Share of voice on social is your brand's slice of the conversation compared with a set of competitors. You can build a working benchmark in one afternoon: pick five brands, pick three channels, count the same thing for each over 30 days, and divide.
TLDR: Share of voice equals your count divided by the total for all brands in the set, times 100. Use two counts, mentions and engagement, because they tell different stories. Repeat monthly with the same list.
Decide what you are counting
"Voice" can mean three things. Pick one or two, not all.
| Measure | What it tells you | Where the data comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Mention share | How often people talk about each brand | Search and monitoring for brand names |
| Engagement share | How much reaction each brand's own posts get | Each brand's public posts |
| Post share | How much each brand publishes | Counting posts |
Mention share is the closest to the classic idea. Engagement share is easier to collect. Post share is a useful extra, because a brand that posts three times as much will usually look louder.
Set it up in five steps
- Choose five brands. You, plus four that buyers really compare you with. Skip giants that have nothing to do with your category.
- Choose three channels. Where your buyers are. Do not add a fourth just because it exists.
- Fix a 30-day window. The same dates for every brand. Note any launch or event that falls inside.
- Count each measure per brand per channel. Put the numbers in one sheet with brands as rows and channels as columns.
- Calculate the share. For each cell, divide by the column total. Then add up for a cross-channel view.
Example with made-up numbers: your brand has 40 mentions out of a total of 200 for five brands. Your share of voice is 40 divided by 200, which is 20%.
Add a size correction
Raw engagement favours big accounts. A fairer second view is engagement per post, which levels the field when one brand posts constantly.
A sanity check helps here. In Mydrop's data, the median engagement rate per post was 3.1% on Instagram, 3.0% on TikTok and 1.1% on Facebook. If a competitor's rate looks far above those, look for a viral outlier before you decide they are winning.
Read the result without fooling yourself
Three habits keep the benchmark honest.
- Look at the trend, not the single month. A launch can spike one brand for weeks.
- Remove outliers by name. If one post carries 60% of a brand's engagement, show the share with and without it.
- Pair the number with a question. "We hold 12% on LinkedIn but 28% on Instagram" is only useful if you then ask why, and what you will change.
Do not compare share across channels as if they were equal. A 20% share on a small channel is worth less than 10% on the one your buyers use.
Pull share-of-voice inputs from one dashboard
The counting is the slow part. Mydrop's social monitoring can collect mentions for the terms you track, and multi-profile benchmarking puts your own accounts side by side with the same metrics. Our guide on choosing between multi-profile benchmarking and audits helps you pick the right view.
For clients, the reports feature produces white-label PDFs with share links and scheduled delivery, so the monthly benchmark can arrive by itself.
What to do with the number
Share of voice is only worth tracking if it changes a decision. Three common uses:
- Pick a channel to push. Where your share is lowest but your buyers are active.
- Pick a competitor to study. The one gaining share fastest. Look at what they post, not just how much.
- Set a goal. Gain five points on one channel in a quarter, with a plan attached.
Build your first version today
Open a sheet, list five brands and three channels, and count post share first. It takes under an hour and needs no tools. Add mentions and engagement next. Then set a monthly reminder to repeat it with the same window.
When you want to stop counting by hand, start free on Mydrop and connect your accounts to see your side of the benchmark without the spreadsheet.
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