Share of Voice Statistics for 2026: Advertising Spend, Market Impact, Channel Performance, and Brand Growth

In 2026, competitive visibility is not a passive outcome, it is an actively managed metric. Brands across every category are grappling with a more fragmented media landscape, more sophisticated audiences, and greater pressure to prove that marketing investment translates into measurable market position. Share of voice (SOV) sits at the center of this challenge.

SOV measures the percentage of total market advertising, mentions, or conversations a brand owns relative to its competitors. Whether calculated through media spend, social media mentions, organic search impressions, or earned media coverage, SOV functions as a leading indicator one that frequently predicts market share movement before sales data does. Research consistently shows that brands whose SOV exceeds their share of market (SOM) tend to grow, while those in the reverse position tend to shrink.

For PR teams, the metric signals campaign effectiveness. For media planners, it calibrates budget decisions. For CMOs, it benchmarks competitive standing across channels. For B2B and B2C marketers alike, it frames how aggressively a brand must invest to maintain or grow its position.

This article compiles more than 60 share of voice statistics, drawn from primary research, first-party platform data, institutional studies, and industry reports published within the last two years. Data spans advertising spend allocation, the ESOV-to-market-share relationship, social listening adoption, PR measurement practices, channel-specific benchmarks, and industry-level norms.

Scope and Methodology

Includes only publicly available share of voice statistics relevant for 2026.
Based on the latest figures published within the last two years.
Sources include primary research, first-party platform data, institutional studies, and industry reports.
Each statistic is listed separately with its original source and study context.
No estimates, forecasts, interpretations, or recommendations are included.

Key Share of Voice Statistics for 2026

40% of PR professionals regularly measure share of voice, making it the fifth most commonly tracked metric in PR, based on a 2024 study by Muck Rack.
20% of PR professionals report that share of voice is an untrustworthy metric, making it simultaneously the fifth most measured and the fifth least trusted PR metric, based on a 2024 study by Muck Rack.
For every 10 percentage points of Excess Share of Voice (ESOV) a brand achieves, it can expect an average market share gain of 0.5% per year, based on analysis of the IPA Databank published in 2007 by Les Binet and Peter Field, IPA.
U.S. retailers spent 59% of their advertising budget on digital channels, 29% on TV, 7% on audio, and the remainder on print and outdoor, on average in 2024 (November 2023 to October 2024), based on a 2025 report by Nielsen Ad Intel.
U.S. furniture retailers allocated 64% of their advertising budgets to TV and 25% to digital in 2024, nearly the inverse of the broader retail category, based on a 2025 report by Nielsen Ad Intel.
Amazon held a 35% overall share of voice across social media conversations in Q1 2024, based on a 2024 analysis reported by Opensend.
Verizon captured 18% of the advertising share of voice in the telecommunications market in Q1 2024, based on a 2024 analysis reported by Opensend.
The social media listening market was valued at USD 8.44 billion in 2024, based on a 2024 market report by Mordor Intelligence.
55% of marketers cited share of voice, campaign sentiment, and market gap insights as essential components of their strategic planning in 2024, based on a 2024 study by Market Growth Reports.
54% of global marketers surveyed in early 2025 reported planning to cut advertising spend in 2025, based on the 2025 Annual Marketing Report by Nielsen.
Global advertising revenues surpassed USD 1 trillion for the first time in 2024, growing 9.5% to reach USD 1.04 trillion, based on a 2024 forecast by GroupM.
Digital platforms captured 72.9% of total global ad revenues in 2025, based on a 2024 forecast by GroupM.

Adoption and Usage Statistics

Over 18.7 million businesses globally utilized some form of social listening solution in 2024, representing a 26% increase in user base compared to 2022, based on a 2024 industry report by Market Growth Reports.
Over 78% of Fortune 500 companies reported using social listening tools to monitor customer sentiment and brand perception in 2024, based on a 2024 industry report by Market Growth Reports.
47% of companies used social listening tools to monitor three or more competitors regularly in 2024, based on a 2024 industry report by Market Growth Reports.
As of Q1 2022, about 61% of businesses had a social listening system as part of their social media marketing strategy, based on a 2022 survey reported by Quorage.
82% of businesses considered social listening an important element in their strategic planning as of Q1 2022, based on a 2022 survey reported by Quorage.
Only 37% of PR professionals reported using share of voice as a success metric, compared to 56% who use audience reach, based on Muck Rack’s State of PR Measurement survey, cited in a 2023 study by Muck Rack.
33% of PR professionals check their brand’s share of voice metrics on a daily basis, based on a Cision LinkedIn poll cited in a 2025 guide by Cision.
82% of PR professionals regularly measure their PR efforts, based on a 2024 study by Muck Rack.
The global social media listening and monitoring tool market was valued at USD 8,150 million in 2024, based on a 2024 market report by Credence Research.
North America led the social media listening and monitoring tool market, accounting for 40% of the total market share in 2024, based on a 2024 market report by Credence Research.

