Connect LinkedIn Ads
Connecting LinkedIn Ads stores your ad account number and an access token so MarqIQ can report on your LinkedIn campaigns when that reporting ships. LinkedIn Ads carries an Early access badge: the connection is saved and your plan allowance is checked, but no LinkedIn data is pulled yet, so nothing appears in your reports today. If you want a tool that starts filling reports the moment you connect it, connect your CRM instead.
Before you start
Data sync is in early access
The LinkedIn Ads page says it on screen: "Connecting stores and validates your credentials, but automated data sync for this source isn’t live yet — LinkedIn Ads data won’t appear in your reports until it ships." Connect it if you want to be ready. Do not connect it expecting numbers this week.
Plan required
LinkedIn Ads is a Pro-and-above tool. On Starter the card in Explore Integrations reads Upgrade to connect instead of Connect, and a request sent anyway is refused with "LinkedIn Ads is part of the Pro plan — this workspace is on Starter."
Permissions required
You need somebody who can see the ad account in LinkedIn and who can create an application against LinkedIn’s Advertising API and authorise it. In MarqIQ you need an account that is not read-only — an expired subscription refuses every connect.
- Your Ad Account ID — the numeric id of the LinkedIn ad account you want to report on. It looks like 512345678.
- An Access Token — a LinkedIn OAuth token carrying the `r_ads_reporting` scope. That is the scope named on the connect form itself.
- A free tool slot. The chip at the top of Integrations reads, for example, "1 / 2 tools · GTM free".
Get the two values from LinkedIn
MarqIQ does not run LinkedIn’s sign-in flow for you. You generate the token in LinkedIn and paste it in, the same way the Meta Ads and Google Ads connections work.
Open the LinkedIn ad account you want to report on.
Work in the ad account itself, not the company page. One connection covers one ad account, so pick the account whose spend you report.
Copy its numeric account id.
MarqIQ stores what you type and does not reformat it. Paste the digits on their own — 512345678, not `urn:li:sponsoredAccount:512345678` — so the connection name reads LinkedIn Ads — 512345678 rather than carrying the whole urn.
Create an application against LinkedIn’s Advertising API.
Follow LinkedIn’s own marketing documentation at learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/marketing — the API docs link at the top right of the MarqIQ page opens the same address. LinkedIn changes its developer screens from time to time, so that page is the current word on them, not this article.
Authorise the application against the `r_ads_reporting` scope.
That scope reads campaign reporting. MarqIQ makes no call to LinkedIn at all today, and it has no write path for LinkedIn Ads, so nothing in your ad account can be changed from here.
Copy the access token the flow returns.
Copy the token, not the application’s client id or client secret. MarqIQ cannot tell them apart for LinkedIn Ads — it stores whatever you paste — so a wrong value is saved as though it were right.
Tokens expire and MarqIQ does not renew them
A LinkedIn access token has a lifetime set by LinkedIn, and MarqIQ stores no refresh token for LinkedIn Ads: the connect form takes two fields and neither of them is one. When the token expires, the connection keeps showing as connected because nothing calls LinkedIn to find out otherwise. Paste a fresh token and connect again.
Connect it in MarqIQ
Go to Integrations and click Add more.
That opens Explore Integrations. LinkedIn Ads sits under the Advertising heading, with a Pro+ badge next to its name.
Click Connect on the LinkedIn Ads card.
A card reading Upgrade to connect means your plan or your tool allowance blocks it. The reason is printed under the card, in the same words the connect request answers with.
Paste your account number into Ad Account ID.
Paste your token into Access Token.
The field is masked as you type, and afterwards the connection panel shows only the last four characters.
Click Connect.
The button reads Connecting… while it saves. On success the form clears and the page redraws as Connection active, listing Ad Account ID in full and Access Token masked.
What clicking Connect actually checks
Three things, in this order: that you are signed in, that your plan and your tool allowance permit this connection, and that both required fields have something in them. MarqIQ does not call LinkedIn. A typo in the account number and an expired token both save without complaint, so check the Ad Account ID shown on the connection panel against the account you meant.
Tip
Nothing is stamped as synced on connect. MarqIQ leaves the last-sync time unset, so the connection panel carries no Connected date line at all. A date there would read as though records had arrived.
What comes across once it is connected
Nothing yet. There is no LinkedIn Ads sync engine and no sync route, so no campaign, creative, impression, click or spend figure reaches your workspace. On Data Sources a connected LinkedIn Ads shows the line "Mapping only · no record sync yet" where other tools show a Sync button.
Note
That line is the wording every tool without a sync engine gets, and the mapping half of it does not apply to LinkedIn Ads either. Hover it and MarqIQ says "LinkedIn Ads is connected for field mapping only — MarqIQ does not pull LinkedIn Ads records yet, so there is nothing to sync or audit from it." Read it as "connected, nothing pulled".
