The sheer number of metrics available to a marketer in 2024 can be overwhelming. Not all are created equal, but one often flies under the radar: Share of Voice.
SOV can significantly enhance competitive analysis. This often-overlooked measurement can provide a comprehensive view of a brand’s market presence, helping marketers understand how well their efforts are resonating compared to competitors.
A closer look at this often overlooked and misunderstood metric is warranted.
What Is Share of Voice?
To understand SOV, imagine a bustling marketplace where vendors vie for attention. Each one is trying to outshout the others to attract customers. SOV serves as a strategic tool to gauge a brand’s presence in this noisy marketplace relative to competitors. Essentially, it measures how effectively a brand stands out amid the competition.
There are different types of SOV, each relevant to various aspects of marketing strategy. Earned media SOV reflects a brand’s share of mentions in news outlets, blogs and other editorial content (typically a focus for PR teams). Social media SOV measures a brand’s presence across social platforms (crucial for social media teams). Paid media SOV is the traditional concern of marketers, focusing on the visibility paid ads achieve relative to competitors.
Why Does SOV Matter?
SOV is more than just a metric; it’s a gateway to invaluable insights and strategic advantages. It illuminates who’s discussing a brand and how it compares to competitors, offering strategic advantages for market positioning and growth. Understanding these insights helps prioritize efforts and focus on areas that boost brands’ visibility and engagement.
From social media platforms to search engine results pages (SERPs), paid advertising spaces, and even earned media channels, each type of SOV provides unique insights. Social media SOV highlights where a brand stands in digital conversations. SERP SOV focuses on visibility in organic search results. Paid advertising SOV measures the effectiveness of ad spend in securing visibility. Together, these insights help marketers make informed decisions about where to allocate resources for maximum impact.
How Do You Calculate SOV?
Calculating SOV is straightforward but powerful. Depending on the type of SOV you’re interested in—paid media, earned media, or social media—the approach varies slightly:
1. Paid Media SOV:
- Formula: SOV = (Your Brand’s Paid Impressions / Total Market Paid Impressions) × 100%
- This calculation focuses on your brand’s share of paid advertising impressions compared to the total market, offering insight into the effectiveness of your paid media strategies.
2. Earned Media SOV:
- Formula: SOV = (Your Brand’s Mentions / Total Industry Mentions) × 100%
- Earned media SOV measures your brand’s share of editorial mentions, press coverage and non-paid content within your industry. It’s particularly valuable for understanding PR efforts and organic brand visibility.
3. Social Media SOV:
- Formula: SOV = (Your Brand’s Social Mentions / Total Social Mentions in Your Industry) × 100%
- Social media SOV calculates your brand’s share of social media conversations, including posts, shares and comments. This metric is crucial for gauging your brand’s presence and engagement on social platforms.
What Are the Key Metrics for SOV Analysis?
Analyzing different types of SOV involves tracking several key metrics across different tools, providing a comprehensive view of a brand’s performance to inform decisions about marketing efforts.
Total media exposure tracks a brand’s presence across a variety of media channels to assess overall visibility and reach. Geographical insights identify regions where a brand enjoys higher SOV to tailor localized marketing strategies and capitalize on regional market trends effectively. Publication reach evaluates the impact of a brand’s visibility in leading publications and industry-specific outlets to refine media placement strategies and enhance SOV.
Measuring different kinds of SOV across different tools may sound daunting, but all are important to creating or improving brand awareness. By taking a multifaceted approach to enhancing SOV, marketers can make their brand more visible and influential in the marketplace:
- Social media: Engage authentically and consistently, curate compelling content and foster meaningful interactions across social platforms.
- SEO excellence: Implement targeted keywords and SEO best practices to enhance organic visibility and improve a brand’s position in search engine rankings.
- Paid media strategy: Invest strategically in paid campaigns to secure prominent digital real estate and maximize brand exposure in competitive market landscapes.
- Thought leadership initiatives: Establish your brand as an industry authority by sharing valuable insights, thought-provoking content and expert opinions that resonate with a target audience.
Competitive Analysis and Benchmarking
Like many other aspects of business and marketing strategy, understanding the competitive landscape is essential to improvement and growth.
Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) measures the estimated value of a brand’s visibility compared to competitors, providing insights into the ROI of marketing investments. SOV by AVE benchmarks SOV against industry peers to identify growth opportunities, refine marketing strategies and enhance market share. Optimizing media investments across industry publications, news outlets and niche blogs creates a well-balanced media mix and ensures you reach your audience through multiple channels.
By using data visualization techniques to represent these and other metrics graphically, it’s easier to interpret SOV metrics and share findings with stakeholders.
- Historical trends: Analyze SOV trends over time to track performance, identify seasonal variations and align marketing initiatives with long-term strategic goals
- Geospatial mapping: Visualize a brand’s regional presence and identify emerging markets for targeted expansion strategies based on SOV insights and regional consumer behavior.
- Spokesperson impact: Evaluate the influence of key spokespersons or brand ambassadors on enhancing SOV and credibility within specific market segments.
Implementing SOV Analysis
Ready to dive into SOV analysis? Start by defining key objectives—increasing brand awareness, monitoring market share, evaluating campaign effectiveness, etc. Select SOV monitoring tools that align with your budget and needs; platforms like Meltwater, Cision and Brandwatch are industry leaders offering robust features. Establish baseline metrics for a brand’s current SOV across relevant channels, then benchmark these against competitors to identify opportunities for growth and improvement. Regularly monitor a brand’s mentions and visibility across different media channels.
Armed with this data, marketers can analyze trends, identify patterns and adapt strategies to capitalize on emerging opportunities or mitigate risks. The insights gained from SOV analysis can be used to refine marketing strategies, reallocate resources and adjust content strategies to achieve long-term growth objectives.
JoAnne Gritter is the Chief Operations Officer with ddm marketing + communications.
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