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There’s no doubt about it: Selling subscriptions is a great way to connect with your fans and followers and make money as a content creator.
That’s why platforms like Patreon were born. Even the social media behemoth Instagram is getting into the subscriptions game. But how does selling content on Instagram compare to an all-in-one suite like Kajabi?
Let’s look at Instagram subscriptions and how they compare to Kajabi. If you’re looking to launch a subscription-based membership or course, this Kajabi vs. Instagram review will answer your questions and give you the information you need to make the right decision for your needs.
What are Instagram Subscriptions?
Facebook launched Subscriptions in June 2020, giving content creators the ability to support their followers and make money doing it. In January 2022, parent company Meta expanded this feature, making it possible to sell content on Instagram.
Much like Patreon, Instagram Subscriptions allows users to pay a monthly fee (set by the content creator) to access exclusive content and benefits. The content can be any media or product.
Instagram currently offers eight price points for their Subscription options, ranging from $0.99 to $99.99 per month. Pricing is based entirely on what the creator thinks their content is worth.
Using this feature, content creators can currently offer three types of subscriptions:
- Subscriber Lives - Broadcast exclusive Instagram Lives to your subscribers, so you can connect one-on-one with the people who care the most about what you have to say. This allows you to forge deeper connections with your biggest fans.
- Subscriber Stories - With this feature, you can create Stories that only your subscribers can see. You can also use Instagram’s interactive story stickers to do things like @mention a follower, add a location, ask a question, add music, and more.
- Subscriber Badges - With Badges, participants can show off that they’re a subscriber and support your work as a creator.
Meta has also made a one-billion-dollar investment in supporting their content creators. This investment funds a program called Bonuses that rewards eligible creators for hitting certain milestones when using their creative and monetization tools. This program will evolve and expand over time. Currently, they aim to help creators understand how to produce content their communities love.
The Subscriptions feature helps you do more than influence and entertain on Instagram. To help you serve your audience better, it will allow you to download the email address of users who have expressly given their permission.
You’ll also get a custom promotional link for your followers to use when they subscribe to your channel. This link will take them to a unique landing page where they can pay for their subscription with Facebook Pay.
You’ll be able to keep 100% of your earnings from subscribers who use the link — at least until sometime in 2023, when Meta announces its new pricing strategy. Without it, your subscribers will sign up through the Instagram app on their mobile device, and the app store (i.e., Apple or Google) will take a 15-30% commission for every subscription.
No one knows yet how much of a percentage Meta will take, but Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated that it will be less than the 30% that Apple takes for their subscription service.
It’s worth noting that due to pushback from app designers, Apple recently reduced the commission they charge for subscriptions. In the past, they took a 30% commission during the first year on the App Store and 15% every year after that. In August 2021, they lowered their commission to a flat 15%.
Even so, companies like Apple, Google, and now Meta know they have content creators over a barrel. To build an audience and grow your fan base, you’re stuck with whatever terms and prices they set.
Which brings us to Kajabi, a smart alternative to Instagram Subscriptions.
How does Instagram Subscriptions compare to Kajabi?
Although Instagram Subscriptions gives content creators a way to make money, this “opportunity” is too little too late in the grand scheme of things. Although you can send users from your Instagram profile to your website to sell your digital products, Meta knows the majority of your interactions with fans will take place on the Instagram platform.
Instagram is essentially corralling players into its “Walled Garden,” meaning it has control over the platform, the payments, the distribution, the reach, and the engagement. Sure, you can publish your own content and promote it. But make no mistake, Instagram is at the center of all the action.
At first glance, this may not seem like a problem. But it can quickly become one if, for whatever reason, a content creator is on the wrong side of the platform’s nebulous, confusing, and often subjective community standards.
Countless creators have made this discovery on Facebook. The platform can pull the plug on your source of revenue on a whim. When this happens, it’s never clear why your profile was shut down. There’s no customer support person who you talk to. And appeals seem to get no response at all.
This is the most significant danger in building a business that’s 100% dependent on a social media platform. But it’s by no means the only one. In a complete Kajabi vs. Instagram comparison, there are several other issues you’ll want to keep in mind as well.
Limited rollout to select accounts
As of February 2022, even if you wanted to start an Instagram Subscription, you couldn’t. That’s because Instagram subscriptions were rolled out to only ten (yes, ten!) people in the U.S.
When will Instagram subscriptions be rolled out to the rest of us? Meta has been mum on the release date.
But there’s no reason why you should have to put your business idea on the back burner, especially since Kajabi lets you sell a wide range of digital products, from courses to memberships and subscriptions, right now. No need to wait.
A lack of detailed analytics
Another major drawback to Instagram Subscriptions is that it only offers limited analytics to understand how your audience found you and other relevant statistics.
