WPForms + LinkedIn Ads Conversion Tracking Setup

I see this combo in about 25% of B2B accounts I audit, and here’s the thing — most setups are capturing maybe 60-70% of actual conversions. The wpformsAjaxSubmitSuccess event fires perfectly, but people either miss it entirely or set up the LinkedIn Insight Tag conversion wrong. LinkedIn’s tracking is less forgiving than Google or Meta, so small mistakes kill your data.

The most common issue? The conversion action gets created in LinkedIn Campaign Manager, but the GTM tag is firing the wrong event name or missing the conversion ID entirely. LinkedIn just silently drops those conversions.

What You’ll Have Working By The End

Prerequisites

Step 1: Create the LinkedIn Conversion Action

First, set up the conversion action in LinkedIn Campaign Manager. This gives you the conversion ID and event name you’ll need for GTM.

  1. Go to LinkedIn Campaign Manager → Analyze → Conversions
  2. Click “Create Conversion”
  3. Choose “Online Conversion”
  4. Select “Event-based attribution” (not “Image pixel” — that’s the old method)
  5. Fill in your conversion details:
    • Name: “WPForms Lead” (or whatever makes sense for your business)
    • Campaign Attribution: 30-day view, 90-day click (LinkedIn default)
    • Value: Set if you assign lead values, otherwise leave at $1
  6. Click “Create Conversion”

LinkedIn will generate a conversion ID (looks like 12345678) and event name. Copy both — you’ll need them for GTM.

The event name will be something like lead or signup. Don’t change it unless you have a specific reason. LinkedIn’s tracking is pickier than Google’s about event name matching.

Step 2: Install LinkedIn Insight Tag Base Code (If Needed)

If you don’t already have LinkedIn Insight Tag on your site, add it through GTM first. Skip this if it’s already installed.

  1. In LinkedIn Campaign Manager, go to Account Assets → Insight Tag
  2. Copy your Partner ID (8-digit number)
  3. In GTM, create a new tag:
    • Tag Type: Custom HTML
    • HTML:
    <script type="text/javascript">
_linkedin_partner_id = "YOUR_PARTNER_ID";
window._linkedin_data_partner_ids = window._linkedin_data_partner_ids || [];
window._linkedin_data_partner_ids.push(_linkedin_partner_id);
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(l) {
if (!l){window.lintrk = function(a,b){window.lintrk.q.push([a,b])};
window.lintrk.q=[]}
var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];
var b = document.createElement("script");
b.type = "text/javascript";b.async = true;
b.src = "https://snap.licdn.com/li.js";
s.parentNode.insertBefore(b, s);})(window.lintrk);
</script>
  4. Replace YOUR_PARTNER_ID with your actual Partner ID
  5. Trigger: All Pages
  6. Save and publish

Step 3: Set Up WPForms Data Layer Event

WPForms fires wpformsAjaxSubmitSuccess when a form submits successfully. We need to catch this and push it to the data layer for GTM.

Add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or in a custom plugin:

<script>
jQuery(document).ready(function($) {
    $(document).on('wpformsAjaxSubmitSuccess', function(e, data) {
        // Push to data layer for GTM
        window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
        window.dataLayer.push({
            'event': 'wpforms_conversion',
            'form_id': data.form_id,
            'form_name': data.form_name || 'WPForms Lead',
            'entry_id': data.entry_id
        });
        
        // Also fire LinkedIn conversion directly (backup method)
        if (typeof window.lintrk !== 'undefined') {
            window.lintrk('track', { conversion_id: YOUR_CONVERSION_ID });
        }
    });
});
</script>

Replace YOUR_CONVERSION_ID with the actual conversion ID from Step 1.

Alternative method: If you can’t edit your theme files, add this through GTM as a Custom HTML tag that fires on All Pages. Wrap it in <script> tags and it’ll work the same way.

