What is Share of Voice and How to Measure it?

What is Share of voice?

Share of Voice (SOV) is an effective tool to measure the extent of your brand’s presence in the market compared to your rivals. Just imagine SOV as a yardstick to quantify how much of the market conversation your brand dominates or simply how audible your brand’s voice is in a crowded marketplace.

Today, you can use the SOV metric to calculate a brand’s presence across a spectrum of areas, including:

• Volume of Mentions on digital platforms
• Pay Per Click (PPC) advertisements
• Public Relations (PR) coverage
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) performance
• Social Media interactions and mentions

The higher your brand’s share of voice, the greater your brand’s perceived popularity and authority among users. It doesn’t matter if you’re rating mentions on social media or keyword traffic – the principle remains the same.

Historically, Share of Voice has been used to analyze a brand’s portion of paid advertising in market competition. However, SOV is now applicable to different areas of digital marketing and its main objective is to inform your brand’s visibility.

Understanding your Share of voice isn’t about knowing how loud your brand’s voice is. It also gives valuable insights and drives strategic decision making into market dynamics and competition. 

Consider, for instance, if your brand has a high SOV in major social media networks but does not have good organic traffic. This analysis can signal that there is room to progress. You need to improve and implement better organic traffic strategies. So, you see, the SOV isn’t just an echo—it’s also a compass.

In essence, understanding your Share of Voice is like gauging how well your brand’s voice can be heard amidst the market cacophony, and more importantly, what to do if it isn’t loud enough.

Share of Voice vs. Share of Market

Share of voice is about awareness whereas Share of market is about sales. Share of voice gauges the level of market chatter a brand is creating whereas Share of market analyzes the market portion in terms of sales, revenue or customers that a company controls.

SOV’s importance lies on the marketing front because it is more of a marketing metric whereas  SOM is more important on the sales front. SOV helps you understand your brand’s visibility which is crucial for marketing strategies. Conversely, SOM provides insights on the hard sales metrics to identify your standing on the marketplace in terms of dollars and customer base.

To sum it up, while both are vital for businesses to measure their success, they serve different purposes. Share of voice helps brands understand how often consumers lay their eyes and ears on a brand, while share of market pinpoints the brand’s monetary success or popularity among the consumers in terms of sales volumes or number of customers.

Why do you need to measure the share of voice?

Measuring your brand’s Share of Voice (SOV) is a key component to understand your market presence, your competitors presence, and to ultimately chart the route to improved marketing strategies and better customer engagement. SOV not only quantifies your brand’s visibility and social media share but also provides essential insights into your target audience’s preferences, competitor strategies, brand reputation, and campaign effectiveness. When considered comprehensively, all these factors guide technical decisions and strategic choices, ultimately driving brand growth.

Here are reasons why measuring SOV is crucial:

1. Audience Insights: SOV provides a perceptive picture of what consumers say about your brand and competition on different platforms. These conversations often reflect the preferences, opinions, sentiments, and trends of your market, providing meaningful data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your brand and adjust strategies accordingly.
2. Competitor Research: Competitor analysis with the lens of SOV helps identify where your brand stands in comparison to the competition. Competitor research with SOV metrics allows you to understand who is leading the conversations in your industry, and how you can develop strategies to improve your brand’s position.
3. Brand Management: SOV metrics show the volume and sentiment of conversations about your brand, which is pivotal in monitoring and managing your brand’s reputation. Changes in these numbers can signal potential opportunities or threats, needing strategic responses.
4. Campaign Effectiveness: Measuring the SOV for your marketing campaigns provides insights into what works and what doesn’t. If you witness an increase in your share after running a campaign, it’s an indication of a successful strategy.
5. Customer Engagement: Insights drawn from sentiment or topic analysis can help inform your brand’s voice, engagement plan, and content. Knowing how much your customers interact with you can lead to a more dynamic and responsive marketing plan.
6. Resource Allocation: Understanding where your conversations are more significant can help in allocating resources towards platforms promising better ROI.
7. Strategy Development: SOV acts as a starting point for expansive market research, aiding in strategy development for brand management, campaign planning, audience interaction, and resource allocation.
8. Public Relations: Measuring your SOV among different news outlets can show how effective your media strategy fares against your competitors, providing inputs to enhance your public relations strategy.