The Available in Reporting panel on the LinkedIn Ads page lists the dimensions and metrics this connection is being built to contribute. They are what reporting will offer, not what you have today.
| Kind | Shown as |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | Campaign, Campaign Group, Creative |
| Metrics | Impressions, Clicks, Cost, Conversions, Leads |
The eight fields declared for LinkedIn Ads. None of them carries data until the sync ships.
Note
MarqIQ enables your connection on its own when LinkedIn Ads sync goes live. You do not need to reconnect, though you may need a fresh token by then.
What MarqIQ writes back to LinkedIn
- Nothing. There is no write path for LinkedIn Ads — no campaign is created, paused, renamed or edited, and no budget is changed.
- The scope named on the form, `r_ads_reporting`, reads reporting and writes nothing.
What connecting LinkedIn Ads does not unlock
Ads tools hold no contact or lead records, so the parts of MarqIQ that work on records do not apply to this connection. Connecting it does not switch any of these on.
- None of the nine analyses. Source truth, Field discipline, Forecast accuracy, Audience health, Lead scoring, Funnel, Form fills, Email and Automations all read from a connected CRM or marketing automation tool.
- Field mapping. MarqIQ maps its tracking fields onto tools that store contact records — CRMs and marketing automation platforms — and LinkedIn Ads has no contact properties to map to, so it never appears on Field Mapping.
- The Audit Report, which pulls from the eleven tools that have a sync engine behind them.
- Hidden form fields and the source-tracking workflow, which are HubSpot and Marketo only.
To attribute LinkedIn spend to pipeline today, tag your LinkedIn ad URLs with UTM parameters and let your CRM connection carry them into the contact record. That path works now and does not wait on this connection.
Disconnect LinkedIn Ads
Open Integrations and click the LinkedIn Ads card.
Click Disconnect.
Confirm "Disconnect LinkedIn Ads?" in the browser prompt.
Disconnecting purges the stored credentials at once and flips the connection to disconnected. The row itself is kept, along with any data and field mappings, so reconnecting later restores the setup. The action is written to your activity log. Freeing the slot this way lets you connect a different tool in its place.
If it did not work
"Missing required field: Ad Account ID" or "Missing required fields: Ad Account ID, Access Token"
Why: One of the two fields is empty, or holds only spaces. Both are required and both are checked before anything is saved.
Fix: Fill in the named field and click Connect again. The message names every field it is waiting for, so a plural message means both are blank.
"LinkedIn Ads is part of the Pro plan — this workspace is on Starter."
Why: LinkedIn Ads needs Pro or above, and Starter sits below it. The card in Explore Integrations shows Upgrade to connect for the same reason.
Fix: Move to Pro or above from Upgrade plan. A Free Trial workspace already ranks level with Pro and can connect without changing anything.
"Pro allows 1 tool from this category, and Google Ads is already connected. Business and above allow more than one from the same category."
Why: Google Ads, Meta Ads and LinkedIn Ads are all in the Advertising category, and Pro takes one tool per category.
Fix: Disconnect the advertising tool you are not using, or move to Business or above, which lifts the per-category rule.
A message naming your plan, your tool count and the tools you have already connected
Why: Your workspace is at its total tool allowance. The wording is, for example, "Pro includes 2 tools besides Google Tag Manager, and this workspace has connected 2 (HubSpot, Google Ads). Disconnect one, or move up a plan." Google Tag Manager never counts, and neither do AI engine keys.
Fix: Disconnect a tool you no longer need, or upgrade. Reconnecting a tool that is already connected is always allowed, so rotating a token never runs into this.
"This workspace is read-only. Renew the subscription to connect tools."
Why: The subscription has expired. A read-only workspace connects nothing at all, whatever the tool.
Fix: Renew from Upgrade plan, then connect LinkedIn Ads again.
The connection saved, but the Ad Account ID on screen is not the account you meant
Why: MarqIQ stores the account number exactly as typed and never checks it against LinkedIn, so a wrong number saves as readily as a right one.
Fix: Type the correct number into Ad Account ID, paste the token again, and click Connect. Reconnecting an already-connected tool is allowed even at your plan’s limit.
LinkedIn Ads shows Connected and there are still no LinkedIn numbers anywhere
Why: Expected. Data sync for LinkedIn Ads is in early access, so the connection stores credentials and pulls nothing.
Fix: Nothing to fix. Track LinkedIn campaigns through UTM parameters and your CRM connection until the sync ships.
"Unauthorized"
Why: Your sign-in has expired. The connect request is refused before your plan, your tool allowance or your two fields are looked at.
Fix: Reload the page, sign in again, and click Connect.
"Could not connect" with nothing more
Why: The page falls back to that wording when the refusal carries no message of its own.
Fix: Reload the page and click Connect again. If the same thing happens, sign in again first.
The button stays on Connecting… and no message appears
Why: The request never came back — a dropped network connection, or a reply the page could not read. The page has nothing to fall back on, so the button stays disabled.
Fix: Reload the page and click Connect again. Nothing was saved, so you are not connecting twice.
Next steps
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