Why do my MagicPost numbers differ from LinkedIn's?

They will differ, and it is not a bug. This article covers how the data gets into MagicPost, why the totals never match LinkedIn's own screens exactly, and what to check before concluding something is wrong.

How the data syncs

MagicPost syncs your posts automatically every weekday night. That means no sync over the weekend, and up to a day of lag during the week.

Posts published through MagicPost are refreshed repeatedly in the hours right after they go out: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, and so on, up to three days out. That window is when the numbers move most.

Posts you published directly on LinkedIn are picked up too, usually within the hour.

Refreshing manually

Want the numbers now? Hit Refresh posts in the dashboard header.

On a paid plan you choose how far back the refresh goes: the last 50 posts (the default, and the recommended one), 100 or 200 posts, or a window of 6, 12 or 24 months. On the Analytics plan and for organisation members, a 500 posts option goes deeper.

A refresh runs in the background and the progress bar tells you when it lands. The deeper the window, the longer it takes.

The three structural differences

Even fully refreshed, your totals will not match LinkedIn's screens, for three reasons worth knowing:

• Impressions are attached to the post, not to the day. LinkedIn counts impressions on the day they happen. MagicPost attributes all of a post's impressions to the post itself, which is what you want when comparing posts against each other.

• Reshares and posts published in groups are not counted.

• A boosted post includes its boost. LinkedIn separates organic from paid on its own screens, but it does not tell outside tools which impressions were paid. A boosted post's figures therefore include the paid reach.

Before you report a bug

Three checks, in order:

1. Refresh your posts. Most "missing" numbers are just numbers that have not synced yet.

2. Check the date range in the top right. A post from four months ago is invisible in a 90-day view.

3. Check what the post is. Reshares and group posts are not tracked at all.

If a post still does not show after that, an external post can take up to an hour to appear. Past that, write to us in the chat.

FAQ

My impressions column is empty.

That is a permission, not a sync problem. Your LinkedIn connection is missing the impressions access, and MagicPost prompts you to reconnect. Once done, the column fills in.

Do I need a browser extension for any of this?

No. MagicPost has no extension and reads nothing from your browser session. Everything comes from LinkedIn's official API, with your OAuth authorisation.

Does refreshing cost anything or have a limit?

No cost. The refresh options simply go deeper on paid plans: up to 500 posts on Analytics.

Need help?

Reach out via the in-app chat, or book a 30-minute onboarding call: https://cal.com/magicpost-team/contact-sales-team