Share of voice (SOV) is a marketing metric that measures how much of the total conversation, advertising, or visibility in a market your brand captures compared to competitors. Expressed as a percentage, SOV shows whether your brand is leading or lagging in industry discussions across channels like social media, organic search, paid ads, and PR.
The share of voice formula
The core SOV calculation works the same regardless of channel:
SOV = (Your brand’s metric / Total market metric) × 100
For example, if your brand receives 2,500 social media mentions in a month and the total mentions across your competitive set is 10,000, your SOV is (2,500 / 10,000) × 100 = 25%.
The specific metric you plug into the formula depends on the channel you’re measuring. For social media, it’s mentions or @tags. For paid advertising, it’s impression share or ad spend. For organic search, it’s keyword visibility or traffic share. The formula stays the same – only the inputs change. Whichever channel you track, a social media analytics platform makes it easier to pull these numbers into a single view.
For a step-by-step walkthrough of measuring SOV across every channel, see our guide on measuring share of voice.
Four types of share of voice
SOV isn’t a single number. Most brands track it across multiple channels because strong visibility in one area doesn’t guarantee it in another.
| Type | What it measures | Key metric | How to track it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social media SOV | Brand mentions vs competitor mentions in social conversations | Mentions, @tags, hashtag volume | Social listening platforms |
| Organic search SOV | Visibility in search results for target keywords | Impressions, click share, rankings | SEO tools, Google Search Console |
| Paid advertising SOV | Share of ad impressions or spend in your category | Impression share, ad spend share | Google Ads, ad platforms |
| PR and media SOV | News coverage volume compared to competitors | Media placements, news mentions | Media monitoring tools |
Tracking social media SOV is particularly valuable for brand awareness because it reflects real-time consumer conversations rather than just paid or algorithmic visibility. Combining SOV data with sentiment analysis reveals not just how much people talk about your brand, but whether that conversation is positive or negative.
Share of voice vs market share
These two metrics measure different things. Market share tracks actual revenue or units sold – it’s a measure of commercial outcomes. SOV tracks visibility and conversation – it’s a measure of attention.
The relationship between them matters. Research from the IPA by Les Binet and Peter Field backs this up. Brands whose SOV exceeds their market share – known as excess share of voice (ESOV) – tend to grow over time. The widely cited benchmark: roughly 0.5% market share growth for every 10 percentage points of ESOV.
In other words, if you want to grow your market share, your share of voice needs to outpace it first. SOV is a leading indicator; market share is the lagging outcome. Tracking SOV alongside metrics like engagement rate helps you understand whether your visibility is translating into genuine audience interaction.
Brandwatch’s Consumer Research platform tracks brand mentions across 100+ million online sources, making it straightforward to calculate social media SOV and benchmark against competitors in real time.
For a deeper look at competitive benchmarking strategies and how to improve your share of voice across channels, read our comprehensive guide on how to measure share of voice.
Explore more marketing terms in the Brandwatch Social Media Glossary.
Last updated: March 13, 2026