Share of Voice vs Share of Market in the Era of AI

Remember the days when TV ads and billboards measured marketing success?

Well, times have changed, and so have how we measure success.

Today, it’s all about Share of Voice (SOV) and Share of Market (SOM). As AI enters mainstream media, things are getting even more interesting.

Let’s break it down with a real-world example.

Imagine you run ‘X,’ your own brand of organic coffee. You notice 100 social media posts about organic coffee brands, and 25 mention X. Congrats! Your share of voice is 25%. This means you capture a fourth of the online conversation about organic coffee.

Interesting, right?

Now, you might be wondering: “Does all this online presence actually help with sales?” Well, that’s the million-dollar question, and it’s precisely what this blog post is all about.

In this guide, you can learn more about Share of Voice and Share of Market, how these metrics work, why they matter in today’s AI-driven world, and how to use them to boost your brand. So, let’s get started.

What is Share of Voice?

Share of Voice is a marketing metric that measures how much of the conversation your brand owns in your industry or niche. It’s like checking how loud your voice is in a crowded room.

In simple terms, SOV is your visibility against the competitors. It gives an overall view of your brand’s position in the market.

SOV can be measured across various marketing channels:

• Social media mentions
• Online reviews
• Search engine results
• Voice data
• Paid advertising impressions
• PR mentions

The higher your SOV, the more visible and influential your brand is across channels like websites, ads, and social media accounts. It’s a key indicator of brand awareness and can often predict future market share.

How to Calculate Share of Voice?

Ready for some math? Don’t worry, it’s pretty simple.

Here’s the basic formula for calculating Share of Voice:

SOV = (Your Brand Mentions / Total Market Mentions) x 100

Let’s break this down for different channels:

PR Share of Voice

PR SOV helps to assess the result of a PR campaign. It measures how often your brand is mentioned in media outlets compared to your competitors.

For example, if 1000 articles were published last month about smartphones, and 200 mentioned your brand, then your PR SOV would be 20%.

PPC Share of Voice

SOV in pay-per-click advertising refers to how often your ads appear for relevant searches compared to your competitors. It’s often measured using impression share columns in ad platforms.

Let’s say that out of 1000 total impressions for your target keywords on Google ads, if your ad showed up 300 times, then your PPC SOV would be 30%.

SEO Share of Voice

SEO SOV refers to how visible your website is in organic search results compared to your competitors for relevant keywords.

Let’s say if your website appears in the top 10 results for 40 out of 100 relevant keywords; your SEO SOV would be 40%.

AI Share of Voice Tools

Here are some mind-blowing AI tools that can help you track and improve your SOV:

1. Brandwatch: This AI tool lets you analyze millions of posts daily to get real-time insights into your brand’s SOV.
2. Sprout Social: By leveraging AI, Sprout Social provides detailed SOV reports across various social media platforms.
3. SEMrush: SEMrush offers comprehensive SOV analysis for both organic and paid searches. They also highlight areas to improve your keyword and campaign settings for better results.
4. Talkwalker: The advanced tool helps to analyze SOV across social media, blogs, forums, and news sites in real-time.
5. Meltwater: The tool allows you to track SOV across both traditional and social media channels.
6. Socialsonic: The AI-powered LinkedIn personal branding tool can help build your online presence and increase SOV.

These AI tools can save you countless hours of manual data collection and analysis, providing more accurate and actionable insights.

Traditional Share of Voice Tools

While AI tools are making waves, don’t underestimate the power of traditional SOV tools. These tried-and-tested platforms still offer valuable insights:

1. Mention: Tracks brand mentions across the web and social media. Our custom reports feature will allow you to get automated reports about Share of Voice.
2. Google Analytics: Great for tracking your website’s performance and organic search visibility.
3. Hootsuite: Offers social media monitoring and SOV analysis across multiple platforms.
4. BuzzSumo: Analyzes content performance and social engagement, contributing to SOV measurement.
5. Ahrefs: Provides detailed SEO analysis, including keyword rankings that contribute to organic SOV.

How AI is Reshaping SOV

1. Sentiment Analysis: AI can now understand not just if you’re mentioned but how you’re mentioned. A negative mention might actually harm your brand more than no mention at all.
2. Context Understanding: Modern AI algorithms can grasp the nuances of conversations. A mention in a highly relevant, industry-specific discussion is worth more than multiple mentions in the general posts.
3. Predictive Analytics: AI-powered predictive analytics tools can forecast trending topics, allowing brands to get ahead of the conversation rather than just reacting to it.
4. Cross-Platform Integration: AI tools can track SOV across multiple platforms simultaneously, giving a more holistic view of brand presence.
5. Real-Time Optimization: With AI, you can adjust your SOV strategy on the fly based on immediate feedback and results.

Pro Tip: Don’t just chase mentions. Leverage these AI tools to analyze the quality and context of your brand’s presence in conversations. Remember, it’s better to have few high-quality mentions in relevant discussions than to be everywhere without any impact.

How to Increase Your Share of Voice: Practical Tips

Now that you know how to measure SOV, let’s talk about how to increase it:

1. Create high-quality content: Remember, the more valuable your content is, the more likely people are to engage with and share it. Use ChatGPT or other ChatGPT alternatives to get creative content ideas and keep up the pace.
2. Engage actively on social media: Don’t just keep posting; respond to comments and join conversations to increase your brand’s visibility.
3. Optimize for SEO: Improve your website’s search engine rankings to enhance your website traffic and increase your organic SOV.
4. Leverage influencer partnerships: Collaborating with influencers can significantly boost your brand mentions and visibility.
5. Invest in PR: Getting featured in media outlets can dramatically increase your SOV.
6. Use paid advertising strategically: PPC campaigns can help increase your visibility for key search terms.
7. Monitor and respond to brand mentions: Engaging with people who mention your brand can encourage more conversation and boost your SOV.

