> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getcargo.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# LinkedIn Matched Audiences

> Push companies and contacts into LinkedIn Matched Audiences for ad targeting

LinkedIn Matched Audiences (also called DMP segments) let you target ads to a custom list of companies or contacts on LinkedIn. The Cargo integration lets you create new audiences, push companies and contacts into them, and pull match-rate reports — all from your workflows.

## Authentication

Connect to LinkedIn Matched Audiences using OAuth.

<Info>
  Authentication is handled by [Polytomic](https://www.polytomic.com). When you click **Authenticate**, a Polytomic Connect modal opens where you sign in with your LinkedIn Ads account. Cargo only stores a Polytomic-managed reference to the connection — your LinkedIn credentials are never exposed to Cargo directly.
</Info>

The signed-in LinkedIn user must have access to the ad accounts you want to push audiences into.

***

## LinkedIn Matched Audience actions

### Create Audience

Create a new Matched Audience (DMP segment) on a LinkedIn Ads account.

**Configuration**

| Field             | Description                                                            |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Ad account**    | LinkedIn ad account URN (e.g. `urn:li:sponsoredAccount:516848833`)     |
| **Audience name** | Display name for the new DMP segment                                   |
| **Type**          | `Users (contacts)` or `Companies` — determines what can be added to it |

**Returns**

The newly created `audienceId`, plus the `name`, `account`, and `type` you used to create it.

<Tip>
  Pick the audience **Type** carefully — a `USER` audience can only accept contacts and a `COMPANY` audience can only accept companies. You cannot change the type after creation.
</Tip>

### Add Company to Audience

Add a single company to an existing company-type Matched Audience.

**Configuration**

| Field                                       | Description                                        |
| ------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| **Ad account**                              | LinkedIn ad account URN (used to filter audiences) |
| **Audience**                                | DMP segment to add the company to                  |
| **Company name**                            | Required                                           |
| **Company website domain**                  | Optional, e.g. `cargo.ai`                          |
| **LinkedIn company page URL**               | Optional                                           |
| **Stock symbol**                            | Optional                                           |
| **Industries**                              | Optional, one or many                              |
| **City**, **State**, **Country (ISO code)** | Optional location attributes                       |

<Tip>
  Provide as many identifiers as you have (domain, LinkedIn page URL, stock symbol). LinkedIn uses them to improve match rates.
</Tip>

### Add Contact to Audience

Add a single contact to an existing user-type Matched Audience.

**Configuration**

| Field                                                                   | Description                                                               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Ad account**                                                          | LinkedIn ad account URN (used to filter audiences)                        |
| **Audience**                                                            | DMP segment to add the contact to                                         |
| **Email**                                                               | Lowercased and SHA-256 hashed automatically before being sent to LinkedIn |
| **Google Advertising ID**                                               | Optional GAID identifier                                                  |
| **First name**, **Last name**, **Title**, **Company name**, **Country** | Optional contact attributes that improve matching                         |

<Warning>
  At least one of **Email** or **Google Advertising ID** is required.
</Warning>

<Info>
  Cargo lowercases and SHA-256 hashes emails before sending them to LinkedIn, as required by the LinkedIn Marketing API. You only need to provide the raw email — the hashing happens automatically.
</Info>

### Remove Email from Audience

Remove a contact from a user-type Matched Audience by their email address.

**Configuration**

| Field          | Description                                                               |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Ad account** | LinkedIn ad account URN (used to filter audiences)                        |
| **Audience**   | DMP segment to remove the contact from                                    |
| **Email**      | Lowercased and SHA-256 hashed automatically before being sent to LinkedIn |

### Create Report

Fetch the match-rate / sample-size report for a Matched Audience.

**Configuration**

| Field          | Description                                        |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| **Ad account** | LinkedIn ad account URN (used to filter audiences) |
| **Audience**   | DMP segment to fetch the report for                |

**Returns**

| Field            | Description                                    |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| `audienceId`     | The DMP segment ID                             |
| `sampleSize`     | LinkedIn's estimated number of matched members |
| `sampleType`     | The kind of sample LinkedIn returned           |
| `audienceCounts` | Counts broken down by audience source          |

<Info>
  LinkedIn populates match data asynchronously after you push records into an audience. New audiences typically take 24–48 hours before reports show meaningful match rates.
</Info>

***

## Use cases

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="ABM ad targeting" icon="bullseye">
    Push your target accounts from your CRM or warehouse into a company audience and run LinkedIn ABM campaigns against them.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Contact retargeting" icon="users">
    Sync engaged contacts (e.g. event attendees, trial signups, MQLs) into a user audience and retarget them on LinkedIn.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Suppression lists" icon="user-slash">
    Keep a Matched Audience of customers or unsubscribed contacts in sync, then exclude it from campaigns to avoid wasting spend.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Match-rate monitoring" icon="chart-line">
    Use **Create Report** in a scheduled workflow to track audience match rates over time and alert when they drop.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Best practices

1. **Match the audience type to your data** — Use `USER` audiences for contacts (email/GAID) and `COMPANY` audiences for accounts. They are not interchangeable.
2. **Push as many identifiers as possible** — For companies, provide domain, LinkedIn page URL, and stock symbol when available; for contacts, include name, title, company, and country alongside email. More identifiers means a higher match rate.
3. **Hash on Cargo, not in your warehouse** — Send raw emails to the action; Cargo handles the lowercase + SHA-256 step LinkedIn requires.
4. **Keep audiences in sync incrementally** — Add new records as they qualify and use **Remove Email from Audience** for unsubscribes or churned customers, instead of recreating audiences from scratch.
5. **Wait before reading match rates** — Schedule **Create Report** at least 24 hours after pushing new records. LinkedIn needs time to compute the match.