LinkedIn API

The LinkedIn API has the following requirements and restrictions:

• The post field accepts up to 3,000 characters.

• LinkedIn will automatically preview the link in the post unless there is an image or video included. In the above example the image will show. Removing the image will cause the link preview to show. If the link preview cannot be retrieved, the post will still be published and a linkPreviewFailed: true field will be returned in the /post response.

• Hashtags are clickable in LinkedIn. Use the # symbol to specify a LinkedIn hashtag.

• If publishing a video and doesn’t end in a known video extension such as mp4, please use the isVideo parameter. See the /post endpoint for details.

• LinkedIn video processing takes several minutes to complete. Please wait before trying the share URL or getting video analytics.

• LinkedIn limits 150 posts per day per LinkedIn account.
• Posting to LinkedIn Groups is not supported.

• LinkedIn also supports sending media without post text. If you do not want post text included send an empty String post: "".

• You may link either a company page or a personal LinkedIn account.

• See LinkedIn Media Guidelines and LinkedIn Authorization for more information.

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Posting to LinkedIn

JSON for a basic post with a link and image to LinkedIn:

{
  "post": "The best LinkedIn post ever #best https://www.linkedin.com", // empty string is allowed
  "mediaUrls": ["https://img.ayrshare.com/012/gb.jpg"],
  "platforms": ["linkedin"]
}

LinkedIn options are optional fields that can be used to control the post.

• altText: The alternative text of the post. See LinkedIn Alt Text for more information.

• visibility: The visibility of the post. Default is “public”. See LinkedIn Post Visibility for more information.

• thumbNail: The thumbnail of a video. See LinkedIn Thumbnail for more information.

• titles: Title or media captions to LinkedIn images or videos. See LinkedIn Media Titles for more information.

• title: The title of a document. Maximum length: 400 characters. See LinkedIn Documents for more information.

• targeting: The targeting of the post. See LinkedIn Audience Targeting for more information.

{
  "linkedInOptions": {
    "visibility": "public",
    "altText": ["This is my best pic", "😃 here is the next one"],
    "titles": ["This is an amazing video", "😃 here is the next one"],
    "title": "Sample PPTX",
    "thumbNail": "https://example.com/thumbnail.jpg",
    "targeting": {
      "countries": ["US", "IN", "DE", "GB"],
      "seniorities": ["Senior", "VP"],
      "degrees": ["Master of Digital Design", "Bachelor of Engineering"]
    }
  }
}

​

Video Publishing Permissions

On LinkedIn, only users with specific permissions can publish videos to company pages:

1. Users with Admin permissions.
2. Users with Direct Sponsored Content (DSC) permissions.

Content Administrators do not have the ability to publish videos to LinkedIn company pages.

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Video Thumbnail

Set a LinkedIn thumbnail for a video. Send a remote URL of a PNG or JPG file that is the same dimensions as the video and less than 10 MB. URL should end in .png or .jpg.

Use the thumbNail in the linkedInOptions object.

{
  "linkedInOptions": {
    "thumbNail": "https://octodex.github.com/images/Fintechtocat.png"
  }
}

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Alternative Text

Add LinkedIn alternative text, also known as LinkedIn alt text, to a LinkedIn image. LinkedIn alt text is an accessibility feature used for additional user info and screen readers. LinkedIn does not support altText on videos or documents.

Use the altText in the linkedInOptions object.

{
  "linkedInOptions": {
    "altText": ["This is my best pic", "😃 here is the next one"] // Array of Alt Texts
  }
}

Each alt text must correspond to an image in the mediaUrls array. The alt text will be applied to each image in order.

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Media Titles

Add title or media captions to LinkedIn images or videos.

Use the titles in the linkedInOptions object.

{
  "linkedInOptions": {
    "titles": ["This is an amazing video", "😃 here is the next one"] // Array of Alt Texts
  }
}

Each title must correspond to an image or video in the mediaUrls array. The title will be applied to each image or video in order.

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Multi Image Posts

You may post up to 9 image URLs in the mediaUrls to LinkedIn.

{
  "mediaUrls": ["https://url1", ..., "https://url9"]
}

LinkedIn does not yet support carousel images for organic posts.

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LinkedIn Mentions

You may mention other LinkedIn organization, i.e. company pages, or member profiles, i.e. individual profile pages, in your posts.

Ayrshare makes an attempt to resolve the @mention by doing a lookup on the handle. If the @mention is not found, the @ will be removed from the post since LinkedIn will not accept posts with unresolved mentions. Individual LinkedIn profiles cannot be mentioned.

Please review the important rules on mentions.

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Organization Profiles

Mention another LinkedIn organization handle by adding @handle in the post text. The @handle is the name of the company or organization. You can mention in posts, comments, and reply to comments.

For example,

• Ayrshare’s LinkedIn company profile is https://www.linkedin.com/company/ayrshare and the handle used would be @ayrshare.

• Zara’s LinkedIn company profile is https://www.linkedin.com/company/zara-sa/ and the handle used would be @zara-sa.

{
  "post": "The best social media API @ayrshare ever!",
  "platforms": ["linkedin"]
}

​

Member Profiles

Mention another LinkedIn member profile by adding @vanity_name or @[John Smith] in the post text.

1. @vanity_name is the vanity name of the member profile. For example in the member’s profile URL https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanity_name/, the vanity name is vanity_name.
2. @[John Smith] is the person’s full name. For example if the person’s full name is John Smith, the mention would be @[John Smith].

You can mention in posts, comments, and reply to comments.

{
  "post": "The best social media API @[John Smith] and @ava_smith ever!",
  "platforms": ["linkedin"]
}

In the above example, John Smith and Ava Smith will be mentioned in the post - the first using their full name and the second using their vanity name.

Important Notes:

1. You must have a LinkedIn company page connected to your Ayrshare account to mention member profiles. If you connect your own personal LinkedIn account, you will not be able to mention other people’s profiles.
2. LinkedIn only allows mentioning people who follow your organization / company page.

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Documents

Use the API to post a document on LinkedIn. Supported file formats include: PPT, PPTX, DOC, DOCX, and PDF. Ensure the document is under 100MB in size and does not exceed 300 pages.

Below is a code sample demonstrating how to post a PPTX document with a title:

{
  "post": "What a great document",
  "platforms": ["linkedin"],
  "linkedInOptions": {
    "title": "Sample PPTX" // optional. If not specified, the file name used.
  },
  "mediaUrls": ["https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/torman_personal/files/samplepptx.pptx"]
}

The media URL provided must end in a known document extension: ppt, pptx, doc, docx, or pdf.

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Audience Targeting

LinkedIn allows you to target your organic posts to specific groups of users. You can target by countries, industry, job title, and more.

Use the targeting object in the linkedInOptions object:

{
  "linkedInOptions": {
    "targeting": {
      "countries": ["US", "IN", "DE", "GB"],
      "seniorities": ["Senior", "VP"],
      "degrees": ["Master of Digital Design", "Bachelor of Engineering"],
      "fieldsOfStudy": ["Consumer Economics", "Computer Games and Programming Skills"],
      "industries": ["Telecommunications Carriers", "Banking"],
      "jobFunctions": ["Information Technology", "Entrepreneurship"],
      "staffCountRanges": ["size_51_to_200", "size_5001_to_10000"]
    }
  }
}

The available targeting options are listed in the following JSON files:

• LinkedIn Countries
• LinkedIn Seniorities
• LinkedIn Degrees
• LinkedIn Fields of Study
• LinkedIn Industries
• LinkedIn Job Functions

• LinkedIn Staff Count Ranges

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Post Visibility

LinkedIn allows you to control the visibility of your posts. You can set the visibility to public, connections only, or loggedin users only. If no visibility is specified, the post will be “public” and visible to all LinkedIn users.

• public: The post will be visible to all LinkedIn users. Available for both company pages and personal LinkedIn connected accounts. Default if no visibility is specified.

• connections: The post will be visible to the 1st degree network of the owner (user profile). Available for personal LinkedIn connected accounts only.

• loggedin: The post will be visible to logged in LinkedIn users only. Available for both company pages and personal LinkedIn connected accounts.

Use the visibility field in the linkedInOptions object:

{
  "linkedInOptions": {
    "visibility": "public" // "public", "connections", or "loggedin"
  }
}

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Character Limits

Please see LinkedIn Character Limits for more information.

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Authorization Refresh

LinkedIn must be reauthorized every year via the Social Accounts page.

• An email and webhook social action notification will be sent 15 days in advance of authorization expiration.

• The refresh required date and remaining days can be retrieved from the /user endpoint.

• The user will see on their social account linkage page an alert and a refresh button 30 days prior to expiration.

Please see here for more examples of using the LinkedIn API.