Share of Voice

Definition

Share of voice is one party’s mentions divided by the total mentions of all the parties being compared, in the same sources and period. It is a relative measure: it can fall even when your own mentions rise, if the rest of the field grows faster.

In plain terms

The idea comes from advertising, where a brand’s share of all spending in its category is compared with its share of the market. In media monitoring it is the same arithmetic applied to mentions: of everything said about this set of companies, how much is about us?

Two decisions shape the result: who is in the comparison set, and what is being counted (see Mention Volume). Change either and the shares change. Shares always add up to 100%, so one party’s gain is another’s loss, and the number says nothing about the size of the total.

Example

Four brands over two weeks (synthetic mentions):

Brand A’s mentions rose 25%, yet its share of voice fell from 24.0% to 21.4%, because the whole field grew 40%.

Common misunderstandings

• “A rising share means more mentions.” Mentions can rise while the share falls, and the reverse.
• “Shares are comparable across reports.” Only if the competitor set, sources and counting rules are the same.
• “Share of voice equals share of market.” In advertising research they are related, but they are different quantities.