A defined brand still has to compete for attention. Enter your brand and your rivals with their branded search, and see your Share of Search against the set. Add market share and the gap between the two tells you whether to invest in brand-building or activation.
Benchmark my brandQuick answer
Brand strength is how much market presence your brand commands relative to competitors. Because Share of Voice is hard to measure, this free benchmark uses Share of Search (your branded search volume versus competitors) as a proven proxy, then tells you whether your brand is running ahead of or behind its market position, which points toward brand-building or activation.
Why measure share of search
Share of Voice, your share of category advertising, is the classic brand-strength input, but you cannot see what your competitors spend, so you cannot measure it directly. Share of Search can be measured. When someone searches for a brand by name they are expressing intent for that brand specifically, and the share of that branded search you command against your rivals is a strong, public read on brand strength. Les Binet's research found Share of Search tracks about 83 percent of Share of Market and tends to lead it, which makes it the closest measurable proxy for brand demand. Where Share of Voice is the thermostat you set, Share of Search is the thermometer you can read.
Share of Search matters most against Share of Market. A brand whose Share of Search runs ahead of its Share of Market tends to grow into that demand; one whose Share of Search trails its market position tends to give share back. That gap is the quantitative anchor for the brand-versus-activation decision: a negative gap says your brand is under-supported, and raising Share of Voice (brand investment) is the lever to lift your Share of Search; a positive gap says you are already running ahead and can press the advantage.
Benchmark your brand
Add your brand and the main rivals you compete with for attention. Enter each one's average monthly branded search volume, from any keyword tool, measured the same way for all. To unlock the gap read, also estimate each brand's position, as a market share percent or, often easier, approximate annual revenue. Rough estimates are fine: the gap shows direction, not a precise number. No email required to see your benchmark.
Step 6 checks whether the market data behind your plan is measured or still assumed.
Save your benchmark
Your audit PDF is already available from the buttons above. Enter your email to save it with the rest of your diagnostic, so you can pick up on any device and receive your full cross-tool report when it is ready.
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Copy your return link to pick up where you left off from any device.FAQ
Brand strength is measured as Share of Search using branded search volume: how much of the total branded search demand in your competitive set belongs to your brand. Branded search is a strong proxy for brand strength because it captures active intent for a specific brand by name. The tool also shows total branded search, the size of branded demand in your set, and, when you add market share, the gap between Share of Search and Share of Market.
The gap between your Share of Search and your Share of Market is the actionable signal. Share of Search runs close to Share of Market on average, around 83 percent, so the deviation is what matters: a brand whose Share of Search runs ahead of its Share of Market tends to grow into that demand, while one whose Share of Search trails its market position tends to give share back. Share of Search is an outcome you can measure; Share of Voice, your share of category advertising, is the input you raise to move it.
From any keyword tool: Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, Semrush, or your own search data. Use the average monthly search volume for each brand's name and close brand variants. Arcalea sources this from its QMA and Compass platforms; for this tool you can enter estimates from any source, as long as you measure every brand the same way.
The Brand Identity Audit (Step 4) checks whether your brand is clearly defined. This benchmark (Step 5) measures how strong that brand is in the market against competitors. You define the identity first, then measure its strength. A weak Share of Search on a well-defined brand points to an investment problem, not a definition problem.
Run it during planning when you are deciding how to split budget between brand-building and short-term activation, and rerun it periodically to track whether your Share of Search is keeping pace with your market position. It is the quantitative anchor for the brand-versus-activation decision.