How to Measure Brand Awareness and Share of Voice

What is Share of Voice?

You are most likely familiar with the term ‘Brand Awareness’, but perhaps less so of Share of Voice? So what is share of voice any way, and more importantly, how do brands measure it?

Share of Voice (SOV) is a marketing metric that measures the proportion of visibility or exposure a brand has within a market compared to its competitors. It reflects how much “voice” your brand has in the conversations or media presence within your industry. SOV is often expressed as a percentage and is used to gauge a brand’s dominance or prominence in its competitive landscape.

Types of Share of Voice

SOV can be measured across various channels, such as:

Paid Advertising: Share of ad impressions, clicks, or spend in your market segment.
Social Media: Share of mentions, hashtags, or engagement (likes, comments, shares).
PR and Media Coverage: Share of earned media mentions in news outlets or blogs.
Search Engine Marketing: Share of search traffic or paid impressions for specific keywords.

Why Share of Voice Matters

Competitive Analysis: Understand how your visibility compares to competitors.
Brand Awareness: A higher SOV often correlates with greater brand awareness and top-of-mind recall.
Market Impact: Helps assess the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Growth Predictor: Consistently achieving higher SOV can lead to an increase in market share (this relationship is often referred to as “Share of Voice vs. Share of Market”).

By tracking and optimizing SOV, brands can effectively position themselves to lead in their industry.

How to Measure Brand Awareness and Share of Voice

1. Surveys and Questionnaires

Unaided Awareness: Ask respondents open-ended questions like, “What brands come to mind when you think of [your category]?”
Aided Awareness: Present a list of brands and ask, “Which of these brands are you familiar with?”
Tools: Google Forms, Typeform, SurveyMonkey.

2. Social Media Listening

Monitor mentions, hashtags, and discussions about your brand versus competitors.
Analyze sentiment, share of voice, and engagement levels.
Tools: Brand24, Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or Meltwater.

3. Search Volume Analysis

Use tools to compare search volumes for your brand name and competitors over time.
Tools: Google Trends, Ahrefs, SEMrush.

4. Website Traffic and Branded Search

Measure traffic driven by branded search terms (e.g., searches specifically for your brand name).
Compare this data with competitors if available.
Tools: Google Analytics, SimilarWeb.

5. Share of Voice

Calculate the percentage of brand mentions compared to the total mentions in your industry.
Track this across media channels, PR mentions, and advertisements.
Tools: Mention, Brandwatch, BuzzSumo.

6. Media Impressions and Reach

Track reach and impressions of your ads, social media campaigns, or PR efforts to gauge visibility.
Tools: Google Ads, Facebook Ads Manager, Media monitoring platforms.

7. Content Engagement Metrics

Analyze how people interact with your content (likes, comments, shares).
Use engagement rates to assess whether your audience is engaging more with your brand than others.
Tools: Native platform analytics (Instagram Insights, LinkedIn Analytics).

8. Third-Party Reports and Rankings

Reference reports that rank brand awareness in your industry.
Example sources: Nielsen surveys, Ipsos, Statista, or industry-specific benchmarking studies.

9. Event and Campaign Metrics

Track participation, leads generated, and social buzz after events or campaigns.
Look for spikes in mentions, site visits, and sales.

10. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Measure customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend your brand, which indirectly reflects awareness and share of mind.
Question: “How likely are you to recommend [brand] to a friend?”
Tools: Delighted, Qualtrics.