Share of Voice.

Share of Voice (SOV) measures the proportion of total industry conversations, mentions, search rankings, or advertising impressions that belong to your brand relative to competitors. Originally an advertising metric (percentage of total category ad spend), digital SOV now encompasses organic search visibility, social media mentions, PR coverage, and content rankings across key topics.

Digital Share of Voice Metrics

Modern SOV is measured across multiple dimensions: Search SOV (share of impressions for target keywords in your category, measured in Google Search Console or keyword tools); Social SOV (share of brand mentions vs. competitors across social platforms, measured with listening tools); Content SOV (share of top-ranking positions for category keywords across your content); and Earned Media SOV (share of press mentions in industry publications).

SOV and Market Share

Research by the IPA (Les Binet and Peter Field) established that brands with SOV significantly exceeding their market share tend to grow, while brands with SOV below their market share tend to decline. This makes SOV a leading indicator of future market share—investing to build SOV ahead of market share translates to future growth. For emerging brands, achieving SOV disproportionate to current size is a growth accelerant.