From Clicks to Clarity: Why Share of Voice Is Your Retail Media Power Metric
Helping small and emerging brands claim their space in marketplace ad real-estate
In today’s commerce environment, brands don’t just “advertise” — they fight for attention, placement, and relevance within the retail media ecosystem. For emerging and scaling brands (and that’s who BirdDog exists to serve) one of the most powerful metrics for winning in this ecosystem is Share of Voice (SOV). When you understand and act on SOV, you’re not just optimizing for cost-per-click or return on ad spend (ROAS) — you’re optimizing for visibility, influence, and market dominance.
In this guide we’ll walk you through what SOV means in the retail media context, why it matters for brands, how to calculate and track it, and how to use it to power your growth strategy.
What is Share of Voice in Retail Media?
At its core, Share of Voice measures the proportion of ad exposure (or visibility) your brand commands in a marketplace compared to competitors. In other words: of all the ad impressions, placements or traffic in a given category, how much belongs to you.
When applied to retail media (on supermarket-websites, marketplace search, sponsored product listings, etc.), SOV becomes a way to benchmark your presence, relative to your competitors, across keywords, categories and retailers. As one guide puts it: “SOV analysis in retail media is one of the most critical KPIs … it measures your brand’s visibility in a marketplace relative to its competitors for the keywords you’re investing in.”
Importantly:
SOV isn’t just about organic ranking or shelf space — it’s about paid visibility (though you’ll often extend SOV analysis into organic/total presence).
SOV gives you a competitive lens — you’re not just looking at your own ad metrics, you’re looking at how you stack up.
Because retail media is increasingly a marketplace arms race, SOV helps you shift from “Is my ROAS good?” to “Am I dominating the visibility playground?”
On marketplaces like Amazon, SOV may also be defined as the percentage of search results or ad placements your brand appears in for key terms. For example, if in the top 10 search results for “camouflage sunglasses” you appear twice, you have ~20% SOV for that keyword on that moment in time.
Why SOV Matters for Emerging Brands
If you’re a small or emerging brand looking to scale, SOV is a powerful lever for several reasons.
Visibility breeds opportunity
A higher SOV means your brand is more visible when buyers search, browse and encounter ads. One article points out:
“If your products do not show up high in the search results … your chances of earning a sale for that customer’s search are very low.”
Visibility in retail media is especially important because traffic is increasingly shifting to marketplaces and retailer ad networks.
Competitive benchmarking and threat detection
SOV helps you spot where competitors are gaining ground, where you’re being out-spent or out-placed, and where you might be leaving opportunity on the table. For small and emerging brands, getting out-in front of that competitive dynamic is the difference between slow incremental growth and breaking out.
Influence over market share
A larger SOV often correlates with larger market share (or the potential thereof). According to one retail-media guide:
“On Amazon… SOV measures the percentage of times your brand or product appears in search results, sponsored placements, and other key locations … A higher Share of Voice means your products are appearing more frequently, leading to increased impressions, higher traffic, and ultimately, more sales.” In short: SOV is not just a vanity metric — it’s a leading indicator of growth potential.
Strategic ad spend allocation
Finally, SOV helps you allocate ad budgets smarter. If you see your SOV is weakened in a key keyword or placement, you know you need to raise bids, improve placement, or shift budget to reclaim share. One example: a brand saw only ~10 % SOV on key Amazon keywords, while on another retailer they saw > 90% SOV — this pointed them to invest more in the lower-competition retailer.
For emerging brands, this kind of insight allows you to punch above your size.
How to Calculate and Track SOV
Understanding how to calculate SOV — and more importantly establish an ongoing tracking process — is critical. Here are the components.
Formulas and key variations
Basic SOV formula:
SOV (%) = (Your Brand’s Ad Impressions) ÷ (Total Ad Impressions in the Market) × 100
You can also calculate SOV based on spend, clicks, placements or organic appearances (depending on what visibility metric you care about).
On marketplaces like Amazon, SOV might be approximated by:
SOV = (Number of times your brand appears in first page search results for keyword) ÷ (Total slots on first page) × 100
Types of SOV to consider
Paid SOV: Your visibility in sponsored listings, display ads, video ads, etc.
