Depending on how you've set up your ad set and campaign and are tracking your results, there are a variety of reasons why your metrics may not match. Below are the main reasons why you could be seeing a difference between clicks shown in LinkedIn Campaign Manager, and visitors or visits reported by your analytics tool:
Using referral source as a tracking method results in significant discrepancies between clicks that your ads receive and visitors or visits counted with your tracking tool. Referral source is not a recommended method of tracking ad set performance because different redirect types and secure browsing can impact whether the referrer is passed. Using referral source doesn't attribute traffic specifically to your ad set - it only attributes traffic at the domain level.
As an alternative, we suggest using ad set-based tracking codes rather than referral source to track visits to your website. Many advertisers who report discrepancies are missing a basic element of ad set attribution in their destination URL links: URL tracking parameters. That means if you're using a third-party tracking tool like Google Analytics, you didn't add UTM parameters to your destination URL for ads in your ad set. Google has a tool that allows you to create tracking tags if you're using their software for your tracking purposes.
If you're using a tool like Google Analytics, make sure you're pulling a Campaign Report and drilling down into specific UTM parameters that you use to track your ad set. This report will provide the detail required to more accurately track visits or visitors back to your ad set.
Additionally, deployment issues with analytics packages can result in incomplete data. Make sure your analytics professional or web developer has inserted the proper analytics tracking code according to best practices outlined by your third-party tracking tool vendor.
Certain clicks on ad formats like Sponsored Content aren't directed to your landing page. See examples below:
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Clicks on rich media images that were uploaded as a PDF
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Clicks on rich media images within posts that don't contain a URL
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Mobile clicks on "read more" (only applies to posts longer than 140 characters)
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Clicks on your company name or company logo
Mobile clicks on "read more" are directed to the click-through landing page where the member can read the full intro to the post, as it was written by the advertiser. Clicks on your company name or logo will direct LinkedIn members to your organization’s LinkedIn Page, which can generate more likes, comments, and shares for your ad set and won't register in offsite analytics tools.
For this reason, clicks reported in Campaign Manager shouldn't be expected to match visits reported by your third-party analytics tool. Depending on the goals of your ad set, you may need to alter your Sponsored Content creatives.
For example, if you're looking to maximize traffic driven to your landing page, use a blog post or landing page as your destination URL. Rich media like image attachments or videos usually drives high levels of engagement and social actions on LinkedIn, but could drive less traffic to your offsite page.
Our dashboard reports valid chargeable clicks, while third-party reporting tools may count page visits, new visits, or page views. Depending on which metric you're comparing against, the difference can be significant. Make sure you're comparing similar metrics. For Google Analytics users, Google has provided an exhaustive explanation of how these metrics are calculated.
Reporting intervals based on different time zones may result in different daily totals. Campaign Manager reporting is in GMT, but your analytics tool is likely to be in your local time zone. When comparing time periods, remember that each day won't match up because of this time zone difference.
LinkedIn targets members based on their coarse recent location (IP address location of where they have recently logged in from) or permanent location (location that is set on their LinkedIn profile), or both, subject to members' preferences with respect to profile location and inferred city location.
Many third-party website analytics sites only detect location by IP address. This means that you might see locations outside of what was targeted on LinkedIn for your website traffic if you are, for example, using a VPN that is located elsewhere to access LinkedIn or are traveling.
Third-party analytics tools sometimes require that the viewer's browser have cookies, JavaScript, and/or images enabled in order to record statistics. Depending on which browser or device a LinkedIn member is using to access the site, their browser or device privacy settings could impact your ability to gather analytics data.
If you'd like additional information on how to use your third-party reporting tool with greater accuracy, please contact the third party vendor directly.