Share of voice (SOV)

Share of voice = (your brand metrics / total market metrics) x100. If you were measuring your social media interactions, say there were 200 for your brand vs the total market which includes all of your competitors, 1800 for example.  The formula would be (200/2000) x 100 = 10%. You can measure different metrics e.g add spend. The point to note is that quality also plays a role. For example you may spend lots of money on ad spend, but the quality of the ad is also important. You need to make sure it resonates with your audience so that they want to interact with it. E.g good quality ads get better results than poor ones. If your competition are doing this better than you, then your share of voice will be potentially be less. 

• SOV = (Brand’s ad spend/Total market ad spend) x 100
• measures a brand’s visibility or presence in a particular market compared to its competitors (to keep pace with or outshine competitors)
• comparing marketing and advertising efforts across various channels (e.g. digital, print, TV)
• assess a company’s share of total advertising or media spend compared to the overall market
• a key metric in commercial intelligence
• insights into a company’s brand awareness, market positioning and competitive strength
• measure market presence, adjust competitive strategies, and optimise marketing investments
• increasing SOV = drives greater visibility, influences market trends, and improves market share
• SOV impacts a brand’s visibility and awareness.
• A higher share of voice = stronger presence in consumers’ minds (for staying competitive)
• larger SOV = more attention, translating awareness into potential market share (a key driver of business growth)
• brand may heavily invests in marketing but may command a low share of voice
• redirect marketing budgets to areas where they can generate greater returns in terms of visibility and impact

Top tools used for measuring Share of Voice (SOV)

Brandwatch

• is an enterprise-level tool to understand the market positioning and customer perceptions
• social media monitoring, including share of voice metrics.
• tracks mentions across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and blogs,
• compare the visibility to competitors.
• sentiment analysis, user demographics, and trends

Awario (Paid)

• for small to medium businesses for social listening
• tracks brand mentions across social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram), and the web
• real-time tracking
• comparison of share of voice between competitors
• sentiment analysis and influencer tracking

Brand24 (Paid)

• real-time tracking of online mentions
• social media, blogs, forums, and news outlets
• AI-powered insights
• track the share of voice
• measure sentiment and engagement levels 

Talkwalker

• social listening tool for tracking share of voice
• analytics and real-time tracking of social media mentions
• integrate data from Facebook, Instagram, and news sites

Sprout Social 

• social media management platform
• share of voice tracking
• track mentions, analyse sentiment, manage social media performance
• for social listening

Strategic opportunities

• focus on dominating specific marketing channels based on the SOV analysis
• competitors are highly active in digital media? increase the share in other channels (broadcast or print) = achieve market penetration without having to compete directly in saturated space = strong brand recognition without competing head-to-head in digital, expand market presence cost-effectively
• want overtake competitors or make an impact in new markets? boost SOV beyond current market share. if share of voice exceeds its share of market (SOM) = excess SOV (eSOV) = market share growth
• Ongoing tracking of SOV = identify which channels or regions are underperforming and adjust their strategies
• Competitor starts gaining share of voice in a key region? reallocate the resources to boost the presence
• strong share of voice = leaders in the industry, influencing trends and customer preferences
• higher SOV ->  long-term brand loyalty and recognition
• where to allocate marketing resources? Define which competitors dominate certain channels or markets -> either challenge them or seek opportunities in less crowded areas, ensuring maximum ROI.