Step 4: Create GTM Trigger for WPForms Submissions

  1. In GTM, go to Triggers → New
  2. Trigger Type: Custom Event
  3. Event Name: wpforms_conversion
  4. This trigger fires on: All Custom Events
  5. Name it “WPForms - Conversion”
  6. Save

The trigger will fire every time someone submits any WPForms form. If you only want to track specific forms, add a condition:

Step 5: Create LinkedIn Conversion Tag in GTM

  1. Go to Tags → New
  2. Tag Type: Custom HTML
  3. HTML: 
    <script>
window.lintrk('track', { 
    conversion_id: {{LinkedIn Conversion ID}}
});
</script>
  4. Firing Triggers: Select your “WPForms - Conversion” trigger
  5. Name it “LinkedIn Ads - WPForms Conversion”

Create the Conversion ID variable: Go to Variables → New → Constant → Value: 12345678 (your actual conversion ID). Name it “LinkedIn Conversion ID”.

This approach lets you reuse the conversion ID across multiple tags if needed.

Step 6: Testing & Verification

Test in GTM Preview Mode

  1. Enable Preview Mode in GTM
  2. Go to a page with your WPForms form
  3. Fill out and submit the form
  4. In GTM Preview, check:
    • “WPForms - Conversion” trigger fired
    • “LinkedIn Ads - WPForms Conversion” tag fired
    • Data layer shows the wpforms_conversion event with correct form_id

Verify in LinkedIn Campaign Manager

  1. Go to LinkedIn Campaign Manager → Analyze → Conversions
  2. Click on your conversion action
  3. Check “Recent Activity” tab — conversions should appear within 30 minutes
  4. Click “Test Conversion” to see if your pixel is firing

Note: LinkedIn’s real-time reporting is slower than Google or Meta. Give it 2-4 hours for conversions to show up in campaign reporting.

Cross-Check the Numbers

After 24-48 hours, compare:

Expect 5-15% variance. LinkedIn tracks users who came from LinkedIn ads and later converted, while WPForms counts all submissions. If you’re seeing 30%+ difference, something’s broken.

Troubleshooting

Problem: GTM trigger fires but no conversions in LinkedIn Campaign Manager The LinkedIn Insight Tag base code isn’t installed or the lintrk function isn’t available when your conversion tag fires. Check browser console for lintrk is not defined errors. Make sure your base code tag has a higher priority (lower number) than your conversion tag.

Problem: Conversions show in “Recent Activity” but not in campaign reporting LinkedIn’s attribution window hasn’t matched the conversions to ad clicks yet. Wait 48 hours. If they still don’t appear, check that your campaigns are targeting the same audience that’s converting. LinkedIn only attributes conversions to users who saw/clicked your ads.

Problem: Multiple conversions firing for the same form submission WPForms can fire wpformsAjaxSubmitSuccess multiple times if users click submit repeatedly. Add a conversion flag to prevent duplicate tracking:

$(document).on('wpformsAjaxSubmitSuccess', function(e, data) {
    if (data.entry_id && window.wpforms_tracked_entries) {
        if (window.wpforms_tracked_entries.includes(data.entry_id)) {
            return; // Already tracked
        }
        window.wpforms_tracked_entries.push(data.entry_id);
    }
    // Continue with tracking code...
});

Problem: Form submissions work but LinkedIn Insight Tag shows “No recent conversions” Your conversion ID in the GTM tag doesn’t match the ID from LinkedIn Campaign Manager. Double-check both numbers. LinkedIn conversion IDs are 8-10 digits, not the shorter campaign IDs.

Problem: WPForms AJAX isn’t working, form redirects instead of showing success message Your theme or another plugin is interfering with WPForms AJAX. The wpformsAjaxSubmitSuccess event won’t fire. Switch to tracking the form’s redirect page instead, or use the direct jQuery form submit handler:

$('form[id^="wpforms-form-"]').on('submit', function() {
    var formId = $(this).attr('id').split('-').pop();
    // Add small delay to ensure form validates
    setTimeout(function() {
        window.dataLayer.push({
            'event': 'wpforms_conversion',
            'form_id': formId
        });
    }, 500);
});

Problem: Tracking works in test but stops working after GTM publish You’re in a different GTM workspace or container. Make sure you’re publishing from the same workspace where you created the tags. Check that your live site is using the correct GTM container ID.

What To Do Next

Once your WPForms → LinkedIn tracking is solid, consider these related setups:

This guide is part of the LinkedIn Ads Conversion Tracking hub — covering every major form tool, CRM, and ecommerce platform for LinkedIn attribution.