Share of Voice in advertising is a measurement model within advertising. Share of voice measures the percentage of media spending by a company compared to the total media expenditure for the product, service, or category in the market. For example, if an electronics brand were to invest $5,000,000 advertising their latest e-reader, but $100,000,000 worth of advertising was spent advertising e-readers across the entire market for this shared category, then the 5 million dollar investment would equal a 5% share of voice. Share of Voice can be calculated by taking your advertising spend and dividing it by the total of all market advertising spend for the same type of product or category. Share of Voice is used to "represent the relative portion of ad inventory available to a single advertiser within a defined market over a specified time period." Theory The goal of advertising is to make your target audience aware of your brand, product, or service and influence them to act. Therefore, having a high share of voice can lead to increased awareness, and ultimately, increased sales and market share. From the perspective of publishers and those selling ad space, Share of Voice capitalizes on the concept of exclusivity. By limiting the number of ad space available on websites, email newsletters, and other media, ads are more likely to be seen by their target audiences. When you limit a website, for example, to 10 advertisers in each ad position with each paying equally, on average each advertiser will be seen at least once every 10 rotations. Share of Voice is designed to create a mutually beneficial relationship between the advertiser and the web publisher. The advertiser is willing to pay a premium for exclusivity and less competition for their target audience's viewership. The publisher no longer has to rely on volume and can attract advertisers that want to specifically reach the publisher's audience. Because the Share of Voice method values quality of ads over quantity of ads, publishers are perceived to have higher levels of credibility and interaction. When high quality content is presented, high quality advertisers tend to follow. Benefits versus pay-for-performance models The share of voice advertising model is contrary to pay per click, cost per impression and/or pay to play (see brokered programming), which are pay-for-performance models that generate revenue for the publisher (typically, the website owner) only if the advertisement is clicked or viewed. The