Imagine having an instant conversation with thousands of customers at a time. Imagine a 90 percent open rate on your messages and 60 percent click through rates. Well, for some, that isn’t in their imagination — it’s happening now on Facebook Messenger. Over the years, we’ve seen new communications methods crop up, but few have had the ease of use and effectiveness as chatbots.

As AI improves, bots are becoming quicker and easier to build, enabling a fast to market approach for customer sales and service. This is true if you’re a consumer-focused business working to keep customers happy (like our go-to, Shake Shack!), a media company finding new ways to get clicks, or a cause looking for ways to get supporters active.

But while their open and click through rates could have you jumping for joy, the ease of unsubscribing should give you pause.

If you’re building a bot to replace or mirror your email program, you may end up doing more harm than good. Instead, if you build a bot that connects with people and has purpose, it will flourish.