Share of voice is your brand's slice of the total attention in your market, and it tends to predict where market share is heading. Here is how to measure it.
Share of voice (SOV) is the percentage of total market presence (advertising, mentions, search visibility, or conversation) that your brand owns relative to competitors.
SOV measures how much of the market's attention you command. It can be calculated across channels: ad spend, organic search visibility, social mentions, or press coverage. The classic principle is that when your share of voice exceeds your market share, you tend to gain share over time, and when it lags, you tend to lose it. It is closely tied to brand equity and category leadership.
If your brand accounts for 8,000 of 50,000 total category mentions this quarter, SOV = (8,000 / 50,000) x 100 = 16 percent. If your market share is only 10 percent, that excess share of voice suggests you are positioned to gain share.
Share of voice is a leading indicator of market share. Brands that consistently out-shout their share of market tend to grow into that voice, while brands that go quiet tend to shrink. It turns the abstract goal of 'building the brand' into a measurable target you can track against competitors, channel by channel.