Share of voice (SOV)

Share of voice answers a competitive question: out of everything the target audience saw or heard in the category, how much came from you. Reach and CPM describe your own campaign in isolation. SOV only makes sense next to competitors, so the hard part is defining the category total.

Example

A healthcare scheduling SaaS tracks four competitors in paid search across 120 core keywords. Over one month, Google Ads impression share for the company is 18%; the two largest rivals hold 31% and 24%. On LinkedIn, a listening tool counts category mentions (2,400). The company appears in 300 of them, the market leader in 900.

Paid search SOV: 18%. Social SOV: 300 / 2,400 × 100% = 12.5%. Market leader’s social SOV: 900 / 2,400 × 100% = 37.5%.

The search and social figures are not added or averaged. Each belongs to its channel and its own denominator. The numbers are illustrative.

How to use it

Fix three things before the first report: the list of competitors, the channel and the unit (impressions, mentions or spend). Change any of them and the trend line breaks. Report SOV monthly per channel, next to the brand’s own share of category demand, such as branded search volume against competitors’ branded search.

A gap between the two is the useful signal. High SOV with flat branded demand suggests the message is not sticking. Low SOV with growing branded demand often points to word of mouth or a channel you are not measuring. Put SOV on the reach branch of your KPI tree rather than treating it as a revenue metric.

Common mistakes

• Picking a narrow competitor set that flatters the number, then widening it a year later.
• Counting all mentions, including complaints, as positive voice.
• Comparing ad-spend SOV estimates from third-party tools as if they were exact.
• Chasing SOV in a channel where the audience does not make buying decisions.

Related terms