What Is Share of Voice?
Share of voice measures how visible your brand is in the market relative to competitors. Here's what it is, how to measure it, and why it predicts future market share.
Key Takeaways
- Share of voice (SOV) is your brand's share of total advertising or content exposure in a category.
- SOV tends to predict future market share — brands with excess SOV tend to grow.
- SMEs can measure SOV through organic search rankings, social mentions, and review volume.
The definition and formula
Share of voice = your brand mentions (or ad spend, or search impressions) ÷ total category mentions × 100. In traditional advertising, SOV was measured by ad spend. In digital marketing, it is more commonly measured by organic search visibility, social media mention volume, or share of search (the proportion of branded search volume you command relative to competitors). Each proxy measures a slightly different type of visibility.
Why SOV predicts growth
Research consistently shows that brands with a share of voice greater than their share of market tend to gain market share over time — and vice versa. This is because visibility drives consideration, and consideration drives purchase. For SMEs, this means investing in content, SEO, and community presence beyond what your current market share would 'justify' is often the highest-return marketing strategy available.
Measuring SOV for an SME
You do not need expensive brand tracking tools. Measure share of search by comparing your branded search volume to competitors' using free tools like Google Trends or SEMrush's free tier. Measure review volume by counting your Trustpilot or Google reviews versus the two or three main competitors. Measure content SOV by tracking how many category-relevant keywords your site ranks for versus theirs. Do this quarterly.
SOV versus ROI
A common SME objection is that awareness spend is hard to justify without direct attribution. The SOV framework gives you a benchmark: if your SOV is below your market share, you are systematically under-investing in visibility and will likely lose share over time. Treat the gap between your SOV and your market share as a strategic risk to manage, not a luxury to defer.