Set up and create conversions using Google Tag Manager

Last updated: 2 months ago

The LinkedIn Conversions API directly connects data from Google Tag Manager and LinkedIn.

Prerequisites

Here's a tip

We recommend reviewing Google’s Server-side tagging and Custom tag template documentation before setting up your integration.

Before you set up your Google Tag Manager (GTM) integration in Campaign Manager, you’ll need to:

  1. Set up your GTM account to send events to Conversions API. 

  2. Configure your GTM web container: 

    • The first time you use Google Tag Manager, you’ll need to create a web container within the GTM portal. Learn more about installing the container in the Google Help Center. 
    • Create a trigger in the web container. This trigger will be used to fire the Google Analytics (GA) 4 event tag. 
    • Save the GA4 measurement id. You’ll need the measurement id when setting up your conversions.

  3. Configure your GTM server container: 

    • Save the tagging server URL. Learn more about server-side tagging in the Google Help Center. You’ll need the URL when setting up your conversions. 
    • Create a GA4 client, which is a listener for the event from your web container, and then handles firing the event to LinkedIn.

You might also need your LinkedIn API access token. You can generate the token when you’re setting up your integration, or you can access it before you complete your integration. Learn how to access your LinkedIn API access token.

To send conversions data from Google Tag Manager:

Step 1: Select Conversions API as your source 

  1. Go to your ad account in Campaign Manager.

  2. Click Measurement on the left menu, then click Conversion tracking. 

  3. Click the Create conversion dropdown menu and select Conversions API.

Step 2: Create a conversion rule

  1. Name your conversion rule. This name will only be visible in Campaign Manager. 

    Here's a tip

    Name your conversion in a way that defines the key conversion behaviors you'll be tracking, like filling out a lead form or downloading a white paper. Use naming conventions that will easily keep track of different conversion events.

  2. Click the Select the category of the conversion dropdown menu and select a behavior (for example, Download or Lead). 

  3. Click the Set the value of the conversion dropdown and select either:

    • Use the same value - The same value will be applied for each conversion.
    • Use a dynamic value - The value will be determined from your connected source.
    • No value (not recommended) - A zero value will be used for each conversion event. Note, if you select no value, you can’t measure the impact of your ads.

  4. Add a Default Value for your conversion. If you selected:

    • Use the same value - Enter the value to be used for all conversions.
    • Use a dynamic value - Enter a default value. This is required in case we don’t receive a value from the connected source.

  5. Click the dropdown menus below Clicks and Views to select a time frame for when your clicks and views can be counted.

  6. Below Select the attribution model to specify how each ad interaction is credited, use the dropdown menu to select either:

    • Last Touch - Each campaign
    • Last Touch - Last campaign 

  7. Click Next step. 

Step 3: Select Google Tag Manager integration and connect to Campaign Manager

  1. Select Google Tag Manager.

  2. If you haven’t set up Google Tag Manager, follow the instructions in the pop-up windows to connect your account. You’ll need to: 

    1. Click Continue to agree to share information with Google Tag Manager. 
    2. Log in to your Google Tag Manager account and authorize the connection. 
    3. Click Connect to connect your Campaign Manager account to Google Tag Manager, then click Allow to complete. 

Step 4: Set up the data to send to the conversion

  1. In the Google Tag Manager account section, click the Select the account dropdown menu and select your account name.

  2. In the Containers section, click the dropdown menus to select:  

    • An existing web container 
    • A workspace for the web container 
    • An existing server container 
    • A workspace for the web container

  3. In the Tags section, add the Google Analytics (GA) 4 measurement ID and the Tagging server URL. Select the web GA4 event trigger from the dropdown menu. 

  4. In the Token section, paste your LinkedIn API access token. If you don’t have a token, you can generate one by clicking the Generate token button.

  5. Click Next step.

Keep in mind, LinkedIn doesn’t store your API access token, so we recommend that you save it in an easily accessible and secure place.

Step 5: Review and update the campaigns selected for your conversion  

After you set up your conversion, we’ll automatically select campaigns to associate with your conversion. You can review, add, or remove campaigns as needed. Campaign selection is determined by the category chosen in the Select the category of the conversion dropdown in Step 2 above.

Important to know

We’ll only automatically associate campaigns that are either Active, Draft, or Paused.

To review and update the campaigns selected: 

  1. On the Review page, review the details of your conversion. To see the selected campaigns, scroll to the Campaigns section and click below Selected campaigns.

  2. Optional: To edit the selected campaigns:

    1. Click Edit in the upper-right corner of the section.
    2. Select or clear the checkboxes next to the campaigns where you’d like to either apply or remove your conversion. To find a specific campaign, use the search bar at the top or filter using the Status or Objective dropdown menus.  
    3. Click Save.

  3. Click Create.

Step 6: Test that data is being sent correctly through Google Tag Manager

After you’ve completed your setup, you can test that your container configuration is sending data correctly before you publish using Google Tag Manager’s preview mode.

  1. Review the instructions in Google’s Help Center to preview and debug containers.

    • From here, you’ll learn how to enable, use, share, and exit preview and debug mode in Google Tag Manager.

  2. Enable preview mode in Google Tag Manager to test your configuration.

  3. Use preview mode to perform the action on your site that would trigger the conversion. This will allow you to verify:

    • Event tags and triggers are firing correctly.
    • Proper mapping of matching parameters, such as email and the LinkedIn First-Party Ad Tracking ID.

  4. After you’ve tested your setup, your API conversions will appear in Campaign Manager. It might take a few hours before you see your conversion in Campaign Manager.

Step 7: Check the status of your conversion in Campaign Manager

After you’ve completed the set up, you can check the status in Campaign Manager to help ensure that it’s set up correctly and receiving data.

Here's a tip

The time it takes for the status to update depends on the type of conversion. Check the status based on the typical frequency of the conversion event.

  1. On your Conversion Tracking page in Campaign Manager, find your conversion rule. 

  2. Check the Status column. Learn more about the different conversion statuses.

  3. If the status is Unverified, check that your connection is set up correctly in Google Tag Manager and that the conversion events are being sent to LinkedIn. 

  4. When you’re reviewing your conversion status, you can also see the number of campaigns that are associated with your conversion in the Campaign Selected column. This number only includes campaigns that are Active, Draft, or Paused.

Troubleshooting tips

If you have any issues with your conversions, we recommend the following troubleshooting tips:

Issue Recommendation
Conversion status is Unverified Use Google Tag Manager's preview mode to trace the event. Keep in mind, there might be a delay in the data showing in Campaign Manager.
Conversion status shows Low match rate Inculde as many matching parameters as possible to increase match quality. Learn more about signal quality for Conversions API.
Duplicate conversions Use a deduplication key (eventId) to avoid double-counting between Insight Tag and Conversions API. Learn more about deduplicating events in the Microsoft Help Center.

Here's a tip

After you set up conversions using Conversions API for an ad account, you can share your conversions to your other ad accounts. To share conversions, you must have a Business Manager, your ad accounts must be owned by the same Business Manager or you must link the ad account to the Business Manager, and you need Viewer access or higher in Business Manager. Learn more about sharing conversions across accounts.

Related tasks 

Learn more