The LinkedIn Insight Tag: What It Is and How to Use It

LinkedIn isn’t just a platform to show off your sweet professional headshot (nice haircut, btw!) and try to land a job at the startup with the best snacks.

It’s also a place where 675 million people log in monthly… which means you’ve got an audience ripe for targeting, with the help of the LinkedIn Insight tag.

You might know the Insight tag by its aliases: the Linkedin tracking pixel, or the LinkedIn conversion pixel. Does a LinkedIn tag by any other name, uh, track as sweet? It sure does… as long as you’ve added it to your website code.

Read on to learn the benefits of the LinkedIn Insight tag, how to install the code, and how you can use it to create retargeting lists for your ads.

What is the LinkedIn pixel?

Essentially, the LinkedIn pixel is a piece of Javascript code that you install on each page of your website.

This will leave a cookie in the browser of any visitors. That way, whenever someone with a LinkedIn account comes to your website, you can target them again on LinkedIn later.

Source: LinkedIn blog

You can also use the Pixel to track conversions as potential customers click through LinkedIn ads to your site. What can’t this thing do?! (As it turns out: make me actual cookies, unfortunately)

Facebook pixel does the same thing, but for your Facebook audience! (You probably guess that though. You’re smart, I can tell.) Check out our installation guide for Facebook Pixel here.

Why you need the LinkedIn pixel

Data is power… but you can’t collect data if you don’t have tracking set up.

Adding a LinkedIn Insight Tag to the pages of your website (including any subdomains or blog sections!) will allow you to track exactly who has visited your page.

The LinkedIn Pixel tracks conversions and events, offering an opportunity to learn what’s working — or what’s not! —and gain valuable insight into your ad campaigns.

You’ll be able to track website interactions after they click so that you can retarget lost leads and purchases. You’ll also create better quality optimization and better analytics.

Later, you can use that information to specifically retarget those same people with LinkedIn ads.

All-knowing, all-powerful—you’re basically the Wizard of Oz, but for the world’s biggest business networking site. And I love that look for you.

How to create a LinkedIn pixel and add it your website

To use the LinkedIn Pixel, you’ll need to put that Javascript code into the code of your website. Put on some fingerless gloves and a wallet chain like you’re in the movie Hackers. It makes it more fun. Trust me.

Source: LinkedIn screenshot

• Log in and head to the LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
• Click on Account Assets and select Insight Tag from the drop-down menu.
• Click the Install My Insight Tag blue button.

Source: LinkedIn screenshot

• From here, click the Manage Insight Tag and then select See Tag from the drop-down menu.
• Select the “I will install the tag myself” checkbox to view the Insight Tag code.

Img: linkedin insight tags 04.png Source: LinkedIn screenshot

• Copy the Insight Tag code to the clipboard.
• On the backend of your website, paste this Insight Tag code right before the end of the </body> tag in the global footer on every page of your site, including subdomains.

Then, let’s make sure that your LinkedIn Pixel actually is working.

• Head to the LinkedIn Campaign Manager and click on Account Assets.
• Select Insight Tag from the drop-down menu.
• Here, you should see your website name under Tagged Domains.
• Once a LinkedIn member has visited, your domain will be marked as “Active.”

Keep in mind that it might take up to 24 hours to show up. If nothing is happening after you’ve practiced some patience, you might want to check out LinkedIn support on this topic.

How to use the LinkedIn pixel to create website retargeting lists

So now that you’ve got a LinkedIn Pixel in your life… now what?

It’s essentially a magic tool that can help you find out which LinkedIn members have visited your site. Not only that, you can specifically target demographics within the LinkedIn membership for a more specific marketing campaign.

• Head over to the Campaign Manager
• Click on Account Assets and select Matched Audiences from the drop-down menu.
• Click the blue Create Audience button (top right of the page) and select Website Audience from the dropdown.
• Give your audience a name, and add the website URL that you’d like to retarget (aka: the domain where you placed your LinkedIn Tag.)
• Click Create.

Once your segments have generated 300 members, you’ll be able to set campaigns to deliver ads directly to a specific targeted audience.

Of course, the time it takes to do this will depend on the volume of traffic of your site. For a detailed break down, head to the official LinkedIn troubleshooting page.

Once it’s active, though, you’ll be able to customize subsets of your visitors to target people who have visited specific pages on your website, by using filters. Choose between “Pages That Start with This URL,” “Pages That Have This Exact URL,” or “Pages That Have URLs That Contain The Specified Text.”

If you’re looking to get started with LinkedIn Ads after you create your retargeting list, check out Hootsuite’s guide to promoting your LinkedIn page. (Something to keep in mind: you’ll only be able to retarget users who visited your site in the last 180 days.)

How to set up LinkedIn conversion tracking with LinkedInPixel

Another thing you can do with this helpful little Pixel (your new BFF, basically) is track conversions from your LinkedIn ads.

• Head back to that trusty Campaign Manager.
• Click on Account Assets and choose Conversions from the drop-down menu.
• Click Create a Conversion (top right).
• Give your conversion a name (this will only be visible to you).

Source: LinkedIn screenshot

• Now, enter your settings:
  • Conversion type: This defines which behaviors you’ll track. Maybe you want to know how many people are watching your sick new music video, downloading a PDF, or filling out a lead form.
  • Conversion value: This is optional, but if there’s a dollar figure associated with the action, it could be helpful to enter here to really see the ROI of your marketing investment in hard numbers.
  • Conversion window: This is the time frame in which your conversions will be counted, whether a day, a week, a month, or three months.
  • Attribution model: Here, you’ll define how each ad interaction will be credited for a conversion.
• Next, use the checkboxes to select which campaigns will be monitored for conversions.
  • If you don’t select any specifically, all campaigns in an account will be automatically associated with your conversions.
• Select your preferred conversion method—the Insight Tag—and enter the URL of the site where you’ll be tracking those conversions.
  • Tip: This could be a Thank You or confirmation page that is revealed after a visitor has completed the desired action (for example, signing up for your newsletter).
• Optional: Use Boolean rules to get more specific about what URLs count as conversions—that could be “Have this exact URL,” “Start with this URL,” or other parameters.
• Click Create!

When your campaign has been running a while, head back to the Campaign Manager to take a look at the analytics and find out exactly how successful the whole marketing plan has been. You can even download campaign reports here for the account as whole, or specific campaigns.

I can guarantee you’ll do better than I did with the results of my fake example ad. You’re welcome:

Source: LinkedIn screenshot

•••

So there you have it: that’s the inside scoop on the powerful tracking potential of the LinkedIn Pixel.

But there’s always something new to learn about the ever evolving world of this platform.

Check out our guide to LinkedIn ads, or get some pro tips on making your LinkedIn Business page the best it can be.

Track ya later!

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