How to blend LinkedIn Company Pages query types in Looker Studio

Because the LinkedIn Company Pages data source has different query types, it's not possible to pull data from different query types, such as text updates and UGC (user-generated content) updates, directly to the same chart. User-generated content means all the updates that are not text or shared updates. This includes polls, PDFs, and videos, for example.

In Looker Studio, you can use the native data blending functionality with Supermetrics data sources to combine data from 2 query types. Note that because data blending is a native feature in Looker Studio, Supermetrics can't help with troubleshooting if there are issues.

In this example, we're looking to combine the "Update details" and "UGC details" query types.

Before you begin

First, you need to create 2 connections to the Supermetrics LinkedIn Pages data source  — one connection that uses the "Update details" query type and another connection that uses the "UGC details" query type. Remember to rename the connections so you can differentiate between them. In this example, the connection with the "Update details" query type is called "LI updates", and the one with the "UGC details" query type is called "LI UGC".

Instructions

Create a blend

After you have set up the 2 connections, create a data blend with the URL, content text, and likes.

1. Go to Resource > Manage blends or click the data source name in the sidebar. 
2. Click Add a blend.
3. For the first table, select the "LI UGC" connection. Select the Content URL and Content text dimensions, and the Content likes metric.
4. For the second table, select the "LI updates" connection. Select the Update URL and Update content text dimensions, and the Likes metric.
5. Click Configure join between the tables. 
6. For the join operator, select Full outer. 
7. For join conditions, select the Content URL and Update URL dimensions.
8. Click Save. The blend is shown in the list of data sources.

Create a new chart with the blend

Next, create a new chart with a new field that combines the URL fields

1. Create a new chart using the new blend data you just created. 
2. Click Add dimension in the sidebar.
3. Click Create field.
4. Give your field a name.
5. In the Formula field, add this formula to combine the URL fields:

   CASE
   WHEN Content URL is null THEN Update URL
   WHEN Update URL is null THEN Content URL
   END

6. Click Apply.

Repeat these steps for each field you want to combine.