LinkedIn introduced new measurement capabilities with its Conversions API, designed to help B2B marketers better demonstrate campaign effectiveness and ROI to executives. The announcement comes as 87% of B2B marketers report increasing difficulty in measuring long-term campaign impact amid lengthening buying cycles.
According to LinkedIn's new 'B2B ROI Impact' research, which surveyed over 1,000 B2B marketers across the US, UK, France and India, nearly half of B2B marketers must justify their marketing spend to C-suite executives on a monthly basis.
While senior leadership often focuses on volume metrics like Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Return on Ad Spend (RoAS), B2B marketers increasingly recognize Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) and Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) as more meaningful indicators of campaign success.
Introducing LinkedIn Conversions API
The new Conversions API enables marketers to connect their first-party data - both online and offline customer interactions - with LinkedIn for enhanced targeting and optimization. When paired with campaign goals, marketers can now optimize specifically for qualified leads that meet marketing or sales criteria (MQLs or SQLs).
Early implementation results show significant improvements:
- 31% increase in attributed conversion
- 20% decrease in cost per action
- 39% decrease in cost per qualified leads
By focusing on high-value prospects ready to engage, this optimization increases sales team acceptance, accelerates pipeline movement, and drives stronger business outcomes.
Revenue Attribution Report Enhancement
LinkedIn's Revenue Attribution Report complements the Conversions API by helping marketers demonstrate account-level campaign impact on sales metrics. The platform recently added a 365-day lookback window to better capture long-term campaign influence on ROI. New testing features will provide deeper insights into customer campaign engagement patterns that drive revenue.
AI's Role in B2B Measurement
The study found overwhelming confidence in AI's potential, with 92% of B2B marketers believing AI will positively impact measurement over the next five years. Currently, 90% report improved ROI when using AI for campaign optimization.
Key AI applications in B2B marketing measurement include:
- Audience segmentation and targeting (57%)
- Predictive analysis for performance and lead scoring (55%)
- Task automation (53%)
- Real-time optimization of ad spend and creative content (53%)