Channel Performance Statistics

The top five digital platforms Google, Meta, ByteDance, Amazon, and Alibaba controlled more than half of global ad revenues in 2024, based on a 2024 GroupM forecast reported by EMARKETER.
Digital ad spending in the United States exceeded USD 300 billion in 2024, based on a 2024 report by EMARKETER.
Video advertising topped USD 100 billion in 2024 in the United States, reaching USD 111.6 billion, based on a 2024 report by EMARKETER.
Video accounted for 63.6% of total U.S. display ad revenues by the end of 2024, based on a 2024 report by EMARKETER.
Display advertising captured 56.4% of U.S. digital ad spend in 2024, based on a 2024 report by EMARKETER.
Pure-play digital advertising, including search, retail media, and social, rose 12.4% in 2024, outpacing traditional channels, based on a 2024 GroupM forecast reported by EMARKETER.
Google represented 79.1% of the global online search engine market on desktop devices as of March 2025, based on data from StatCounter via Statista.
Bing accounted for 12.21% of global desktop search engine market share as of March 2025, based on data from StatCounter via Statista.
North America accounted for 37.15% of the global digital ad spending market share in 2024, based on a 2025 report by Precedence Research via Yahoo Finance.
56% of global marketers reported planning to increase OTT/CTV spend in 2025, up three percentage points year-on-year, based on the 2025 Annual Marketing Report by Nielsen.
65% of global marketers said that retail media networks would play a growing role in their media strategies in 2025, based on the 2025 Annual Marketing Report by Nielsen.

Revenue and Business Impact Statistics

A 10-point gap between share of voice and share of market typically adds approximately 0.5% to market share per year, based on analysis of IPA Databank data by Les Binet and Peter Field, published in Marketing in the Era of Accountability, 2007.
Brands with negative ESOV lost market share in 80% of cases studied, based on analysis of the IPA Databank by Les Binet and Peter Field.
High ESOV campaigns reported a higher average number of large brand and business effects than the database average across metrics including profit growth, customer acquisition, retention, and pricing, based on the 2021 ACA Effectiveness Database report by Les Binet, Peter Field, and Professor Karen Nelson-Field via the IPA.
Large brands with more than 10% market share get approximately 2.5 times greater return from excess share of voice compared to smaller brands, based on Nielsen FMCG analysis cited in a study by McCann Demand.
Highly creative or fame-based campaigns that achieve ESOV can generate market share growth rates significantly higher than the standard 10:0.5 ESOV ratio, with creativity increasing the ratio to approximately 10:5, based on analysis by Les Binet and Peter Field via McCann Demand.
Marketing accounts for 10% to 35% of a brand’s equity, based on Nielsen data cited in a 2022 insights piece by Nielsen.
On average, a 1-point gain in brand metrics such as awareness and consideration drives a 1% increase in future sales, based on a 2022 study by Nielsen.
Companies that maintained marketing investment through three historic advertising downturns protected up to 9% of total annual sales, based on a 2020 analysis by Nielsen.
Long-term revenue can take a 2% hit for every quarter a brand stops advertising, based on a 2020 study by Nielsen.
On average, it takes three to five years to recover equity lost because of halted advertising, based on a 2020 analysis by Nielsen.

Audience and Behavioral Statistics

66% of global media plans were under-invested for digital video as of May 2022, based on data from Nielsen’s Predictive ROI Database cited in the 2023 Nielsen Annual Marketing Report.
Brands that closed the digital video spending gap and optimized investments could improve ROI by a median of 51%, based on 2022 data from Nielsen’s Predictive ROI Database cited in the 2023 Nielsen Annual Marketing Report.
Brand awareness ranked as global marketers’ top objective, receiving an average priority ranking of 3.0 out of 7, ahead of customer acquisition (3.1) and customer retention (3.3), based on Nielsen’s 5th Global Annual Marketing Report cited in a 2022 analysis by Marketing Charts.
Approximately two-thirds of global marketers (66%) rated brand awareness as extremely or very important as a marketing metric, based on Nielsen’s 5th Global Annual Marketing Report cited in a 2022 analysis by Marketing Charts.
52% of global marketers focused only on reach and frequency metrics due to cross-media ROI measurement challenges, based on the 2023 Nielsen Annual Marketing Report, cited in an insights piece by Nielsen.
Marketers in Europe prioritized revenue growth at 59%, compared to only 37% prioritizing brand awareness, a stark regional contrast, based on the 2025 Annual Marketing Report by Nielsen.
Marketers in North America split priorities nearly evenly between brand awareness (48%) and revenue growth (47%), based on the 2025 Annual Marketing Report by Nielsen.