Analytics are the linchpin for data-driven decisions that successful content creators use to drive growth. Not having them will leave you stumbling around blindly in the dark:
- Who is your audience?
- How are they finding you?
- What content are they viewing?
- What do they want more of? Less of?
If Instagram can’t tell you, how successful will you be? And if that’s the case, does it really qualify as a creator’s platform?
The good news is that Kajabi can tell you. From details about when your members joined to what upsells or downsells they’ve purchased, you get all the insights you need to make smarter decisions that drive your business. No more guesswork.
Costs and time investment
Serving your audience and monetizing your content is challenging enough without these types of issues. If you’re going to invest countless hours to achieve your goals, why not invest them on a proven platform that gives you complete ownership of your content and equips you for unlimited growth?
Want to create private podcasts that reach audiences on a wide range of networks? Go for it! Looking to create different tiers of memberships that allow your followers to access exclusive content at various levels? With Kajabi, you can absolutely do that.
And unlike Meta, Apple, Google, or other content platforms, Kajabi doesn’t take a percentage of your profits. Just one flat monthly fee is all you pay. With no percentages eating away at your profits, more of your money stays in your pocket, where it belongs.
Kajabi’s subscription approach for memberships and courses
Up to this point, we’ve made an apples-to-apples comparison of Kajabi and Instagram. Already it’s clear that, unlike Instagram’s platform-as-a product model, Kajabi’s subscription approach gives you more options and potentially higher profits.
But to highlight these differences, we need to take a closer look at how Kajabi equips you to build a unique business that reflects your personal brand and content.
Website builder
Kajabi’s built-in toolset includes a powerful drag-and-drop website builder, complete with pre-made themes that you can customize to your brand and style.
Create a gorgeous website with landing pages that clearly communicate the benefits of becoming a subscriber. And create as many pages as you need to elaborate on everything your subscribers get!
Email marketing
Kajabi gives you email marketing tools to build a list of engaged fans and deliver real value to them. Send the right message to the right people at the right time, so you can keep your subscribers fully engaged.
And with Kajabi, you won’t need to figure out how to download your subscriber list or add it to your email software. You’ll own your list outright. And you’ll have the tools you need to segment your followers and connect with them anytime you like.
Content creation tools
With Kajabi, your only limit is your imagination. Create podcasts, online memberships, courses, and other digital products. They’re fully hosted on Kajabi, so it’s easy to create high-value content your fans will love. Kajabi even provides templates to help you with the framework!
Sales and marketing tools
Pipelines are Kajabi’s marketing automations. Use them to attract new subscribers and simplify your subscription and digital product sales.
Pipelines are tied to your landing page builder and email software, so you don’t have to figure out how to integrate a full stack of complicated marketing and sales tools. With Kajabi, everything works together with just a few clicks.
And with Pipelines, you have built-in drag-and-drop templates for webinars, free downloads, product launches, and more.
Knowledge base and support
Kajabi is intuitive and easy to figure out. No technical experience required. But if you need help, they have a robust knowledge base complete with walkthroughs, videos, and tutorials. And Kajabi’s community of users is always willing to share their knowledge and help you solve whatever problem you’re struggling with.
Kajabi University is also available to teach you the fundamentals of selling content on Kajabi and turning your passion into a business. And you can reach out to the support team via email or live chat (depending on the package you purchase) to get up and running quickly if you have any questions.
When was the last time you got support like that from Instagram?
Kajabi vs. Instagram: the choice is clear
It costs you nothing to get started with Kajabi. Test all of their content creation and marketing features risk-free with a 14-day trial, and a 30-day money back guarantee.
This lets you get your feet wet and experience first-hand the benefits of Kajabi. See for yourself how easy it is to monetize your content, especially compared to “broadcast-only” platforms like Instagram.
With Kajabi, you get a complete business-building toolset that works seamlessly. So it’s easy to take your role as content creator to the next level. As countless other creative entrepreneurs, you’ll find new and exciting ways to share what you love with the people you care about as a full-fledged business owner.
And moving your offers to Kajabi doesn’t have to disrupt your work on Instagram. You can continue to sell content on Instagram and update your followers by implementing a third-party tool that lets you embed your Instagram feed on Kajabi.
Experience the difference of a content creation platform that’s designed specifically for monetizing your passion. Enjoy how much easier and more intuitive it can be to create content with a dedicated, business-focused all-in-one suite that’s got your back.
At Kajabi, we’re committed to helping you take your creativity to the next level. Start your free 14-day trial of Kajabi today!
Still researching? Check out Kajabi’s free downloadable ebook guides on launching and growing a knowledge commerce online business!
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