The LinkedIn API allows developers to access and integrate many types of data from LinkedIn profiles and networks into applications. Here are some of the main categories of information that can be retrieved via the LinkedIn API:
Profile Information
The LinkedIn API provides access to detailed profile information on LinkedIn members, including:
- Basic profile data – name, headline, location, industry, picture URL, public profile URL, etc.
- Contact information – email addresses, phone numbers, Twitter handle, websites, etc.
- Work experience – companies worked for, titles, responsibilities, dates of employment, etc.
- Education – schools attended, majors/minors, degrees, dates attended, etc.
- Skills and expertise – skills listed on profile, certifications, languages, etc.
- Interests – groups joined, volunteer activities, causes supported, etc.
With the member’s permission through the API, you can retrieve a full profile with all of these details.
Connections and Network Data
The API provides access to a member’s 1st-degree connections and broader network:
- 1st-degree connections – list of people directly connected to member.
- 2nd-degree connections – connections of a member’s connections.
- Group memberships – see groups the member belongs to.
- Company followers/employees – followers and employees for a company page.
- Analytics on member’s network – stats on connections, influencers, etc.
This allows you to analyze a member’s professional network and identify key connections, influencers, and opportunities.
Content and Updates
The API provides access to content that members share on LinkedIn:
- Profile updates – see recent posts published by a member.
- Shared articles – articles posted or re-shared.
- Published writings – papers, articles, and other long-form posts.
- Job postings – recent jobs posted by a company page.
This allows an app to display social and professional updates from a member in a customized feed.
Search and Lookup
The API allows searching LinkedIn data to find profiles and other content:
- Profile search – search for members by name, company, title, keywords, etc.
- Job search – find job postings by keywords, title, company, etc.
- Company search – lookup companies to get followers, statistics, etc.
- Group search – search for relevant groups to join.
- Content search – search across posts, articles, people, etc.
Powerful search capabilities help discover the most relevant people, jobs, content, and data.
Messaging and Communications
The API allows interacting with LinkedIn messaging to enable communications:
- Send messages – communicate with connections via the LinkedIn messaging platform.
- Receive notifications – get notified when receiving new messages and invites.
- Process invites – accept or reject connection invites programmatically.
- Trigger notifications – send members notifications from your app.
This facilitates communicating directly with connections and members right within an app experience.
Ads and Analytics
The advertising part of the API allows managing LinkedIn ads and analytics:
- Create/manage ads – build, target, optimize LinkedIn text or image ads.
- Analyze performance – pull metrics on ad views, clicks, conversions, etc.
- Manage accounts and payments – control billing and payment info.
- Lead and contact info – access lead and contact details from ads.
Marketers can leverage these capabilities to effectively run and analyze LinkedIn ad campaigns.
How to Get API Access
To start integrating LinkedIn data into an app via the API:
- Register as a LinkedIn developer – create a LinkedIn developer account.
- Create a LinkedIn app – register the app and configure permissions.
- Get API keys – generate client ID and secret keys.
- Implement OAuth – enable secure user authorization.
- Choose API products – select the data products to use.
- Make API calls – use SDKs or REST API to call endpoints.
- Comply with guidelines – follow all terms, policies, and usage limits.
With proper credentials, robust apps can leverage the LinkedIn platform to accessprofile, network, messaging, and marketing data at scale.
In summary, the LinkedIn API opens up LinkedIn’s data ecosystem, enabling developers to build engaging professional apps and services by tapping into profiling, networking, content sharing, advertising, and communication capabilities. With user permission and proper API access, many possibilities exist to enhance professional productivity and leverage LinkedIn’s dataset.