B2B vs B2C Statistics

The share of voice rule applies in B2B markets just as it does in B2C markets, with 10% ESOV driving 0.7% annual market share growth in B2B contexts, based on joint research by Les Binet, Peter Field, and the LinkedIn B2B Institute cited in a LinkedIn blog post.
In B2C markets, a 10% ESOV drives 0.6% annual market share growth, slightly below the B2B figure of 0.7%, based on joint research by Les Binet, Peter Field, and the LinkedIn B2B Institute cited in a LinkedIn blog post.
The optimum B2B marketing mix involves spending roughly 50% of the budget on brand building and 50% on activation, which generates performance 4x better than purely short-term sales activation strategies, based on research by Les Binet and Peter Field for the LinkedIn B2B Institute, cited in a LinkedIn blog post.
LinkedIn generated 80% of all B2B leads from social media, surpassing Facebook, X, and Instagram, based on a 2024 analysis by Snov.io.
40% of B2B marketers identified LinkedIn as the most effective channel for generating high-quality leads, based on a 2024 analysis by Snov.io.
LinkedIn’s annual revenue reached approximately USD 16.37 billion in 2024, based on data cited in a 2025 roundup by SocialPilot.

Trust, Influence, and Perception Statistics

The median brand recall was over 70% among consumers who saw podcast, influencer, and branded marketing ads, based on a study of over 1,000 ads from Nielsen’s Brand Impact Norms database, cited in a 2022 insights piece by Nielsen.
The correlation between upper-funnel brand metrics (awareness and consideration) and marketing efficiency was 0.73 in a Nielsen study of a financial services company across approximately 20 markets, based on a 2022 study by Nielsen.
In 2025, Nike captured 49% of the sportswear social media share of voice, while Adidas held 47%, leaving Reebok and Puma at approximately 3% and 1% respectively, based on 2025 analysis by Brand24.
The long-term impact of marketing is 88% higher than the short-term impact, based on a 2020 analysis by Nielsen.
Only 13% of PR professionals rely solely on the quantity of coverage to measure success, while 23% incorporate share of voice and message pull-through as their primary method, based on research cited in a 2025 guide by Talkwalker.
35% of PR professionals track coverage volume, media types, audience demographics, share of voice, message pull-through, and engagement metrics together, forming the most advanced tier of measurement, based on research cited in a 2025 guide by Talkwalker.

Industry-Specific Statistics

Four furniture companies Wayfair, Sleep Number, Rooms to Go, and Ashley Furniture dominated the U.S. furniture advertising category with more than half of all media spend in 2024, based on a 2025 report by Nielsen Ad Intel.
IKEA and La-Z-Boy ranked fifth and sixth respectively in U.S. furniture advertising share of voice in 2024, with SOVs of 7.8% and 4.5%, based on a 2025 report by Nielsen Ad Intel.
In the e-commerce sector, brands often achieve a social share of voice between 15% and 25%, based on benchmarks reported by Umbrex.
B2B SaaS companies generally achieve a social share of voice averaging between 10% and 20%, based on benchmarks reported by Umbrex.
The travel industry typically sees share of voice benchmarks ranging from 25% to 40%, with airlines and hotel chains leveraging loyalty programs often reporting SOV of approximately 30%, based on benchmarks reported by Umbrex.
The food and beverage sector typically sees average social share of voice ranging from 10% to 20%, based on benchmarks reported by Umbrex.
Share of search represents 83% of a brand’s market share in key category analyses, and when share of search changes, share of market follows, based on a 2021 study by the IPA’s share of search think tank led by James Hankins, reported by Marketing Week.

Regional or Geographic Statistics

U.S. political advertising reached USD 15.1 billion in 2024, up 30% from 2020, based on a 2024 GroupM forecast reported by EMARKETER.
The United States, China, and United Kingdom are expected to remain the largest markets for ad revenue growth in 2025, based on a 2024 GroupM forecast reported by EMARKETER.
North America commanded 39.9% of the global social media listening market revenue in 2024, based on a 2024 industry report by Grand View Research.
The brand management segment accounted for the largest share of the social media listening market revenue in 2024, based on a 2024 industry report by Grand View Research.
60% of European marketers planned to cut advertising spend in 2025, a higher rate than the global average of 54%, based on the 2025 Annual Marketing Report by Nielsen.
Asia-Pacific saw nearly equal splits between brand awareness (50%) and revenue growth (52%) as top marketing priorities in 2025, based on the 2025 Annual Marketing Report by Nielsen.

References

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