path to Data​

Optional

If only a subset of the data that will be returned by API endpoint is needed, you can designate the part(s) of the response that should be included in the Nexset(s) produced from this source by specifying the path to the relevant data within the response. This is particularly useful when API responses contain metadata, pagination information, or other data that you don't need for your analysis.

For example, when a request call is used to fetch ad accounts, the API will typically return account data along with pagination metadata. By entering the path to the relevant data, you can configure Nexla to extract the specific accounts you need.

Path to Data is essential when API responses have nested structures. Without specifying the correct path, Nexla might not be able to properly parse and organize your data into usable records. For LinkedIn Ads API responses, common paths include $.elements[*] for arrays of results.

  • To specify which data should be treated as relevant in responses from this source, enter the path to the relevant data in the Set Path to Data in Response field.

    • For responses in JSON format enter the JSON path that points to the object or array that should be treated as relevant data. JSON paths use dot notation (e.g., $.elements to access the elements array).
    Path to Data Example:

    If the API response is in JSON format and includes an elements array that contains the ad accounts, the path to the response would be entered as $.elements[*].

Autogenerate Path Suggestions​

Nexla can also autogenerate data path suggestions based on the response from the API endpoint. These suggested paths can be used as-is or modified to exactly suit your needs.

  • To use this feature, click the Test button next to the Set API URL field to fetch a sample response from the API endpoint. Suggested data paths generated based on the content & format of the response will be displayed in the Suggestions box below the Set Path to Data in Response field.

  • Click on a suggestion to automatically populate the Set Path to Data in Response field with the corresponding path. The populated path can be modified directly within the field if further customization is needed.

Request Headers​

Optional

  • If Nexla should include any additional request headers in API calls to this source, enter the headers & corresponding values as comma-separated pairs in the Request Headers field (e.g., header1:value1,header2:value2). Additional headers are often required for API versioning, content type specifications, or custom authentication requirements.

    You do not need to include any headers already present in the credentials. Common headers like Authorization, Content-Type, and Accept are typically handled automatically by Nexla based on your credential configuration. For LinkedIn Ads, you may need to include LinkedIn-Version:{version} and X-RestLi-Protocol-Version:2.0.0 headers for API versioning.

Endpoint Testing​

After configuring all settings for the selected endpoint, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current configuration. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

  • To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.

  • If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.

Save & Activate the Source​

  1. Once all of the relevant steps in the above sections have been completed, click the Create button in the upper right corner of the screen to save and create the new LinkedIn Ads data source. Nexla will now begin ingesting data from the configured endpoint and will organize any data that it finds into one or more Nexsets.