Share of voice measures an organization's visibility relative to competitors within a defined market, typically by comparing its spending, mentions or coverage to the total for that category. Originally an advertising metric based on ad spend, the concept is now also applied, less formally, to PR coverage and search visibility.
Share of voice began as an advertising measurement: the percentage of media spending by a company compared to the total media expenditure by all companies in a given product category or market. Calculated as your spend divided by the category's total spend, a higher share generally correlates with greater brand awareness, though the relationship depends heavily on other factors such as message quality and targeting.
The same underlying idea, comparing your organization's presence to the total activity in a category, extends informally into public relations and search marketing, where practitioners track comparable metrics such as the volume of media mentions, share of coverage on a given topic, or visibility for relevant search terms, relative to named competitors.
Because the term and its calculation vary by context and by which tool produces the number, any share of voice figure should be reported with its method and time window stated plainly, and treated as directional rather than as a precise, universally comparable statistic. This encyclopedia does not assert specific share-of-voice figures for any organization; the concept is described here in general terms only.
How to: 1) Define the market or topic category clearly before calculating share of voice. 2) State the measurement basis explicitly, such as ad spend, mention count, or search visibility. 3) Compare against a named, relevant set of competitors, not an undefined 'industry'. 4) Track the metric consistently over time using the same method, rather than switching tools and comparing incompatible numbers.
QUESTIONS
What is share of voice?
It is a measure of an organization's visibility or spending in a market relative to the total activity of all competitors in that same category, originally developed as an advertising metric based on spend.
How is share of voice calculated in advertising?
By dividing an organization's own advertising spend in a category by the total advertising spend of all companies in that same category over the same period, expressed as a percentage.
Can share of voice apply to PR coverage, not just ads?
Yes, informally. Practitioners apply the same comparative idea to media mentions or coverage volume relative to competitors, though there is no single standardized method for calculating a PR-specific share of voice figure.
Is a higher share of voice always better?
It generally correlates with greater visibility and awareness, but the relationship depends on other factors such as message relevance and audience targeting, so a raw share of voice number should not be read as a complete measure of effectiveness.
SOURCES
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