> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://syncly-a76215af.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Compare competitive share with SOV Analysis

> Compare owned and competitor shares of Posts, Impressions, Engagements, and Sentiment Score.

Share of Voice (SOV) Analysis quantitatively compares your brand's social presence against key competitors.

The share metrics measured here reflect **relative proportions within the custom set of owned and competitor Queries you configure**, rather than total market share across the entire industry.

## Before you start

* **Query configuration requirements**: Prepare at least 2 Queries of the same type (all Brand, all Product, or all Topic) within the same workspace.
* **Role assignment**: Exactly 1 Query must be assigned as your owned brand/product, while you can add 1 or more competitor Queries.
* **Permission tiers**: Viewing results requires workspace **`Viewer` or higher (`Viewer`, `Writer`, `Admin`)**, while creating new SOV analyses or editing setups requires **`Writer` or `Admin`** permissions.

## Create an SOV analysis

1. Navigate to **`Social Intelligence > SOV Analysis`** in the sidebar and click **Start analysis** at the top.
2. Select 2 or more Queries of the same type to compare.
3. In the selection list, find your brand or product Query and click **Set as owned** to designate it as your owned Query (`Owned`). The remaining selected Queries are automatically designated as competitors.
4. Review the analysis name and Query selections, then complete creation.
5. Open the newly created SOV card to inspect share distributions and period comparisons.

![SOV Analysis report screen (Executive summary, Share of posts, Competitive rank, Net sentiment)](https://mintcdn.com/syncly-a76215af/QEimXw3r-PxmgTto/images/sov_analysis.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=QEimXw3r-PxmgTto\&q=85\&s=8461b9b8953c8a2edfb5a863700d1f78)

> [!TIP]
>
> Click the star icon (★) in the upper right of any SOV card to add it to **Favorites** in the upper sidebar for quick, one-click access.

## Analysis periods and reference windows

* **Default date range**: Based on your workspace time zone, the default period covers the **most recent 7 completed days** (excluding today) and automatically compares against the immediately preceding 7-day period.
* **Custom comparison periods**: Use the top date picker to choose the last 30 days or custom historical windows to track quarterly or campaign-driven shifts.

## Core metrics and reading units

SOV Analysis provides four primary comparative metrics:

| Metric | Calculation | Meaning and units |
| :- | :- | :- |
| **Posts** | Count of posts collected and matched to each Query during the period | Content publishing volume and overall buzz |
| **Impressions** | Total views and impressions across collected posts | Audience reach and exposure scale |
| **Engagements** | Total likes, comments, shares, and reactions across posts | Consumer interaction and interest intensity |
| **Share of Voice (SOV %)** | `(Query metric value ÷ Total sum across all selected Queries) × 100` | Relative share within the comparison group (**%**) |
| **Sentiment Score** | `((Positive posts - Negative posts) ÷ Total sentiment-classified posts) × 100` | Sentiment health index (-100 to +100 points) |

### Interpreting unit changes

* **Share changes**: Period-over-period changes in Share of Voice are expressed in **percentage points (pp)**, not percent (%). For instance, going from 20% to 25% is **+5 pp**, not +25%.
* **Sentiment score changes**: Changes in Sentiment Score are expressed in score **points (pt)**.
* **Relative metric nature**: Because the denominator is the sum of values across the selected Queries, modifying the competitor group naturally recalibrates your brand's SOV figures.

> [!NOTE]
>
> When a single post mentions both your brand and a competitor, it is credited to each Query's individual count. Consequently, the sum of post counts across Queries may exceed the deduplicated unique post total.

## Strategic interpretation tips

* **Post share vs. impression share divergence**: If your post volume share (Posts SOV) increases while your impression share (Impressions SOV) declines, competitors may be securing broader reach through a few viral videos or high-impact creator partnerships.
* **Inspect top posts**: Whenever you observe a sharp divergence in share, click the top posts in the summary table to examine the specific creative assets driving those metrics.

## Related features

* [Social Intelligence overview and choosing an analysis tool](/en/insights/overview)
* [Compare Queries in Competitive Research](/en/analysis/competitive-research)
* [Analyze spike dates with Spike Analysis](/en/insights/spike-analysis)
* [Save post evidence in Collections](/en/analysis/collections)


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