LinkedIn Conversions API: The Smarter Way to Track LinkedIn Ads

If you're running LinkedIn ads and relying solely on browser-side tracking (a.k.a. the LinkedIn Insight Tag), you're missing a massive opportunity to improve your attribution accuracy. Enter the LinkedIn Conversions API—a powerful way to send conversion events server-side, bypassing cookie restrictions and browser limitations.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about the LinkedIn Conversions API: what it is, how it works, why you should care, how to set it up, and how platforms like Cometly make it dead simple to integrate.

What is the LinkedIn Conversions API?

The LinkedIn Conversions API is a server-side tool that lets advertisers send conversion data directly from their website, CRM, or backend systems to LinkedIn. Unlike the LinkedIn Insight Tag—which fires from a user's browser and is susceptible to ad blockers and iOS restrictions—the Conversions API sends data securely from your server.

That means:

• More reliable conversion tracking
• Better data fidelity
• Higher match rates
• Improved ad optimization

Think of it as your insurance policy against lost conversions.

Why Should Marketers Care About the Conversions API?

Let’s break it down into real benefits:

1. Improved Attribution Accuracy

If someone fills out a lead form on your site but is using Safari with tracking prevention, the Insight Tag might miss it. The Conversions API doesn’t—it sends the conversion directly to LinkedIn from your server. This improves the accuracy of your multi-touch attribution models and ensures LinkedIn gets credit when it deserves it.

2. Better Ad Performance

When LinkedIn knows which clicks led to actual conversions, its algorithm can optimize better. This leads to smarter delivery, better CPLs, and higher ROAS—especially when paired with ad-level analytics.

3. Privacy-Resilient Tracking

With regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and the death of third-party cookies, relying only on browser-side tracking is risky. Server-side APIs respect privacy while maintaining the integrity of your data.

4. Cross-Platform Attribution

If you're running multi-channel campaigns (e.g., Meta, Google, LinkedIn), using server-side APIs helps unify your tracking—especially when combined with platforms like Cometly that centralize event tracking and attribution.

How the LinkedIn Conversions API Works (Simplified)

Here’s a simplified view:

1. User interacts with your ad on LinkedIn.
2. They visit your site and complete an action (e.g., demo request).
3. Your backend (or a platform like Cometly) captures the event.
4. Event data is sent server-side to LinkedIn via the Conversions API.
5. LinkedIn matches the event to the original ad click using hashed identifiers like email, phone number, or user agent.
6. Conversion is attributed, and performance data updates.

The LinkedIn Conversions API transforms how advertisers track conversions by shifting data transmission from the browser to the server. Instead of relying solely on the LinkedIn Insight Tag, which is prone to being blocked by privacy settings or ad blockers, the Conversions API allows data to be sent directly from your backend to LinkedIn. When a user clicks on a LinkedIn ad and visits your site, platforms like Cometly automatically detect key actions such as demo requests, purchases, or sign-ups and prepare the conversion data for dispatch.

This server-side event data includes hashed identifiers like email addresses, IP addresses, and user agents—ensuring LinkedIn can accurately match the conversion back to the original ad click. The power of this approach is especially critical in a privacy-first world, where first-party vs third-party cookies are under intense scrutiny. By using first-party data through the API, you maintain compliance while preserving conversion fidelity and performance insights.

Once LinkedIn receives the data, its algorithm cross-references the user information to attribute the conversion correctly, even if the Insight Tag was blocked or never fired. This process helps advertisers avoid underreporting and enhances the overall performance of their LinkedIn campaigns. If you're unsure how to define and capture high-intent events like form submissions or checkouts, check out our post on 5 steps to improving your lead tracking process, which outlines the foundations for capturing quality data.

The real value comes when this data is integrated across platforms. Using Cometly’s infrastructure, you can merge LinkedIn conversions with other sources (like Meta, Google, email, and direct traffic) to gain full visibility into the customer journey and multi-touch attribution models. This holistic view not only improves your reporting but directly enhances optimization efforts inside LinkedIn by feeding back more accurate event data—ultimately helping you scale smarter and faster.

Key Events You Can Send to LinkedIn

You can customize the events based on your goals. Here are a few examples:

• Lead (form submission)
• Sign-up (account creation)
• Purchase (eCommerce transaction)
• Download (whitepaper, app, etc.)
• Custom events (e.g., pricing page visit, sales-qualified lead)

Platforms like Cometly allow you to define and track these easily with custom event tracking.

How to Set Up the LinkedIn Conversions API

There are two routes:

🛠 Manual Setup (Developer-Heavy)

If you’re doing it yourself:

1. Go to LinkedIn Campaign Manager and create a new conversion.
2. Select Offline Conversions or Conversions API.
3. Generate your Access Token and Account ID.
4. Implement server-side logic to capture and send events via LinkedIn’s API endpoint.
5. Match identifiers like email, IP, user agent, etc.
6. Test events using LinkedIn’s event tester.

Warning: This process is technical and time-consuming.

The Easy Way: Use Cometly’s Native Integration

With Cometly’s LinkedIn integration, there’s zero manual setup required.

Here's what you get:

• One-click LinkedIn account connection
• Out-of-the-box events (form fills, checkouts, sign-ups)
• Automatic form capture with zero dev time
• CRM event tracking (e.g., HubSpot or Pipedrive deal creation)
• Conversion syncing via the API—no more missing data

This approach ensures higher event match quality, which improves optimization and reporting accuracy.

LinkedIn Conversions API + Cometly = Better Revenue Insights

Let’s take it a step further.

When you integrate the Conversions API with Cometly, you don’t just track more conversions—you see the full story behind them.

Full-Funnel Attribution

See how LinkedIn plays a role in assisted conversions, even when it’s not the last click—powered by Cometly’s multi-touch attribution models.

Buyer Journey Reports

Follow the entire customer journey across LinkedIn, Google, Meta, email, and direct visits—at the user level.

Custom Metrics

Track what matters to your business—leads by source, SQLs from LinkedIn, pipeline velocity by channel, and more.

Best Practices for Success with LinkedIn Conversions API

To maximize performance and attribution:

• Capture First-Party Data: Use platforms like Cometly to collect emails, UTM data, and other identifiers in real-time.
• Send Events Immediately: Latency can reduce match rates. Send conversions to LinkedIn as soon as they happen.
• Map Events Correctly: Ensure your conversion actions match your ad objectives (e.g., sign-ups to lead gen ads).
• Use Multi-Source Attribution: Analyze LinkedIn’s impact alongside other paid and organic channels.

Need help implementing? Follow this guide on how SaaS teams attribute revenue.

Final Thoughts: Server-Side is the Future of LinkedIn Tracking

The LinkedIn Conversions API isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a must for any performance marketer serious about accurate data and scalable growth.

But the tech can be complicated—unless you use a platform that handles it for you.

Track Every LinkedIn Conversion with Cometly

Cometly is built for marketers who want better data, better decisions, and better results from LinkedIn and beyond. With native LinkedIn Conversions API support, AI-powered ad analysis, and real-time attribution reporting, Cometly makes it easy to track and optimize what matters.

Want to see it in action?

👉 Start your free trial

Why Cometly?

• Built-in multi-touch attribution
• One-click LinkedIn and CRM integrations
• Track revenue, leads, and deals across every channel
• AI insights that make you a smarter marketer
• No-code setup for server-side tracking

Don’t settle for incomplete data. Supercharge your LinkedIn ad tracking today with Cometly.