Share of Voice (SOV)

What is Share of Voice (SOV)

Share of Voice (SOV) measures a brand’s visibility and presence in the market relative to competitors. It reflects how often your brand is mentioned compared to the total mentions of all brands in your industry across channels like social media, forums, blogs, or news. A higher SOV indicates stronger brand awareness and influence in your market.

How to Calculate Share of Voice

  1. Collect data from social media, forums, blogs, review sites, or news articles where your brand is mentioned.
  2. Gather mentions for key competitors in the same channels over the same time period.
  3. Divide your brand mentions by the total mentions (your brand + competitors) and multiply by 100 to get a percentage.

Formula

Share of Voice = (Your Brand Mentions ÷ Total Mentions in Market) × 100

Example

  • Your brand mentions = 1,500
  • Competitor mentions = 8,500

Share of Voice = (1,500 ÷ (1,500 + 8,500)) × 100 = 15%

This means your brand accounts for 15% of all market mentions, indicating a notable presence.

Benchmark

  • A Share of Voice of 10%+ is generally considered strong for niche dominance.
  • Larger markets may require higher SOV to remain competitive, while emerging brands can focus on consistent growth.

FAQ's

It provides insights into brand awareness, visibility, and competitive positioning, helping guide marketing strategies.

Include social media, blogs, forums, review platforms, news articles, and any other channels where your brand is publicly mentioned.

While SOV measures visibility, market share measures sales or revenue. Higher SOV often leads to better brand recognition, which can indirectly influence market share.

Yes. If competitor mentions grow faster than yours, your SOV percentage will decrease despite gaining more mentions.