Share of voice: what it is and how to measure it without a big budget
Share of voice is the percentage of your market's conversation that is about you rather than your competitors. If your category generates a thousand mentions a month and eighty are yours, your share of voice is eight percent.
Why it beats follower counts
Follower numbers measure a moment of past interest. Share of voice measures present relevance, and it moves when something real happens: a campaign lands, a rival stumbles, a sponsorship starts paying off. Tracked monthly against the same competitor set, it is one of the few marketing numbers that behaves like a market share indicator without needing anyone's sales data.
Measuring it practically
- Pick two to four genuine competitors, the ones customers actually compare you against
- Count mentions of each brand across the same sources over the same period
- Divide yours by the total
- Repeat monthly, same method, same sources
Consistency of method matters far more than completeness. Missing a source is fine if you miss it for everyone, every month.
Reading the number
A rising share with steady sentiment means growing presence. A rising share with falling sentiment usually means a problem going public, which is still useful to know before the sales figures say it. And a competitor's sudden spike is worth investigating either way: it is a campaign to learn from or a crisis to avoid repeating.
MyView watches every mention of your brand and tells you what needs a reply.
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