Unexpected social media risk on bad washroom hygiene

28 May 2018

With the rising social media activities and increasing influencer marketing on vast digital platforms, more and more users are expressing not just the positive experiences, and also the very negative complaints and dissatisfaction.

Customer reviews, ratings and feedback are also increasingly growing in visibility and highly relied on building initial impression and perception around the brand, business or environment. As we evolve around the digital technical enhancements, it is no doubt your brand may be mentioned or targeted unknowingly.

Here are some social media crises that may be happening around poor washroom and hygiene practices.

1.  Your dirty washroom was captured on Facebook and Instagram

Realise the power of location tagging, photo taking and rampant post sharing. Social media activities on the go with content distribution automation and tagging facilities, it can get really easy for news to be posted and shared at bullet-train speed among millions of users at any time of the day. Pictures speak louder than words, and the risk of remembering the unsightly washroom and negative brand perception and association.

2. Your brand received negative rating on Customer Review sites

Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Review, Facebook Reviews are some sites that publicly publish how customers and users are rating your brand and services upon an online search. To make matters worse, reviews and comments are published as well, and it can be damaging for potential customers to read the details of the negative experience and complaints.

3. Your online news reported went viral on Social Media

Digital reporters and journalists are constantly seeking newsy angles and contents, and could cover critics or negative updates of the washroom hygiene standards. As audience gets more demanding in hygiene standards and facility cleanliness, such news could trigger viral interest.

4. Complaints and negative discussions were raised on forums and blogs

A common platform among users to engage on views and experience exchanges and negative discussions tend to be picked up quite quickly and attract more attention than the positive ones. For such forum sites that are optimised, your brand may be at risk of being searched through a negative link association, even appearing at top pages of a Google search.

Ensure your washrooms maintain adequate hygiene standards and deliver the deserved experience for your users. Keep the washroom pleasantly scented with a fresh feel especially during high traffic period, prevent potential encrustation of the toilet urinals to ensure odour do not arise in the long term, provide adequate hygiene facilities to raise the standards such as toilet seat cleaner and sensor-based feminine hygiene unit and more importantly, encourage good hand washing habits by providing hand soap facilities.