Connecting LinkedIn Ads lets Pace read your campaigns and reporting, then pace your budgets: it adjusts daily budgets and pauses or activates campaigns to keep your spend on track. You approve the access on LinkedIn's own sign-in screen, so you never type your LinkedIn password into Pace. It's available on every plan, and the whole thing takes about five minutes.
Once you're connected, Pace finds every LinkedIn ad account your login can access, and you pick which ones Pace should manage. If you've connected another platform before, this will feel familiar. For the general walkthrough that covers any ad platform, see connect your first ad account.
What you'll need
- Owner or admin access to your Pace workspace. Members (read-only) can't connect accounts.
- A LinkedIn sign-in with a role that can edit campaigns and budgets on the ad account, such as Account Manager or Campaign Manager, rather than a viewer-only role.
- About five minutes.
Permissions required: Only a workspace owner or admin can connect or link LinkedIn Ads. With a member (read-only) role you'll see an Access Restricted card instead, so ask an owner or admin to set it up.
Check your LinkedIn role first
Pace paces your budgets, which means it needs to change campaigns and budgets on your behalf. The connection inherits whatever access your LinkedIn sign-in already has, so authorise with an account that can edit campaigns in the LinkedIn ad account, not one that can only view. Pace can't check your LinkedIn role for you, so confirm it before you start. If you're not sure, check your access level in LinkedIn Campaign Manager, or ask whoever set up the ad account.
Connect in Pace
- Open Linked Accounts in Pace.
- In the tab bar, select LinkedIn Ads.
- Find the card titled Connect LinkedIn Ads, then select its Connect LinkedIn Ads button.
- Pace sends you out to LinkedIn's sign-in and consent screen at linkedin.com. Sign in if prompted, then approve the access.
- LinkedIn brings you back to Linked Accounts, where the LinkedIn Ads card now shows a green Connected badge.
This is a redirect, not a popup: LinkedIn takes you out and brings you back.
Connecting doesn't import any accounts by itself. To pick which accounts Pace manages, open the Unlinked tab under the card, tick the accounts you want, and select Link. Each row shows the account's name, its ID, and a currency badge. Linked accounts move to the Linked tab, and Pace starts pulling in their performance and historical data. If a LinkedIn account has been closed or you've lost access to it, Pace quietly skips it during import, so one stale account never blocks the rest.
To add more accounts later, use the Link another LinkedIn Ads account prompt on the Linked tab, or reopen Unlinked.
How you'll know it worked
The LinkedIn Ads card shows a green Connected badge, a Since date, and the email of whoever connected it. Your chosen accounts sit under Linked. At the bottom of the card, a note reads "Secured with OAuth 2.0. Your credentials are encrypted and tokens rotate automatically."
You won't need to reconnect day to day. Pace renews its own LinkedIn access automatically in the background, so the connection keeps working without you touching it. One thing worth knowing going in: LinkedIn's own delivery can overshoot the daily budget you set, a quirk this guide to pacing LinkedIn Ads covers in more detail. For how Pace paces those LinkedIn budgets once you're set up, see budget pacing across platforms.
If something goes wrong
- You declined access. If you cancel on LinkedIn's consent screen, Pace shows a "Connection cancelled" message. Nothing breaks, so reconnect whenever you're ready.
- You're a member, not an owner or admin. If you get through LinkedIn's screen but don't have the right Pace role, Pace stops the connection and tells you to ask an owner or admin to set it up.
- Something else failed. Any other hiccup shows "Couldn't connect LinkedIn Ads" with a Try again button that restarts the flow.
If the card ever flips to a yellow Needs attention badge with a "please re-authenticate to restore access" banner, your LinkedIn access has expired or been revoked. Select Re-authenticate now and run the same connect flow again; your pacing settings stay intact. For the full walkthrough, see managing permissions and re-authentication.
A note on security
Your LinkedIn access token lives on Pace's server, in storage kept separate for your workspace. Pace never sends it to your browser, never puts it in a web address, and never writes it into your activity records. Every request Pace makes to LinkedIn runs server-side on your behalf, so your browser never talks to LinkedIn directly. Disconnecting LinkedIn Ads, from the ⋮ menu on the card, removes the connection and its access token; your accounts reappear automatically if you reconnect later.