We’re going to break down everything you need to know about share of voice (SOV), from calculating it and the tools you’ll need to measure it to leveraging it for marketing success. You’ll also learn how to overcome common challenges and discover best practices to track and increase your SOV effectively.
Share of Voice: Key Points
Table of Contents
How To Calculate Share of Voice
Share of voice analysis goes beyond measuring brand mentions — it’s a key metric of brand equity that quantifies your brand’s real effect in the market.
The calculation is relatively straightforward: divide your brand's metrics by the total market metrics and multiply by 100. I.e., Your brand’s share of voice = Your brand metrics / Total market metrics.
This formula provides valuable insight into how your brand compares to competitors, giving you a clearer understanding of your market position.
To dig deeper, share of voice can be broken down into specific categories, each offering unique insights depending on the channel and strategy you want to measure.
Let's explore three key types of SOV:
1. Organic Share of Voice
Organic share of voice shows how visible your website is in search results compared to competitors. This metric looks at non-branded keywords to give you a clear view of where you stand in the market. Here's what you need to calculate organic SOV:
- Select your core topics and target keywords
- Track first-page rankings for these keywords
- Think about click-through rates for different positions
- Calculate your percentage of total possible impressions
Search volume and click-through rates matter a lot in organic SOV. A first-position ranking for a keyword with 10,000 monthly searches means more than the same position for one with just 100 searches.
2. Paid Share of Voice
Paid share of voice shows how visible you are in advertising spaces. The PPC calculation is straightforward: divide your brand's ad impressions by total market impressions.
For example, if your brand gets 30,000 ad impressions out of 80,000 total market impressions, your paid SOV would be 37.5%.
3. Social Share of Voice
Social media share of voice measures your brand's social conversation presence versus competitors. Here's everything in the measurement:
- Brand mentions
- Hashtag usage
- Engagement rates
- Reach and impressions
Let's say your brand gets 500 social media interactions out of 800 total market interactions. That gives you a social SOV of 62.5%.
Tools to Measure Share of Voice
These specialized tools are a great way to get insights into your share of voice:
Social Listening Tools
- Brandwatch tracks major social networks, news sites, and blogs while providing detailed analytics on brand mentions and sentiment.
- Awario monitors conversations across social media, blogs, and news sites.
SEO and Analytics Tools
Ubersuggest offers a comprehensive set of tools to measure your organic share of voice with visibility over metrics that include keyword rankings, search volume, and click-through rates.
Complete Monitoring
View this post on Instagram
SproutSocial combines social media management with SOV tracking across channels. Businesses with tight budgets can use Social Searcher's free monitoring options along with spreadsheet tracking.
Note that your tool selection should match your specific needs and monitored channels. Using multiple tools often gives you the best view of your share of voice across platforms.
Common Challenges in Measuring Share of Voice
To unlock the advantages afforded by SOV measurement, there are several challenges you need to overcome. They include:
- Data accuracy and collection: Getting complete data across all channels can be tough. Tools often lag behind with weekly or monthly updates, making live analysis hard. Google's frequent algorithm changes also affect search performance measurements.
- Seasonal fluctuations: Search volumes and user behavior change with seasons, holidays, and special events. Without a doubt, these changes can throw off your SOV calculations if not factored in. Your data analysis should take these variations into account.
- Tool limitations: SOV tools often have limits in:
- Keyword tracking capabilities
- Competitor analysis scope
- Data integration across platforms
- Local and mobile considerations: Local SEO results often differ from global rankings. Mobile search performance varies from desktop results, which affects SOV calculations. Your analysis needs to include these variations.
- Resource constraints: Businesses of all sizes often face challenges with:
- High tool costs
- Time-heavy analysis needs
- Limited staff for detailed tracking
There are a few things you can do to tackle these challenges, namely:
- Use multiple complementary tools to get a complete picture
- Factor in seasonal variations in your analysis
- Focus on relevant geographic and device-specific data
- Use automated tracking where possible
You can better use SOV data to guide your marketing decisions and boost your competitive position by understanding these challenges and applying the appropriate solutions.
How To Increase Your Share of Voice
Your brand's visibility needs strategic planning and consistent execution across multiple channels. Here are proven methods to increase your share of voice and deepen your commitment to your market position.
1. Improve Your Social Media Presence
A strong social media presence starts with content that strikes a chord with your audience. Your priorities should include:
- Consistent brand messaging across platforms
- Regular interaction with followers
- Strategic hashtag usage
- User-generated content campaigns
- Live response to comments and messages
Your active presence on platforms where your target audience spends time builds authentic connections. Watch conversations about your brand and industry to spot opportunities for meaningful interaction or content to leverage.
2. Focus on SEO and Paid Media
SEO and paid media efforts help you capture more market share. Start with thorough keyword research to learn about what your target audience is searching for. Long-tail keywords with clear intent often lead to higher conversion rates.
Your paid media campaigns need strategic budget allocation across different platforms. Key factors include:
- Target audience demographics
- Platform-specific engagement rates
- Cost per acquisition
- Return on ad spend
- Competitor activity
More importantly, organic and paid strategies work together to maximize visibility. SEO builds long-term authority, while paid media gives immediate visibility for time-sensitive campaigns.