Organic/Total SOV (sometimes called Share of Shelf): Your combined visibility from both paid & organic placements. One guide distinguishes the two:
“The key difference is that SOV primarily measures your brand’s visibility through paid advertising. Share of Shelf (SOS) includes both paid and organic visibility.”Keyword SOV: SOV tracking for a specific high-value keyword (or cluster).
Category / Retailer SOV: Your visibility across a category or within a specific retailer’s ecosystem.
Establishing a tracking process
Here’s a recommended workflow for emerging brands:
Identify your priority keywords / placements. Focus your SOV measurement where it matters: branded terms, high-volume non-branded keywords in your category, major retailer search results.
Collect impression/spend/placement data (from your retailer ad dashboard or DSP). Also try to estimate or source competitor totals (where available).
Compute the SOV for each keyword/placement using the formula above.
Benchmarks: Understand what a “good” SOV is in your category/retailer (often 20-30%+ is strong, but varies)7.
Track over time — SOV is most powerful when you measure changes weekly or monthly to detect drift, competitor incursions, or momentum.
Visualise and report — include SOV charts alongside your ROAS/ACoS dashboards so visibility becomes part of your story.
Alert on drops — Because SOV can change rapidly (competitor bids, retailer algorithm shifts, promotions), set alerts when key SOV metrics decline by X %.
How to Use SOV to Drive Growth
Knowing your SOV is only the first step. The real value comes from using it to act strategically. Here are actionable tactics.
Fill visibility gaps
If your SOV for a high-priority keyword is low (say <10 %), that’s a visibility gap. Possible responses:
Increase bids/promotions for that keyword to raise impression share.
Add or optimise placements (top-of-search, first fold) where you’re underrepresented.
Increase organic ranking efforts (since that feeds total SOV).
e.g. a beauty brand saw SOV jump 24% and organic search share up 36% by raising bids on underperforming keywords and securing top placements — without significantly increasing budget.
Prioritise less crowded retailers
SOV can reveal where competition is lighter and opportunity higher. For instance, a brand found that on Amazon no one had more than ~10% SOV on certain keywords (84 brands competing) — but on Walmart, one brand held >90% SOV for the same keywords due to fewer advertisers.
As an emerging brand this means: don’t always follow the crowd. Sometimes the best opportunity is where SOV is easier to win.
Leverage SOV to boost organic performance
Paid visibility often drives sales which can then drive organic ranking — creating a “halo effect.” Use SOV strategy not just to increase ad impressions, but to trigger sales momentum, improve organic presence, and thereby raise total share of shelf.
Combine SOV with incrementality and ROAS
Visibility only matters if it leads to incremental sales. The best brands combine SOV tracking with incrementality (iROAS) and ROAS metrics. The guide notes:
Use SOV to spot where you’re under-represented.
Test increasing presence in those placements.
Measure whether incremental sales result (not just conversions you’d have had anyway).
Adjust budget accordingly — for example, you might choose to maintain high SOV in key placements even if ROAS is lower, because the visibility gains are strategic.
Guard your brand space
Monitor competitor moves: if you see your SOV dropping, it may be because a competitor is bidding your branded keywords, running aggressive promotions, or advertising in your turf. SOV tracking gives you early warning so you can respond.
As a brand scaling on marketplaces, proactive brand defense via SOV is as important as growth.
Best Practices & Blueprint for Smaller/Emerging Brands
Here are practical best practices tailored specifically for small and emerging brands looking to scale in retail media.
Pick focus keywords smartly: Choose ~3-5 high-impact keywords or search placements where SOV will matter most to your brand. Don’t try to track everything at once.
Define target SOV benchmarks: Set realistic yet aspirational SOV targets (e.g., 15 % within 90 days) rather than just “increase impressions”.
Include SOV in your weekly reporting: Make SOV a KPI alongside spend, ROAS, conversion rate. This helps keep visibility top-of-mind.
Allocate budget by SOV opportunity: If you’re underrepresented (SOV very low) on a key term, shift budget there. Also look for opportunity in less competitive retailers.
Don’t ignore organic linkage: Visibility comes from paid and organic. Make sure your product listings are optimised (titles, bullets, images, reviews) so that paid traffic can convert and feed organic ranking. (As one Amazon-focused guide notes: high SOV helps boost organic placement.)
