Share of voice can be understandable simply when you’re scrolling through a foodie group chat, and someone’s asking for the best rice bowl spot in town. If anyone mentions your restaurant as a good place to enjoy a rice bowl topped with scramble eggs and lettuce, this means you’ve got a share. This metric measures how much your brand dominates the conversation compared to others in the same space.
Sometimes, the share of voice can be mentioned expansively as market share of voice. Some people even simplify it as SOV.
But what if your brand gets mentioned twice, while your rival racks up seven shout-outs? It means the rival grabs more share, because he gets the spotlight more frequent than you.
No, any shout-outs comes from your mom’s comment doesn’t count.
Understanding this share of voice can directly shape your real business outcomes. Foodies search “best rice bowl near me” on delivery apps, and your presence determines whether they scroll past you or tap that order button. It’s essential to transform a share of voice report into strategies that boost actual orders and turn casual mentions into steady revenue streams that keep your kitchen busy.
[Because a loud brand without hungry customers is just noise.]
When Share of Voice Tells You You’re Winning
But first, click here to find out how to measure share of voice.
Measuring share of voice breaks down into manageable steps once you know where to look. Start by identifying all the channels where customers talk about rice bowls, including Google and Bing search results, AI models like ChatGPT or Gemini, and even local food blogs. Also check social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, as well as review sites like Google Maps and TripAdvisor.
Next, gather mention counts for your brand versus your main rivals over a specific timeframe. I usually use Mention to automate this grunt work, scanning thousands of posts and reviews to tally who’s getting discussed between me and my brand’s competitor.
But if you don’t know who your competitor is, you can use HubSpot to measure your share of voice, as long as you know what industry your business is in. SEMrush is another tool where you can get a share of voice report, especially if you wanna know which AI models most frequently cite you.
If you have a limitation in using tools, you can count the share of voice by yourself. You need all the brand names in your category, then count how many times each is mentioned. Divide your total mentions by the combined mentions of all brands in your category. Then, multiply by 100 to get your percentage.
For example, if your rice bowl got 50 mentions and the entire category generated 200 mentions, you’ve captured 25% (50:200) share of voice. [25% = 50:200].
Simple math, powerful insights.
There is no actual good share of voice percentage. But a brand that sets its share of voice above its market share is likely to grow in the long term. A brand that sets its share of voice below its market share is more likely to decline. (Nielsen, 2025.)
If your rice bowl gets mentioned as often as your rival’s during lunch hour chats, you’re neck-and-neck in the attention race.
Comparing your brand’s mentions against others helps you make smarter decisions about where to invest your marketing budget. The following table summarises the share of voice from different platforms.
| Platform | What Share of Voice Reveals |
|---|---|
| Search engine | How often your brand appears in intent-driven queries. |
| Social media | Which dishes attract social engagement, or need to be featured more often? |
| Delivery apps | Whether your listings get seen or buried under competitors. |
| Mentions | Which menu items spark organic word-of-mouth buzz? |
Your scramble egg rice bowl may crush it on Instagram, but barely registers on Google searches. That’s gold-standard intelligence right there.
Share of voice tools reveal which dishes deserve the promotional spotlight and which platforms actually convert foodie browsers into paying customers. So, you ain’t throwing money at vanished marketing tricks.
Or as I call them, “campaigns that vanish faster than steam from a bakpao“.
What 100% Share of Voice Really Means
If share of voice is counted as a percentage, then some business owners wanna get 100% share of voice in their industry. Achieving this big sounds dreamy.
But, unless you’ve genuinely cornered a hyper-specific niche, maintaining total dominance requires relentless effort and substantial budget firepower. Even small shifts in share-of-voice estimates by percentage points significantly influence how brands allocate their advertising dollars (Whipple, 2011).
Commanding a 100% share of voice means every single mention, search result, and social media post in your category belongs to you. Meanwhile, others don’t exist in the conversation.
Sounds nice, but unless you’re the only rice bowl place in town, that’s about as likely as finding a no-lemongrass Thai restaurant.
Actually getting a 100% share of voice is impossible as long as you have a competitor in your industry. There’ll always be a rival or two sneaking in to steal potential customers, but using the tools I shared above can help with share-of-voice analysis. These tools pinpoint precisely where your coverage drops off, revealing gaps where your rival can fill.
Your brand may own the Instagram food scene, but others dominate AI models. This creates opportunities to boost engagement through targeted content tactics that are missing a chunk of attention.
Do you wanna know how to do a share of voice analysis? Click here.
Conducting a thorough share of voice analysis goes beyond basic counting. It requires examining patterns, sentiment, and channel performance.
Start by segmenting your data:
1. Break down mentions by platform (e.g website versus AI models versus Instagram) and content type (organic posts versus paid promotions). This granular view reveals which efforts generate buzz and which fall flat.
2. Compare your share of voice trends against business outcomes like order volume spikes or revenue dips. Did that Instagram influencer feature correlate with a 15% jump in SOV? Did your rival’s discount campaign steal 10% of your mentions? Share of voice reports become actionable when you spot these connections.
3. Also, do cross-reference sentiment analysis. High share of voice means nothing if customers are complaining about your soggy rice. Some tools can provide sentiment breakdowns showing whether your mentions carry positive, negative, or neutral vibes. This helps you understand not just how often you’re discussed, but how favourably.
Don’t just count the chatter. Make sure people ain’t saying your scramble eggs tastes like regret.
From Voice Data to Real Business Wins
Basic share-of-voice reports hand you numbers. But translating those figures into profit-generating strategies requires deeper interpretation.
Follow this list to turn voice data into actual revenue:
Collaborate with experts who decode data. As a content strategist, I can help connect share-of-voice figures to identify which menu promotions actually drove foot traffic.
Account for AI-powered discovery. Modern tracking must include how customers find brands through AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini, not just traditional search engines.
Track lead sources with precision. Add a “How did you find us?” field to your order forms. Write options mentioning Google, ChatGPT, Instagram, or friend recommendations. This will create a feedback loop connecting metrics to actual revenue.
Transform data into strategic decisions. This approach turns your share of voice calculator from a dashboard curiosity into a compass guiding every promotional decision and every search organic campaign. This expands your brand’s footprint across multiple platforms simultaneously. It turns likes and mentions into full tables and a longer waiting list.
Make Your Brand Unforgettable
Share of voice is a mirror reflecting how memorable your brand truly is in the minds of hungry customers scrolling through endless food options. Try to understand which platforms spread your voice and which conversations you’re missing entirely. It will give you the power to transform casual browsers into loyal regulars who choose your rice bowl over the dozen other options.
Consider partnering with a strategist who can help translate raw data into delightful customer experiences that keep them coming back. When you need to optimise your Google presence, as a content strategist, I can turn confusion into clarity and metrics into money-making momentum.
Because, data without action is just pretty numbers on a screen.
Vicky Laurentina, 2025
Ready to make your rice bowl brand the talk of every foodie feed? Learn how to grow your share of voice by discussing more with me. Get my contact down here.
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