3. Boost Your Content Strategy
A reliable content strategy forms the foundations for increasing your share of voice. Your content should address audience pain points and provide valuable solutions. Focus on developing:
- Educational content:
- How-to guides
- Industry insights
- Expert interviews
- Case studies
- Engaging formats:
- Video content
- Infographics
- Podcasts
- Interactive tools
- Distribution channels:
- Email newsletters
- Social media platforms
- Industry publications
- Partner networks
Note that consistency in your brand voice across all content pieces builds recognition and trust with your audience while boosting your overall market presence.
Maximize Your Marketing Impact With Share of Voice
SOV is a strong indicator that shows your brand's market presence and competitive position. You can make evidence-based decisions to improve your brand's visibility and market share by understanding how it affects your marketing strategy.
How Share of Voice Affects Your Marketing Strategy
SOV data is a great way to get insights on your brand's market position and audience involvement. SOV gives you a detailed view of your brand's presence in marketing channels of all types, rather than just looking at single metrics.
As Den Mykhailo, CEO of Coderfy, explains, “Share of voice is directly linked to brand equity and loyalty. Higher SOV indicates greater visibility and recall, translating into stronger emotional connections with the audience. This visibility reinforces brand trust and loyalty, which are critical for long-term success.”
Your marketing strategy benefits from SOV analysis in these four key ways:
- Brand awareness measurement: SOV helps track your brand's recognition and spots areas that need work
- Competitive intelligence: SOV data shows what competitors are doing, their strong points, and weak spots
- Market trend analysis: You can spot new industry trends and chances by watching SOV regularly
- Strategic resource allocation: SOV insights help you decide how to split your budget across marketing channels
Research indicates that SOV tends to correlate with a brand's share of the market and revenue, which makes it a vital metric for planning ahead. While classic marketing metrics still matter, SOV helps you learn about your brand's market position and growth potential.
How Big Brands Do Share of Voice
The idea is simple: the louder and more strategically a brand speaks, the more space it occupies in consumers’ minds. Leading companies understand this — and they use bold, emotionally resonant campaigns to dominate the narrative, often well beyond paid ads. Let’s see how they do it.
Nike: You Can’t Stop Us
Nike’s You Can’t Stop Us campaign is a masterclass in SOV. Released during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and social justice movements, the video featured seamless visual storytelling and powerful narration, highlighting themes of unity, resilience, and inclusivity.
The campaign sparked widespread media coverage, went viral across platforms, and generated millions of organic impressions, effectively putting Nike at the center of global conversations — not just about sportswear, but about humanity.
By aligning brand purpose with real-world sentiment, Nike didn’t just gain attention — it owned it. This is SOV done the big-brand way: strategic, emotional, and unmissable.
Apple: The Launch of the iPhone 14
Apple doesn’t just release a new phone; it orchestrates a global media event. When the iPhone 14 launched, Apple dominated not only traditional advertising but also earned media, social chatter, influencer buzz, and tech review coverage.
From meticulously timed keynote events to viral TikToks unpacking new features, Apple ensured it was virtually impossible to scroll, stream, or surf the web without seeing something iPhone-related. This cohesive, multi-channel blitz gave Apple an overwhelming share of voice in the consumer tech space during launch season — and reinforced its position as a market leader without having to shout.
Tesla: Elon Musk’s X Persona
Tesla’s share of voice strategy is unlike any other and often driven by Elon Musk himself. Instead of traditional advertising (which Tesla famously avoids), the brand leverages Musk’s high-profile social presence to generate buzz.
Whether it’s announcing product updates, teasing new ideas, or stirring controversy, Musk’s tweets often spark viral discussions and headlines, keeping Tesla top-of-mind without a single commercial. It’s an unconventional approach, but one that gives Tesla a disproportionate share of voice in the automotive and tech sectors.
Share of Voice: Final Thoughts
The right mix of tools and strategies will set you on the right track, and you’ll soon discover that small improvements in share of voice tend to boost your market share and brand awareness significantly.
Keep monitoring regularly and stay committed to giving value to your audience. Your effort to understand and improve share of voice will make your brand a leader in your market. Of course, it always helps to have the right expertise on hand to ensure you get it right.
Share of Voice FAQs
1. What does it mean to have a 100% share of voice?
Having a 100% share of voice typically means that a brand has complete dominance in a particular marketing channel or platform. This could occur if an advertiser purchased all available ad impressions on a website, effectively achieving exclusive sponsorship.
2. How often should I measure SOV?
Ideally, you should track your share of voice on a monthly basis. Regular monthly tracking allows you to identify emerging trends, spot changes in competitor activity, and understand the impact of your marketing efforts over time.
However, if you're running high-stakes campaigns or operating in a fast-paced industry, consider more frequent monitoring — such as weekly — to capture short-term shifts and take immediate action.
3. What’s the difference between SOV and market share?
SOV measures visibility and presence, while market share tracks your actual share of sales in a market. High SOV often leads to increased market share over time.
