Guide 9 of 11 in Level 5: Grow

How to report on LinkedIn Ads

To report on LinkedIn Ads in Blackbox (blackbox.plus), connect your LinkedIn Ads account, then click + next to Dashboards, pick Channel report, tick LinkedIn and click Create. The report arrives filled: spend, results and cost per result, a spend trend, your campaigns, Top creatives by spend with each ad’s picture, headline and format, and who saw your ads by job function. Campaigns here are Campaign Manager’s campaign groups, the campaigns your client knows; what LinkedIn calls campaigns are its ad sets, and the Ad set table lists them under their group. Results follow each campaign’s goal: landing-page clicks for website visits, leads for lead generation, video views for video. Ask for reach and frequency for the last 30 days in plain words and click Keep: both come as one total for the last 7, 14, 30 or 90 days, this month or last month. Export PDF or Export PowerPoint download the report, and Share gives your client a read-only link that needs no Blackbox account.

You'll need
Time
About 5 minutes 9 steps Updated
You'll end with
A LinkedIn report with results by campaign group, each creative, reach and audiences, sent as a file or a link
Do it in Blackbox Open Dashboards, after you sign in
Example
A LinkedIn report: results by campaign group, each creative and who saw the ads, ready to share

How to report on LinkedIn Ads in Blackbox

  1. Step 1:Start a dashboard

    In the left menu, click + next to Dashboards.

    You'll see: The New dashboard window, with the Brand the LinkedIn account is on.

    Open this in Blackbox

  2. Step 2:Pick a channel report

    Click Channel report, tick LinkedIn, then click Create.

    You'll see: Your report, already filled: spend, results, a trend, your campaigns, the top creatives and who saw your ads.

  3. Step 3:Read the campaigns

    Scroll to Campaigns. Each row is a campaign group, the campaign your client knows, with long names shortened.

    You'll see: Spend, results and cost per result for each campaign group.

  4. Step 4:Add the ad sets

    Click Add a standard widget, pick Ad set table, click Add draft, then Keep.

    You'll see: A row for each LinkedIn campaign, your ad sets, with the campaign group it belongs to.

  5. Step 5:Check the creatives

    Scroll to Top creatives by spend.

    You'll see: Each ad’s picture, headline and format next to its spend, results and click-through rate.

  6. Step 6:Ask for reach

    Type “reach and frequency for the last 30 days” and press Enter, then click Keep.

    You'll see: Reach and frequency as two numbers for the whole period.

  7. Step 7:See who saw your ads

    Scroll to LinkedIn audience by job function. For seniority, industry or company, click Add a standard widget, pick Audience and choose the split.

    You'll see: A row for each job function, such as Operations or Engineering, with its impressions, clicks and spend.

  8. Step 8:Download it

    Click Export PDF or Export PowerPoint.

    You'll see: A file with a title slide, then one slide per widget.

  9. Step 9:Share a read-only link

    Click Share, then Copy. Once a link exists, the button reads Share Link.

    You'll see: Anyone with this link can view this dashboard (read-only).

Good to know

  • For charts, sizes and turning a link off, see How to build a marketing dashboard with AI.
  • For one client campaign, pick Campaign report instead and tick its campaign group: the same widgets, scoped to that group alone.
  • Audience reads the dashboard’s range and is one total for it, so use Last 7, 14, 30 or 90 days, This month or Last month. Ask for other splits in plain words too, such as “impressions by company for the last 30 days”.
  • Reach and frequency are one total for a whole period, never summed from days or campaigns, so show them as a single number.
  • Pictures are LinkedIn’s own previews and refresh with every sync, about once an hour; the headline and format stay.
  • Money is shown with its currency and click-through rates as percentages, in the tables you keep and in the files you export.
  • Audience groups too small to report without identifying people are left out, and the breakdown arrives about a day late.
  • Long names in an agency’s naming style show only the part that names the campaign; point at one to see it in full.
  • To change what a campaign targets, see How to create a LinkedIn ad campaign.

Official docs

If something doesn't work

Why are my results landing-page clicks?

Results count what each campaign is for, as Campaign Manager’s key results do: landing-page clicks for a website-visit campaign, leads for lead generation, video views for video, engagements for engagement. Other campaigns count website conversions.

Why does Campaigns show my campaign groups?

In Campaign Manager a campaign group holds the campaigns, and each campaign has one audience and one budget, so a LinkedIn campaign is what other channels call an ad set. Blackbox reports the group as the campaign and lists LinkedIn’s campaigns in the Ad set table, so a report reads the same across LinkedIn and Meta.

Why isn’t reach shown day by day?

LinkedIn gives reach as one total for a whole period, because the same person seen on two days counts once. Set the dashboard to the last 7, 14, 30 or 90 days, this month or last month, and show reach as a single number.

A job function or company is missing

LinkedIn leaves out groups too small to report without identifying people, and sends the breakdown about a day late. A smaller audience or a shorter period shows fewer groups.

Why is an ad called Sponsored post 123?

That creative has no name in Campaign Manager, so Blackbox labels it with its number and shows its headline underneath. Name it there and the name shows after the next sync.

How do I send this to my client?

Click Share, then Copy, and send the link: it opens read-only without a Blackbox account. For a file, click Export PDF or Export PowerPoint.

Stuck at any step? Send us a message and we'll do it with you on a call. All of Level 5: Grow