LinkedIn’s API allows developers to access and integrate many types of data from LinkedIn profiles and networks into their own applications. This data can provide valuable insights and enable features like customized recommendations, targeted advertising, and more. Here is an overview of some of the main types of data available through LinkedIn’s APIs.
Profile Data
The LinkedIn Profile API provides access to information members have added to their own profiles, such as:
- Basic information like name, photo, headline, location
- Employment history
- Education history
- Skills
- Accomplishments
- Interests
- Publications
- Certifications
- Volunteer work and causes
- Contact info
- Customized URLs
Here is an example profile data response:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| First Name | John |
| Last Name | Doe |
| Headline | Software Engineer at Acme Co. |
| Location | San Francisco Bay Area |
| Industry | Computer Software |
This profile data can be used to retrieve key details about members and integrate them into an application or website.
Connections Data
LinkedIn’s connections API provides access to a member’s first-degree connections along with select information about each connection, including:
- Name
- Headline
- Location
- Industry
- Profile photo
- Profile URL
Here are some sample connections fields returned by the API:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| First Name | Mary |
| Last Name | Jones |
| Headline | Vice President at ABC Corp. |
| Location | Greater New York City Area |
This connections data enables applications to tap into a member’s professional network and surface relevant information.
Company Data
The Company API provides access to company profiles on LinkedIn, including details like:
- Company name
- Description
- Industry
- Logo
- Follower counts
- Employee counts
- Locations
- Website URL
- Company page URL
Here is a sample company profile API response:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Anthropic |
| Industry | Computer Software |
| Employee Count | 51-200 |
| Location | San Francisco Bay Area |
| Description | Anthropic develops AI assistants… |
The company data can be used to enhance business profiles and directories in an application.
Group Data
LinkedIn’s Groups API provides access to the platform’s many user-created professional groups. For each group, the API can return information like:
- Group name
- Description
- Member count
- Discussion post count
- Category
- Location
Here are some sample fields for a group:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | UI/UX Designers |
| Member Count | 18,492 |
| Category | Design |
| Description | Discuss and share the latest in UI/UX design… |
This group data could help an application recommend relevant communities for members to join.
Share Data
The Share API allows retrieving data about content members have shared via LinkedIn, including:
- Shared article/post details
- Share comments
- Like counts
- Click counts
Here is some sample share data:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Original Article URL | https://example.com/future-of-AI |
| Share Count | 152 |
| Like Count | 347 |
| Comment Count | 27 |
This share data could be used to display trending content being actively engaged with on LinkedIn.
Search Data
LinkedIn’s Search API allows retrieving profile results matching keyword queries. For each search result profile, data like the following is available:
- Member name
- Headline
- Location
- Profile photo
- Profile snippet
Sample search API profile result:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Sarah Davies |
| Headline | Product Manager at XYZ Corp. |
| Location | San Francisco Bay Area |
| Snippet | Experienced product manager with a demonstrated history of… |
This search data can power customized LinkedIn profile lookups within an application.
Ads Data
LinkedIn’s Ads API allows programmatically managing ads and ad campaigns. Relevant data includes:
- Campaign performance metrics (clicks, views, cost etc.)
- Granular targeting options
- Creative and copy details
- Bid and budget information
Here are some sample fields for ad data:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Campaign Name | Leads Ad Campaign |
| Impressions | 5,291 |
| Clicks | 1,723 |
| CTR | 32% |
This ads data can facilitate creating and optimizing LinkedIn ad campaigns programmatically.
Analytics Data
The Analytics API provides aggregated data on how visitors interact with LinkedIn Pages and Showcase Pages, including:
- Page views
- Visitors
- Followers
- Shares
- Post clicks
- Demographics
Sample analytics fields:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Page Views | 942 |
| Unique Visitors | 712 |
| Followers | 158 |
| Top Country | United States |
These analytics can help track and optimize the performance of LinkedIn pages.
Content Shares
The Shares API allows programmatically posting share content to LinkedIn member profiles. Supported share types include:
- Web links
- Images
- Articles
- Multimedia
- Documents
When sharing content, metadata fields like these can be specified:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Check out this article |
| Description | A great read about the future of AI! |
| Link URL | https://example.com/future-of-ai |
| Image URL | https://example.com/ai-image.png |
Automating content sharing to LinkedIn profiles is made possible with this API.
Network Updates
LinkedIn’s Network Updates API allows retrieving a member’s 1st degree network update posts in their feed. For each update, available data includes:
- Post text
- Author details
- Likes
- Comments
- Creation time
- Updated time
- Multimedia
Sample update post fields:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Text | Excited to announce our new round of funding! |
| Author | John Doe |
| Likes | 51 |
| Comments | 13 |
This network update feed data can help surface relevant personalized content to members.
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn provides a diverse set of APIs to access profile data, connections, company pages, groups, shares, search, ads, analytics, content sharing, and network updates. This wealth of data can be used to enhance applications with social and professional context from billions of LinkedIn members and organizations. By tapping into these APIs, developers can build customized LinkedIn integrations, contextually relevant experiences, and powerful business tools powered by professional insights.
The capabilities enabled by LinkedIn’s robust suite of APIs allow businesses, institutions, and developers to leverage the platform’s data in innovative ways across a wide range of use cases. Whether it’s boosting engagement, generating leads, enabling social savviness, or gaining data insights – the potential value derived is immense. With thoughtful design and responsible data usage, LinkedIn integration can profoundly impact applications while providing utility to users.