What is Share of Market?

While Share of Voice measures your brand’s share of the overall conversation in your industry, Share of Market (SOM) measures your actual slice of the sales pie. It’s the percentage of total market sales that your company accounts for.

SOM is crucial because it directly reflects your company’s performance against competitors and indicates potential for market share growth. A high SOM often (but not always) correlates with higher profitability and market influence.

How to Calculate Share of Market?

The basic formula for calculating Share of Market is:

SOM = (Your Company’s Sales / Total Market Sales) x 100

For example, if the total market for smartphones is $100 billion, and your company’s smartphone sales are $15 billion, your SOM would be 15%.

Measuring Share of Market: Beyond the Basic Formula

While the formula is straightforward, getting accurate data can be challenging. Here are some methods to measure SOM:

1. Sales Data Analysis: Compare your sales data with industry reports or estimates of total market size.
2. Customer Surveys: Ask customers about their purchasing habits to estimate their share of their wallets.
3. Market Research Reports: Many industries have reports that provide market share data for key players.
4. Competitor Analysis: Analyze publicly available financial data from competitors to create a SWOT analysis and estimate market shares.
5. Point-of-Sale Data: In some industries, you can purchase point-of-sale data that gives a detailed view of market shares.

Share of Market Tools

AI Share of Market Tools

AI is also making waves in measuring and analyzing the Share of Market. Here are some AI-powered tools that can help:

1. Crayon: Uses AI to gather and analyze competitive intelligence, including market share data.
2. Kompyte: Provides AI-driven competitive analysis, including market share insights.
3. Salesforce Einstein: Offers AI-powered sales analytics that can help estimate market share.
4. IBM Watson Market Share Optimizer: Uses AI to analyze market share and provide optimization recommendations.
5. Zion Market Research: Leverages AI for market research, including detailed market share analysis.

Traditional Share of Market Tools

Don’t forget about these reliable tools for measuring and analyzing SOM:

1. Nielsen: Provides market share data for various industries, especially consumer goods.
2. Euromonitor: Offers detailed market research reports, including market share information.
3. IBISWorld: Provides industry reports with market share data for key players.
4. Statista: Offers market share statistics for various industries and countries.
5. MarketLine: Provides industry reports and company profiles, including market share data.

Here’s how AI is transforming SOM:

1. Predictive Market Sizing: AI can help in examining market trends and forecast when businesses’ SOM will increase or decrease.
2. Dynamic Pricing Optimization: Real-time pricing adjustments as per market conditions can be easily handled by AI.
3. Personalized Marketing at Scale: AI enables hyper-personalized marketing campaigns, which helps companies to target niche segments effectively and increase their SOM.
4. Competitive Intelligence: Easily monitor competitor actions and market trends using AI and get real-time insights to improve SOM strategies.
5. Customer Churn Prediction: By analyzing patterns in customer behavior, AI can predict potential churn, which helps companies take steps to maintain their market share.

Real-World Example: We used AI-driven competitive intelligence to identify a gap in the market for small business content creation. By quickly pivoting our product development and marketing to address this niche, we were able to capture a significant SOM in a previously untapped segment within just three months.

How to Increase Your Share of Market: Practical Tips

Want to grab a bigger piece of the market pie? Here are some strategies to consider:

1. Innovate: Develop new products or improve existing ones to attract more customers.
2. Expand your market: Enter new geographic areas or target new customer segments.
3. Improve customer retention: It’s often cheaper to keep existing customers than to acquire new ones.
4. Competitive pricing: Ensure your pricing strategy is competitive without sacrificing profitability.
5. Enhance customer experience: Superior service can help you win and retain customers.
6. Strategic partnerships: Collaborating with complementary businesses can help you reach new customers.
7. Effective marketing: Use your SOV insights to inform your marketing strategy and increase brand awareness.

Share of Voice (SOV) vs Share of Market (SOM): A Quick Glimpse

While Share of Market and Share of Voice are distinct metrics, they’re often closely related. A high share of voice can lead to increased brand awareness and consideration, which can translate into a higher market share over time.

However, it’s not always a direct correlation. A brand might have a high SOV due to controversy or negative press, which wouldn’t necessarily lead to increased market share. Conversely, a brand might have a high market share due to factors like distribution agreements or pricing strategies without necessarily dominating the conversation.

The key is to monitor both metrics and understand how they interact in your specific industry. Here’s a quick comparison:

Quick Recap

Understanding and leveraging Share of Voice and Share of Market has become crucial. These metrics provide valuable insights into your brand’s visibility and market performance, helping you make data-driven decisions to drive growth.

AI has transformed how we calculate and analyze these metrics, offering more accurate, real-time, and predictive insights than ever before.

However, the fundamental principles remain the same: to succeed, you need to be part of the conversation (SOV) and convert that conversation into sales (SOM).

So, whether you’re a small startup or a multinational corporation, start leveraging these metrics today. Use the tools and strategies we’ve discussed to increase both your Share of Voice and Share of Market.

To measure your Share of voice, try Mention for free!