50. What does that number mean to you? Perhaps, you think of golden wedding anniversaries when you think of 50. Or maybe you think about how it’s the fifth magic number in nuclear physics. It represents the number of states in the U.S. It’s also a milestone achievement in the NHL: 50 goals in 50 games.
In addition to those connections, fifty is important for word-of-mouth marketing. Why? Because fully half of all Americans would choose offline or online word-of-mouth if they had to pick just one source of information when researching purchases.
Half of all Americans would choose offline or online word-of-mouth if they had to pick just one source of information when researching purchases. #ChatterMatters
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This is because we trust each other more than ever, and we trust businesses and organizations less. The global PR firm Edelman reports on trends in trust in its annual Trust Barometer. In 2017, it revealed the largest-ever drop in trust for institutions of government, business, media and NGOs. At the same time, “a person like yourself” became just as credible a source of information as a technical or academic expert and much more credible than a CEO or government official.