Contact Based Targeting

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Warning

Deprecation Notice
The Marketing version 202304 (Marketing April 2023) and below has been sunset and the unversioned APIs are going to 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.

Create audiences by matching contact email addresses

Contact Targeting allows advertisers to import lists of contacts to match with members on LinkedIn for ad targeting. As part of the Audiences feature, you can also apply LinkedIn demographic targeting, such as job function or seniority, on top of a list to further refine the target audience.

With this feature, you can:

  • Import or integrate your contact email lists
  • Connect to your contact management platform(s) or upload a list of email addresses

About the Feature

LinkedIm allows advertisers to upload first party data (list of email addresses) either as a one-time list upload (a static CSV file) or as a streaming DMP segment which can be modified dynamically (near real-time). The uploaded list of email addresses are matched against all verified email addresses on LinkedIn Pages (respecting members' advertising preferences) to generate a targetable audience segment. It can take between 24-48 hrs to generate audiences that are ready for campaign targeting. As long as the uploaded list reaches a minimum of 300 matched members, a campaign will be able to serve regardless of how many email addresses were added. We recommend uploading lists with at least 10,000 personal or professional email addresses to ensure that the list matches with at least 300 verified email addresses on LinkedIn.

Requirements

Your application must have an access token with the rw_dmp_segments permission to use DMP Segment APIs.

DMP Segment APIs are part of the Audiences program that is separate from the LinkedIn Marketing API Program. Access to the LinkedIn Marketing API Program does not automatically grant access to DMP Segment APIs. Developers must apply separately to be considered for access.

Workflows

The streaming API is the preferred choice and the recommended API to build integrations. A typical workflow consists of the following steps:

  • Request LinkedIn to provide a sourcePlatform ENUM that your organization can use.
  • Create a DMP Segment with some metadata such as account, type and sourcePlatform where type is USER
  • Wait 15 seconds.
  • Start adding SHA256 encoded email addresses to the segment using the streaming APIs.
  • Monitor the status changes for the segment.
  • When status is READY, the output adSegment can be used with LinkedIn Ads APIs. (Campaign targeting)
  • You can schedule periodic updates to add or remove emails from the segment.

See a guide with full sample calls in DMP Segment Streaming API Workflow.

Notes for the Streaming API Method

  • There is no maximum limit for the total size of the audience.
  • There is a limit on the number of email addresses that can be uploaded per API call (which can be overcome by calling the API multiple times using batch requests).
  • There is a way to incrementally update a list by sending only the changed (delta) list of email addresses.
  • Existing campaigns are not PAUSED and continue to be served to the currently matched members. When the matching is complete for the incremental update, the campaigns start serving to the new list of matched members. This is a seamless experience for advertisers.

CSV Upload Workflow

The CSV method is available to all LinkedIn Marketing API Program Apps. A typical workflow consists of the following steps:

  • Download Sample List File
  • Upload List File with SHA256 encoded email addresses
  • Create a DMP Segment with some metadata such as account, type and sourcePlatform where type is LIST_UPLOAD
  • Attach the Uploaded List to the created DMP Segment
  • Monitor the status changes for the segment.
  • When status is READY, the output adSegment can be used with LinkedIn Ads APIs. (Campaign targeting)

See a guide with full sample calls in DMP Segment CSV List Upload Workflow.

Notes for the CSV File Method

  • The maximum file size is 20MB or 300,000 records.
  • There is no ability to incrementally update a list. For updating the audience, a completely new CSV file needs to be uploaded.
  • Note: An existing campaign using a CSV based audience will be PAUSED until the replacement list is fully evaluated. This can take 24-48 hrs.

Integration Requirements

LinkedIn is in the process of rolling out a Technical Sign Off process for the Audiences program. This ensures that our members get the best experience whether using LinkedIn's native UI or a partner product. The technical review and sign off also ensures that there are no gaps in integrations and that partner products keep up with the latest features and updates released by LinkedIn.

As an API partner, please go through the integration requirements shared in the link below. These are the capabilities that an integrating partner is expected to build in their product. We request you to plan and incorporate these features early in your design. When you are nearing completion, you must initiate a Technical Sign Off request by contacting your LinkedIn POC on the Business Development team.

A Demo will be scheduled during which you will be asked to showcase all your product capabilities. During this evaluation, LinkedIn may suggest modifications which will need to be completed for the sign off. If all criteria are met (as per the envisioned scope), the technical sign-off is awarded.

The integration requirements for the audiences program are mentioned here.

Milestones for building and launching a successful integration

  • Make sure you have access to MDP and Audiences Program.
  • Read the integration requirements listed above.
  • Go through the API links to evaluate feasibility and value proposition of your product.
  • Build your product.
  • Work with our BD and Channel team to establish timelines for demo and technical signoff.
  • After technical signoff, work with BD and Channel team on Beta/ pilot launch.
  • After a successful Beta period, work with our BD and PMM teams to announce GA.