Video Ads
Warning
Deprecation Notice
The Marketing Version 202310 (Marketing October 2023) and earlier versions (excluding 202306 and 202307) have been sunset. Additionally, the unversioned APIs will be sunset soon. We recommend that you migrate to the versioned APIs as well as migrate to the new Content and Community Management APIs to avoid disruptions. See the Migration page for more details.
If you haven’t yet migrated and have questions, submit a request on the LinkedIn Developer Support Portal.
Video Ads is the next generation of our Sponsored Content products that help you engage business decision-makers on LinkedIn's mobile and desktop news feed.
You can create video ads in two ways:
- Post videos to your company page and sponsor the post to reach more than just your followers. With a company page video, your organization can share a first-hand look into your company culture, products, news, and events to drive engagement and conversation with members right from their LinkedIn Company Page.
- Create video ads that bypass Company Page followers and go directly to the news feed.
Refer to Advertising Specifications for Video Ads for video ad requirements.
Permissions
To use Video Ads, you must have the following permissions:
| Permission | Description |
|---|---|
| w_organization_social | Post, comment and like posts on behalf of an organization. Restricted to organizations in which the authenticated member has one of the following company page roles: |
| w_member_social | Post, comment, and like posts on behalf of authenticated member |
| rw_ads | Create ads and creatives for a sponsored account |
| r_ads | Read an authenticated member's ad accounts. Restricted to ad accounts in which the authenticated member has one of the following ad account roles: |
Prerequisite Values for Video Ad Campaigns
| Attribute | Possible Values |
|---|---|
| Campaign Type | SPONSORED_UPDATES |
| Campaign Format | SINGLE_VIDEO |
| Creative Type | SPONSORED_VIDEO |
| Objective Type |
New Video Ads APIs
The following APIs are part of the new Video Ads:
- Videos API - upload video (replaces Assets API)
- Posts - create posts (User Generated Content) on behalf of an organization or a member
- Creatives - develop a creative for an Ad Campaign (replaces adCreativesV2 API)
Using the Videos APIs reduces the number of distinct calls you need to make to create ads with inline post resources.
Updated Schemas
The schemas for the new APIs are more simplified and consistent when compared to previous creative APIs. We recommend that you do not map to previous API schemas (e.g., Assets, ugcPosts, and others) as LinkedIn is working towards onboarding for all types of ad formats.
Workflow
A video ad can be created in one of the following ways using the Videos APIs:
Create a Video Ad with a New Post
Upload thumbnails
Upload captions
Create a Video Ad with an Inline Post
Steps to Complete Video Ads
The following sections provide more information about how to complete video ads using the Video Ads API.
Upload a Video
Historically, uploading of videos and images has been completed using the Assets API.
The Videos API replaces the Assets API with benefits such as support to upload captions and thumbnails, simplified and consistent schema, and a singular upload mechanism irrespective of the video's file size. Refer to Videos API Betafor more information.
Create a Post
To create a post, partners have been using the SharesV2 and ugcPosts API to create content and posts, respectively.
The Posts API provides a unified API to manage all types of content when fully launched. For video ads, the Posts API has been designed to reference an uploaded video file along with sponsored campaign information. To learn more, click here.
Refer to Posts API for more information.
Create a Campaign
The steps to create a video campaign remain the same as described in Video Ad Campaigns.
Design a Creative
The adCreativesV2 API has historically been used to design creatives for a campaign.
The Creatives API features video ad format fields for easier creative design development. LinkedIn intends to include the rest of the possible ad formats in forthcoming releases.
A new feature has been introduced in the Creative API in which a post can be created inline to save the exclusive call to create a post. To learn more, click here.
Error Messages
| Code | HTTP Status Code | Error Message Template |
|---|---|---|
| INVALID_VIDEO_ID | 400 | This Video ID is invalid |
| INVALID_CALL_TO_ACTION | 400 | {cta} is an invalid Call To Action |
| INVALID_URL | 400 | {cta} is an invalid URL |
| EXPIRED_UPLOAD_URL | 400 | The Video upload URL is expired |
| INVALID_URN_ID | 400 | This URN Id is invalid |
| NOT_FOUND | 400 | Could not find entity |
| MEDIA_ASSET_PROCESSING_FAILED | 400 | Media asset failed processing |
| MEDIA_ASSET_WAITING_UPLOAD | 400 | Media asset is waiting upload |