Walt Denny Inc. Blog

Track Share of Voice to Improve Your Marketing Message

    To increase customer loyalty, generate word of mouth and bring outside ideas into your organization, monitor your business’ share of voice (SOV).  With countless media channels, millions of competing voices and a massive, active social media audience, it is important to know how much of your business’ marketing messages are being heard.  It’s also smart to be aware of what customers, prospects and the media are saying about your organization.    

    SOV is the percentage of marketing communications that reaches a select audience from either social media or traditional efforts.  According to a Nielsen Media survey, online peer recommendations carry the same amount of weight in trust as a business’ website.  By actively marketing, you will keep your business and products in the forefront of prospects’ minds.   Monitoring the effectiveness of your messages provides you with measurable data.  

To Strengthen your Business, Take a Page from Magazine Advertising

The magazine industry has made changes to survive the times, such as producing digital editions or gravitating to a specific niche.  Most importantly, magazines offer advertisers new options. 

In the first quarter of 2009, 167 magazines hit the newsstands for the first time.   92% of U.S. adults read magazines and spend more than $86 million on single copy magazines each week, reports the Magazine Publishers of America. 

 Magazine advertising drives people to action.  The Magazine Publishers of America’s report on accountability identifies magazine ads as the leading medium for prompting web searches across all age demographics.  Research shows that ad messages with web addresses triple website traffic compared to ads without a URL.  According to Affinity’s VISTA Print Effectiveness Rating Service, actions inspired from magazine advertising have increased 10% over the past year.  

With major publications supplementing print editions with digital magazines, a new opportunity rises for internet advertisers.  A digital edition is not the magazine’s website.  Instead, it is an online representation of the magazine with virtual pages to ‘flip’ through.  This evolution in the media landscape appeals to both advertisers and subscribers.