How do you measure social media share of voice for your brand?

Connecting with your team leaders is incredibly important when it comes to goals and benchmarks. Often times, senior leaders are a bit detached from social media, and ensuring they have an active say in what you are looking to achieve as a social media manager is key.

This is fundamental that will help steer your social media methodology. So, it’s crucial to consult stakeholders. Secure their buy in. Listen. Gather their input. Only after considering their perspectives should you determine what to benchmark for. Whether you’re an internal or outsourced social media manager, it’s essential to recognize that your work is interconnected with the goals of diverse stakeholders within a company you represent.

From my experience, Share Of Voice is a metric that helps you analyse the % of conversation about your industry is related to your brand, compared to your competitors. However, there are 2 main formulas to measure the SOV, and this is one of the key aspects to analyse before defining your strategy and goals: 1. Traditional SOV: (Number of brand mentions ÷ Total number of industry or competitor mentions) x 100 2. Engagements SOV: (Number of brand total engagements ÷ Total number of engagements in the industry) x 100

Defining clear objectives and benchmarks is essential for any digital marketing strategy, particularly when measuring SOV. As an expert in analytics tracking and optimization, I stress the importance of setting specific, measurable goals that align with your overall business objectives. Whether it's increasing SOV on a particular platform or for certain keywords, it's crucial to establish a baseline and a realistic timeline for achieving these targets. Utilizing tools like Google Analytics 4 can provide the granular data needed to track progress and make informed decisions to optimize your SOV effectively.

Step: Clearly define what you want to achieve with your Share of Voice (SOV) analysis. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, improve engagement, or outperform competitors? Action: Set specific, measurable goals and establish benchmarks based on past performance or industry standards.

Unless you are a massive B2C enterprise, this can often be a bit more simple than expected. Using tools like those listed above is a really important way to analyze the data for your SOV.

Step: Select the right tools and platforms that can track and analyze your brand’s mentions and interactions across social media. Action: Use tools like Brandwatch, Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or Google Analytics to gather data from various social media channels.

Step: Identify the keywords, hashtags, and phrases that are relevant to your brand, industry, and competitors. Action: Use these keywords and filters to track mentions, conversations, and interactions that involve your brand and its competitors.

Step: Measure the volume of your brand’s mentions relative to the total mentions in your industry or niche. Action: Use the formula: SOV = (Brand Mentions / Total Industry Mentions) x 100. Compare your brand’s mentions against your competitors to determine your share.

Tools like Canva or Flourish can also make this way easier! Sometimes keeping it simple can really be the best way to convey info to someone who is unfamiliar with social media.

Step: Create visual reports that clearly display your SOV data and insights. Action: Use charts, graphs, and dashboards to present your findings. Tools like Tableau, Power BI, or built-in analytics features in social media management tools can be helpful.

Step: Analyze your SOV data to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. Action: Implement strategies to boost your brand’s presence, such as increasing engagement, optimizing content, and enhancing your social media campaigns.