--- title: "What is Share of Voice? — Social Media Glossary | Postpone" canonical_url: "https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/share-of-voice" last_updated: "2026-10-08T07:17:13.782Z" meta: description: "Share of voice is your brand's portion of the total conversation in your industry, measured against your competitors." "og:description": "Share of voice is your brand's portion of the total conversation in your industry, measured against your competitors." "og:title": "What is Share of Voice? — Social Media Glossary" "twitter:description": "Share of voice is your brand's portion of the total conversation in your industry, measured against your competitors." "twitter:title": "What is Share of Voice? — Social Media Glossary" --- **Analytics & Metrics** # Share of Voice Share of voice is your brand's portion of the total conversation in your industry, measured against your competitors. [**Reddit **post scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/reddit-post-scheduler) [** X **post scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/twitter-post-scheduler) [** Instagram **scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/instagram-post-scheduler) [** Facebook **scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/facebook-post-scheduler) [** LinkedIn **scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/linkedin-scheduler) [** TikTok **post scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/tiktok-post-scheduler) [** Threads **scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/threads-scheduler) [** Pinterest **scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/pinterest-scheduler) [** YouTube **Shorts scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/youtube-shorts-scheduler) [** Bluesky **post scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/bluesky-post-scheduler) [** Tumblr **scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/tumblr-post-scheduler) [** Mastodon **post scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/mastodon-post-scheduler) Share of voice measures how much of the conversation your brand owns relative to your competitors. If people in your industry are talking online and 30% of those conversations mention your brand, you have a 30% share of voice. ## How It's Calculated **Share of Voice = (Your Brand Mentions / Total Industry Mentions) x 100** "Mentions" can include direct brand name mentions, tagged posts, hashtag usage, review content, and discussion threads. The broader your definition, the more accurate the picture. You can calculate share of voice across all platforms combined or break it down per platform. You might dominate the conversation on Reddit but barely register on Instagram — that insight helps you allocate resources. ## Why It Correlates with Market Share Research consistently shows a link between share of voice and market share. Brands that are talked about more tend to sell more. This makes intuitive sense — the brand that comes to mind first when someone needs a product is the one that gets bought. This relationship works in both directions. Growing your share of voice through marketing and content tends to grow your market share over time. And losing share of voice — letting competitors dominate the conversation — usually precedes a decline in sales. ## Measuring Share of Voice You'll need social listening tools to track this properly. Manual counting doesn't scale. Tools like Brandwatch, Meltwater, Sprout Social, and Mention track brand mentions across platforms and compare them to competitors. When setting up tracking, include: - Your brand name and common misspellings - Your product names - Competitor brand names and products - Industry-specific hashtags and keywords - Key phrases associated with your category ## Organic vs. Paid Share of Voice Organic share of voice comes from earned mentions — people talking about you naturally. Paid share of voice comes from ad impressions and sponsored content. Both matter, but organic share of voice is more valuable because it reflects genuine brand awareness and preference. You can buy paid impressions, but you can't buy people voluntarily talking about your brand. ## Increasing Your Share of Voice **Create content people reference.** Original research, unique data, and strong opinions get cited and shared. Republishing generic advice doesn't generate conversations. **Engage in existing conversations.** Join discussions in your industry on Reddit, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Responding thoughtfully to relevant threads puts your brand in the conversation without forcing it. **Respond to every mention.** Acknowledging people who talk about your brand encourages more conversation. Ignoring mentions does the opposite. **Monitor competitor gaps.** When a competitor goes quiet or faces backlash, the conversation space opens up. Being ready to fill that gap with valuable content can shift share of voice in your direction quickly. **Example** In a fitness supplement niche, your brand gets mentioned 800 times in a month across social platforms. Your three main competitors get 400, 600, and 200 mentions respectively. Your share of voice is 40% (800 out of 2,000 total mentions). ## **Why It Matters** Share of voice predicts market share. Brands that dominate the conversation tend to dominate sales. Tracking it reveals whether your marketing is keeping pace with competitors or losing ground — before revenue numbers confirm it. ## **Related Terms** [Competitor Analysis](https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/competitor-analysis) [Impressions](https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/impressions) [Organic Reach](https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/organic-reach) [Sentiment Analysis](https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/sentiment-analysis) [Social Listening](https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/social-listening) [**← Back to Social Media Glossary **](https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary)