Social Share of Voice (SOV) refers to the percentage of conversations and mentions on social media about your brand compared to competitors.

It is a metric used to measure how much visibility and presence your brand has in relation to others within the same market. SOV provides insights into how well your brand is performing in terms of engagement, brand awareness, and influence across social media platforms.

By analyzing Social Share of Voice, businesses can understand their position in the competitive landscape and identify opportunities to improve their social media strategy.

Understanding Social Share of Voice

Social Share of Voice calculates the volume of mentions, interactions, or discussions related to your brand compared to the total number of mentions in your industry or among your competitors. These mentions can include brand mentions, product tags, hashtags, or engagement metrics such as comments, likes, and shares.

The formula for Social Share of Voice is:

SOV = (Brand Mentions ÷ Total Industry Mentions) × 100

For example, if your brand receives 500 mentions in a given period and there are 2,500 mentions across the industry, your SOV would be 20%.

What Social Share of Voice Tracks:

• Brand Mentions: The number of times your brand is mentioned directly on social platforms.
• Competitor Mentions: Mentions of your competitors in the same industry or niche.
• Hashtag Usage: How often specific hashtags related to your brand or industry are used.
• Engagement: Likes, shares, comments, retweets, and other forms of engagement with your brand’s content compared to competitors.
• Sentiment: Not only the number of mentions but also the tone (positive, negative, or neutral) of these mentions, providing insights into brand perception.

Why Social Share of Voice Matters

Understanding Social Share of Voice offers valuable insights into your brand’s visibility and influence in the market. Here’s why tracking SOV is important:

Measures Brand Awareness

SOV helps you gauge how often your brand is being talked about in comparison to competitors. A higher SOV indicates that your brand has a stronger presence and is more top-of-mind for consumers.

Identifies Competitive Position

Tracking your SOV against competitors provides a clear picture of where you stand in the competitive landscape. It helps you understand if you’re leading the conversation in your industry or if competitors are gaining more traction.

Highlights Opportunities

By analyzing what drives conversations and engagement for your competitors, you can identify areas where your brand can improve. This might include creating more engaging content, addressing customer pain points, or tapping into trending topics to increase your share of voice.

Drives Strategy Optimization

SOV can inform your social media strategy by revealing which platforms, content types, or topics are generating the most buzz. It allows you to focus on areas that will have the most impact and help increase your brand’s visibility.

Enhances Brand Perception

Tracking sentiment as part of SOV gives insights into how people feel about your brand compared to competitors. If your brand is mentioned frequently but with negative sentiment, it might indicate a reputation issue that needs addressing. Conversely, positive sentiment helps boost your brand’s reputation.

Steps to Calculate Social Share of Voice

To effectively measure your Social Share of Voice, follow these steps:

1. Define Your Competitors and Industry

Start by identifying your direct competitors and key players in your industry. This could include brands offering similar products or services or those targeting the same audience.

2. Track Mentions and Engagement

Use social media monitoring tools like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Brandwatch, or Mention to track the number of mentions, engagement, and hashtags related to your brand, competitors, and industry as a whole. Track data from all relevant platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

3. Categorize Mentions by Sentiment

Determine whether mentions of your brand are positive, negative, or neutral. This sentiment analysis provides a clearer understanding of how your brand is perceived in comparison to competitors.

4. Calculate Your SOV

Divide your brand’s mentions by the total number of mentions for your industry or competitors during a specific time period. Multiply by 100 to get your percentage share.

For example, if your brand was mentioned 600 times and the total industry mentions were 3,000, your SOV would be:

(600 ÷ 3,000) × 100 = 20% SOV

5. Track Over Time

To see how your share of voice evolves, track SOV over time. Regular monitoring will help you understand how your efforts are impacting brand visibility and where you need to make adjustments.

Tools to Measure Social Share of Voice

Several tools can help you monitor and measure your brand’s Social Share of Voice:

• Brandwatch: A comprehensive social media listening tool that tracks brand mentions, industry trends, and competitor activity across various platforms.
• Hootsuite: A social media management tool with features for tracking mentions, monitoring engagement, and analyzing social share.
• Sprout Social: Provides social listening and analytics tools to help brands understand their share of voice, audience sentiment, and engagement rates.
• Mention: A social media monitoring tool that tracks brand mentions, hashtags, and competitors to help measure SOV and overall brand awareness.
• BuzzSumo: A content and social media analysis tool that tracks trending topics, brand mentions, and competitor activity, helping you understand your brand’s influence and reach.

Improving Your Social Share of Voice

If your SOV is lower than you’d like, consider the following strategies to increase your brand’s visibility and engagement:

1. Create Engaging, Shareable Content

Focus on creating high-quality content that resonates with your audience. Use visual content, such as videos, infographics, and images, to capture attention, and encourage users to share your posts to expand your reach.

2. Leverage Influencers

Partner with influencers in your industry who can amplify your brand’s message to a wider audience. Influencers have loyal followers who trust their opinions, making them valuable allies in increasing your share of voice.

3. Participate in Industry Conversations

Join trending conversations and discussions in your industry. Engaging in real-time with relevant topics and hashtags helps increase your visibility and establishes your brand as an active participant in the conversation.

4. Use Paid Social Media Advertising

Invest in targeted paid advertising on social media platforms to boost your content’s visibility. Paid ads can help you reach new audiences and increase brand mentions.

5. Run Contests or Giveaways

Encourage engagement by running contests, giveaways, or challenges that require users to tag your brand, use a specific hashtag, or share your content. This can generate a significant number of mentions and increase your social share of voice.

6. Monitor Competitor Activity

Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing on social media. If certain types of content or campaigns are generating more buzz for them, consider how you can adopt similar strategies while maintaining your unique brand voice.

Measuring the Success of Social Share of Voice

To assess whether your efforts to increase SOV are successful, track the following metrics:

• Mentions Over Time: Measure the increase in brand mentions and engagement over a set period to see how your SOV changes.
• Engagement Rate: Track how much your audience is engaging with your content (e.g., likes, shares, comments) compared to your competitors.
• Sentiment Analysis: Monitor how your brand is being perceived. An increase in positive mentions shows that your efforts to improve brand awareness are positively impacting brand perception.
• Reach and Impressions: Track the number of people your content is reaching and how often it’s being seen. Increased reach often correlates with a higher share of voice.

Challenges with Social Share of Voice

While Social Share of Voice is a valuable metric, there are challenges to consider:

Context Matters

Not all mentions are created equal. Some brands might generate significant conversation, but if the sentiment is negative, a high SOV might not be as beneficial as it seems. It’s essential to consider sentiment alongside volume.

Measuring Across Platforms

Different social media platforms have varying metrics and algorithms. Tracking SOV across multiple platforms can be complex, and comparing mentions from Twitter to Instagram, for example, may not always be straightforward.

Industry Noise

In crowded industries, it can be challenging to stand out and increase SOV. Competitors with larger marketing budgets or established presences may dominate conversations, making it harder to grow your share.

Conclusion

Social Share of Voice is a powerful metric for understanding your brand’s visibility and influence on social media relative to your competitors. By tracking mentions, engagement, and sentiment, businesses can gain valuable insights into how well their brand is performing and where improvements can be made.

By strategically improving your content, engagement tactics, and overall social media presence, you can increase your Social Share of Voice, strengthen your brand’s position in the market, and ultimately achieve greater success in your social media efforts.