Remember, every brand is unique, and hence, optimizing share of voice could mean different things in different contexts. Nonetheless, it’s a universal tool that all brands can deploy to not just listen but understand their audience, and communicate more effectively for better market penetration.

In this dynamic and highly competitive business environment, there is a need to regularly take stock of your performance metric, and SOV serves that purpose. So, keep measuring, keep learning, and keep improving.

How to calculate share of voice?

To calculate the share of voice (SOV), you can do so across different marketing channels such as PR, PPC, and SEO.

1. PR Share of Voice

PR share of voice measures your brand’s presence in organic and social media accounts as compared to competitors. The formula used is:

Share of voice = (The total number of your brand’s mentions / The total number of mentions within your market) x 100

This approach requires tracking social media reach for each post, the type of interactions, and comparing these metrics within your industry.

2. PPC Share of Voice

The formula used to calculate PPC share of voice is:

PPC share of voice = (Your brand advertising / Total market advertising) x 100

The metrics required to calculate SoV in PPC include your list of keywords or competitors’ keywords, the total value of your market, and your Click Through Rate (CTR).

3. SEO Share of Voice

To calculate the SEO share of voice, you would need to use SEO tools such as Ahrefs that compare your search visibility to your competitors. First, select keywords and set up a rank tracker, then add your main competitors. The tool will then compare your visibility to your competitors.

Remember that calculating share of voice can be a laborious manual task that is prone to missing important brand mentions. Hence, using dedicated tools to automatically perform these calculations can save time and provide more accurate results.

5 ways to increase your Brand’s Share and Brand Mentions on social media

Here are five strategies to increase your share of voice on any social media platform:

1. Boost Your Brand’s Visibility and Traffic

The first way to increase your share of voice is by elevating your brand’s visibility in relevant searches, which drives up your website traffic. Start by using search engine results pages conducting a comprehensive keyword analysis to find keyword groups that align with your brand.

Prioritize high visibility score keywords over high volume ones. For instance, a unique, highly-specific keyword like “marketing strategies for startups” may attract a more engaged audience than a generic term like “marketing strategies.”

In addition to improving SEO, create direct engagement with your target audience, host discussions, have social media campaigns and generate thought-leading content on trending topics.

2. Enhance Your Coverage

Collaborate with trusted publishers in your industry to share your content. This could involve creating guest posts or participating in podcasts and social media efforts. Additionally, expand your content line-up by generating more keyword-targeted, highly relevant material that resonates with your audience. This not only increases the chances of better ranking and traffic but also encourages others to mention and share your content.

3. Cultivate Positive Social Media Mentions

• Boost your brand’s positive social media mentions across social media platforms.
• Engage actively by promptly responding to comments, addressing customer queries, and acknowledging reviews.
• Encourage your active followers and satisfied customers to share their positive experiences.
• By fostering a holistic brand experience, the number of positive mentions will increase, naturally amplifying your share of voice.

Remember, learning from your competitors can provide valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t!

4. Leverage Social Media for Authentic Interaction

While it may seem an obvious approach, businesses often overlook the power of regular, authentic engagement on their social media channels. Don’t just sell; instead, interact by sharing industry insights, initiating discussions, or even just responding to comments. This encourages a natural connection with your audience, enhancing your brand’s SOV in the process.

Remember, social media is about being social!

5. Step Outside the Social Media Box

Diversify your marketing efforts across platforms to increase your brand’s share of voice. Traditional media and offline methods can also contribute significantly to your online SOV. For instance, in-person networking events or seminars could be potential opportunities for starting conversations that transfer to online platforms.

Investing in website SEO, adopting innovative digital marketing strategies, and driving organic traffic will all bolster your presence. Aspiring to become an industry leader can significantly boost your SOV. By sharing expert insights, unique analyses, and thought-provoking content, you can eventually steer industry discussions, helping to further establish your brand’s authority.

Remember, increasing the share of voice is not limited to a single strategy or platform. Engage authentically, interact regularly, and diversify your approach to effectively raise your brand’s SOV on different social media networks.

Benefits of measuring share of voice

Measuring the share of voice (SOV) proves to be highly rewarding for businesses, enabling various strategic benefits. Here’s why:

• Comprehensive Competitive Study: SOV offers a wide-angle view of market competition. It can help identify if your business is a force to be reckoned with or an emerging contender in your industry.
• Target Audience Segmentation: SOV is not just a number, but a treasure of insightful data. The segmentation of the target audience based on the SOV can provide a deeper understanding of your potential and areas that require attention. You can scrutinize your standing in vital markets, among different demographics, and more.
• Assessing Marketing Campaigns: The SOV can serve as a fistful measure to gauge the effectiveness of your recent marketing initiatives. If your SOV increases subsequent to a campaign, it typically suggests efficacious marketing strategies and tactics.
• Planning Successful Future Campaigns: SOV analytical reports can be harnessed to refine your future marketing endeavors. They offer guidance on where to broaden your reach, how to engage in social buzz, and ensure prevalence of your voice across various marketing avenues.

It’s clear that tracking the SOV is instrumental in making data-driven decisions, which ultimately can bolster a business’s market position and its approach towards target audience engagement. Keep harnessing your SOV, and let it guide your business towards ongoing improvement and growth.

Share of Voice Tools

For Ease of users, we have arranged the following tools which are designed to help you understand market trends and improve your brand’s competitive metrics and overall presence.

1. HubSpot Social Media Management Software
   • All-in-one marketing and social listening toolset
   • Keyword monitoring and social interaction tracking
   • CRM integration and ready-made reports
2. Hootsuite
   • Entry-level social monitoring tool
   • Streamlined dashboard for keyword and hashtag tracking
3. Talkwalker
   • Comprehensive brand monitoring across multiple platforms
   • Sentiment analysis in 25 languages
   • Unique AI visual listening feature
4. Google Ads
   • Widely-used PPC tool
   • Impression share metric for easy data extraction
   • Integration with other Google tools
5. Ahrefs
   • Reliable SEO share of voice measurement
   • Batch analysis and competitor tracking
   • Complete suite for various SEO tasks
6. SEMrush
   • All-in-one SEO tool with position tracking
   • Share of voice measurement by location and topic
   • Keyword gap analysis for organic search improvement
7. Brandwatch
   • Comprehensive share of voice analysis across media types
   • Competitive and demographic comparisons
   • In-depth customer sentiment analysis

These share of voice tools offer a wide range of features to help you understand and improve your brand’s presence across various platforms. By considering the data provided by these competitors, you can select the most suitable tool for your goals and requirements. In the end, it’s essential to monitor your brand’s performance to make informed decisions and effectively compete in the market.

Hypothetical Example of SOV: Paid advertising SOV for Footwear Brands

Imagine the three major players in the online athletic footwear market: Adidas, Nike, and Skechers. They all compete for visibility on a popular sports publication’s website through banner ads.

Over the course of a month, the total number of banner ad impressions (i.e., the number of times ads are viewed) for athletic footwear on this website is 1,000,000. Here’s the breakdown of ad impressions for each brand:

• Adidas: 500,000 impressions
• Nike: 300,000 impressions
• Skechers: 200,000 impressions

To calculate the Share of Voice for each brand, you would use the following formula:

SOV= (Brand’s Impressions / Total Market Impressions) × 100

Now, let’s calculate the SOV for each brand:

• Adidas SOV: 500,000 / 1,000,000 × 100 = 50%
• Nike SOV: 300,000 / 1,000,000 × 100 = 30%
• Skechers SOV: 200,000 / 1,000,000 × 100 = 20%

So, in this scenario:

• Adidas dominates the SOV with 50% of all athletic footwear ad impressions on the sports website.
• Nike has a significant presence too, with 30% of the ad impressions.
• Skechers has the smallest SOV at 20%, indicating it has less visibility compared to its competitors on this particular website.

This SOV can give each brand insight into their online advertising presence relative to competitors and help guide strategies to increase their market share of visibility.

This was all about Share of Voice and How to measure it. If you liked this article, or have any questions, feel free to ask us in the comments section.

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