s360's Share of Search study (2023): Insights from the Finnish market

Based on our study, instead of solely focusing on market share, brands should also consider their Share of Search. It gives a more comprehensive overview of how a brand ranks compared to its competitors.

Up to this point, marketers have used different methods for tracking brand awareness and how effective their advertising is. Unfortunately, surveys used to measure spontaneous and assisted brand awareness, as well as the reliability of these results, leave much to be desired. Furthermore, such indicators rely on past results instead of predicting future performance. This is where Share of Search steps in as an alternative to traditional metrics of brand awareness.

Would you like to discuss how to build brand awareness through digital channels? Get in contact and download our full Share of Search study.

What is Share of Search?

Share of Search (SoS) measures a brand's proportion of searches in its category. SoS has been shown to correlate with Share of Market (SoM), which in turn measures a brand's revenue relative to the category as a whole.

In addition to measuring different things, SoS and SoM can be used to examine how a brand ranks in comparison to its competitors in different ways. Whereas SoM gives an overview of a brand's success in retrospect, SoS is a strong indicator of future success. With a larger share of searches, a brand's revenue can be expected to grow in the future.

How is Share of Search calculated? To find out a brand's share of searches in its category, you must compare the brand's number of searches in comparison to the category as a whole. In other words: Share of Search = (Brand's searches / Category's searches) X 100

You can use publicly available Google Trends data to calculate a brand's Share of Search. 

Share of Search Study in Finland 2023

We chose 105 brands from 12 different categories operating in Finland to investigate SoS's effect on the brands' market share. The study used five years of data, which allows for a comparison over time and analysing how the shares have developed.

Categories used in the study:

• Furniture
• Electricity
• Department stores
• Clothing
• Consumer electronics
• Travel agencies
• Books
• Hotels
• Supermarkets
• FMCG
• Store chains
• Hospitality

The brands' market shares are based on 2018-2022 data by Asiakastieto. Share of Search is based on Google Trends data for the same time period.

Brands used in the study

Harness Share of Search in Your Marketing

In its simplest form, Share of Search gives you a glimpse of what consumers are thinking and reveals which brands they are interested in. In addition, SoS is a valuable metric for understanding how your brand compares to competitors in the same category. That said, Share of Search can tell you more than how your brand is performing at the moment.

Share of Search is a remarkable indicator for brands operating in Finland, regardless of their business vertical. On top of that, Share of Search is a strong indicator of future growth in a brand's revenue. Although the correlation between SoS and revenue growth is notably stronger in certain categories than others, our findings can be applied to other categories where the brand's industry is defined more loosely, such as store chains.

Download s360's Share of Search Study

Are you interested in activating Share of Search tracking for your brand? Get in touch and download our entire Share of Search study for the Finnish market.