Use automation and tracking tools: Manual SOV tracking is possible but drains resources. If you can invest, use a platform that tracks SOV across keywords and retailers.
Regularly monitor competitor SOV shifts: A rise in competitor SOV could signal a looming threat (promotion, new entrant) — you want to be ready.
Segment by product lifecycle: New product launches may require aggressive SOV build (higher budget, higher bids) to gain visibility. Established SKUs might maintain SOV and focus on conversion efficiency.
Avoid viewing SOV in isolation: Make sure you interpret SOV in context — for example, a 20 % SOV with weak conversion may not be better than a 10 % SOV with high conversion. Use SOV and performance metrics together.
Communicate with your agency or internal team: Make sure SOV goals and tracking are built into your activation plan, not treated as an after-thought.
How BirdDog Partners With Brands to Win SOV
At BirdDog Media Agency our mission is to help small and emerging brands launch, build and scale successful commerce businesses — and SOV is a core growth lever in that mission.
Here’s how we typically work with brands on SOV:
Baseline audit: We evaluate your current SOV (across retailers, keywords, placements) and identify visibility gaps and competitive threats.
SOV roadmap: We define target SOV benchmarks aligned with your growth goals (launch, scale, defend) and map out the key keywords/placements to prioritise.
Activation strategy: We optimise your ad campaigns, bids, placements, conversions, and listing optimisations—all with the objective of raising SOV sustainably.
Tracking & reporting: We include SOV metrics in weekly/monthly dashboards, so you always know how visible you are compared to competition (not just how many clicks you got).
Growth flywheel: As your SOV increases and drives sales, that drives organic ranking, which further increases visibility and SOV (a positive reinforcement loop).
Competitive monitoring & agility: We keep a pulse on competitor activity (promotions, new entrants) and adjust SOV-strategy to defend your turf.
For emerging brands, the difference between being invisible and having a strong presence often comes down to SOV. If you’re serious about claiming your space in retail media, you can’t ignore it.
Case Studies of Success
Here are two illustrative stories you can reference or embed as sidebars.
Case Study A: Personal Care Brand (Amazon SOV Excellence)
Strategy: This brand aggressively built SOV in Amazon search results — combining paid sponsorship, top-of-search placements, and strong organic listing optimization.
Outcome: +92 % SOV (i.e., they captured nearly all the available voice in their category/keyword set) → 63 % higher conversion rate + 213 % revenue increase.
Key learnings: Visibility drives conversion, and paid + organic have synergy. Emerging brands should aim for high SOV early in their lifecycle while the category is less saturated.
Case Study B: Multi-Category SOV vs Market Share Analysis
Research across ~50 categories looked at brand SOV vs market share on Amazon.
Findings: In categories like Makeup (which had >0 growth), a 1 % bump in total SOV drove ~0.325 % market-share gain. In more mature categories (like Laptop Computers), the ex-gain was ~0.17 %.
Implication: The “bang for your SOV buck” varies by category; newer/fast-growing categories see higher returns. Brands in mature spaces will need bigger SOV investment to move the needle.
Final Thoughts: Visibility Wins
In the fast-evolving world of retail media, chasing lower ACoS or improving ROAS alone won’t be enough. Visibility matters just as much — if not more. A high visibility brand wins not only because it gets seen — but because it drives impressions, traffic, conversion, organic ranking, and competitive momentum.
For small and emerging brands, building Share of Voice becomes a strategic lever: it’s about presence, influence, competitive context, and market share — not just individual clicks or conversions. The sooner you make SOV part of your core dashboard, the faster you’ll shift from reactive advertising to proactive brand growth.
At BirdDog, we’re passionate about helping you own that visibility — and build a flywheel where visibility drives sales, which drive ranking, which drives even more visibility. If you haven’t already, make SOV a part of your strategy, track it weekly, act on it aggressively, and you’ll be setting your brand on a path to scale.
If you’re ready to move from “who’s being seen?” to “we own the space”, we’d be delighted to talk through how BirdDog can help you build and sustain a high-visibility presence in retail media. Let’s make sure your brand doesn’t just participate — it dominates.