What is share of voice (SOV)?
Also called SOV, social share of voice.
Share of voice is the portion of the online conversation in your market that is about your brand rather than your competitors, usually shown as your mentions divided by all mentions of you and chosen competitors, times 100.
Why it matters
Share of voice puts your visibility in context. Growing from 40 to 60 mentions a month sounds good, but not if a competitor grew from 100 to 300 in the same period. It helps you see whether you are gaining or losing ground in the conversations your customers are having.
Example
In a hypothetical month, a café is mentioned 40 times online, one competitor 100 times and another 60 times. Total mentions are 200, so the café's share of voice is 40 ÷ 200 × 100 = 20%.
How to calculate it
Share of voice is only as good as the list of brands and keywords you count, so fix those first and keep them the same over time.
- Choose the competitors you want to compare against, usually three to five.
- Write a list of search terms for each brand: its name, common misspellings, its handles and any branded hashtags.
- Count mentions of each brand on the same platforms over the same period.
- Add up all the mentions, including yours.
- Divide your mentions by the total and multiply by 100.
How it is measured in practice
Counting public mentions by hand works for a small local market. Beyond that, share of voice is usually measured with social listening tools, which collect public posts that match your search terms from the sources they have access to, then chart mention volume for each brand. Many also add sentiment, so you can see whether the conversation about you is positive or negative.
Some platforms offer a narrower, built-in comparison. LinkedIn's Competitor analytics, under Analytics on your Page admin view, compares your follower and organic content metrics with Pages you add (one competitor on a free Page, more with a Premium Company Page). Insights in Meta Business Suite has a Benchmarking tab that compares your business with others in the same category with a similar organic 28-day reach. These compare performance rather than mentions, but they answer a similar question.
In paid advertising, share of voice can also mean your share of the ad impressions in an auction or market. Make sure everyone in a meeting means the same thing.
Common mistakes
Share of voice is easy to distort:
- Changing the keyword list or competitor list from month to month, which makes trends meaningless.
- Counting volume only. A spike in mentions after a complaint goes viral raises your share of voice for the wrong reason.
- Assuming the tool sees everything. Private accounts, closed groups and direct messages are not public, and data access differs by platform.
- Comparing yourself with national chains when your customers choose between local businesses.
Common questions
Do I need a paid tool to measure share of voice?
Not for a rough local picture. Search each platform for your name and your competitors' names once a month and count the public mentions. Paid social listening tools become worthwhile when mention volumes are too high to count by hand.
Is share of voice the same as market share?
No. Market share is your portion of sales in a market. Share of voice is your portion of the conversation or visibility. They can move together, but one doesn't guarantee the other.
How often should I measure share of voice?
Monthly is enough for most small businesses. Measure more often around a launch, a campaign or a news event, and always use the same search terms and competitors so the numbers can be compared.
Sources: Competitor analytics for your LinkedIn Page (LinkedIn Help), checked 14 October 2026; Access your LinkedIn Page analytics (LinkedIn Help), checked 14 October 2026; About Insights in Meta Business Suite on desktop (Meta Business Help Center), checked 14 October 2026