The Ground Is Moving: Kajabi, Contra, and What It Teaches Us About Marketing in 2025

When a major platform like Kajabi changes direction, it does more than update pricing — it exposes how fragile a brand can be when it depends too heavily on one channel or ecosystem.

The shift to Contra for Kajabi Experts and the upcoming pricing increase in January 2026 have become a live business case study in adaptability. Every coach, creator, and consultant can learn something vital from it: the importance of owning your marketing, not renting it.

What’s Actually Happening

• New Kajabi Pricing Tiers take effect in January 2026, increasing the cost of hosting online courses and memberships.

• The Kajabi Experts directory has officially moved to Contra  — meaning service providers and consultants are rebuilding visibility in a new ecosystem.

Together, these shifts are reshaping how creators find clients, deliver services, and price their offers. But this isn’t just a “Kajabi thing.” It’s a mirror for the entire creator economy.

The Marketing Lesson for Every Business

When a platform changes, your job isn’t to panic — it’s to observe the signal underneath.
Kajabi’s move tells us three things that apply to every modern business:

1. Platforms evolve faster than your habits.
   What worked last year won’t hold next year. Algorithms, pricing, and discovery systems shift constantly. The brands that survive are those that adapt their marketing before the shift is forced on them.

2. Visibility is not ownership.
   If your leads or reputation exist only on one platform — whether that’s Instagram, Kajabi Experts, or YouTube — you’re vulnerable. True visibility means building your own ecosystem where people can find you, learn from you, and contact you directly.

3. Adaptability is the new marketing advantage.
   The creators who pivot fastest — repackaging offers, updating messaging, or testing new channels — always stay ahead of algorithmic change.

How to Apply This to Your Own Business

Here’s how you can turn platform uncertainty into marketing momentum:

1. Build an Owned Hub.
   Make sure every podcast episode, social post, or offer leads back to your own website or Kajabi site. That’s your control centre — where your audience becomes yours.

2. Create Platform-Agnostic Offers.
   Whether your clients come from LinkedIn, Instagram, or Contra, your offer should be consistent. Position it around results, not the tool.

3. Nurture Beyond the Algorithm.
   Email still wins. Use it to turn one-time visitors into long-term clients. Create a simple 3-email welcome series that builds connection, authority, and an easy “next step.”

4. Watch the Market, Not Just the Platform.
   Kajabi’s price increase reflects a wider trend — the professionalisation of creator tech. Use that signal to raise your own rates or refine your positioning before 2026.

The Bigger Truth

Every time a major platform moves, the surface shakes — but the fundamentals stay the same.
Strong brands don’t depend on algorithms; they depend on clarity, systems, and consistency.

Kajabi’s shift is a reminder that we’re not just creators — we’re operators.
And operators build systems that stand, even when the ground moves.

Apply This Lesson

If your business needs a marketing system that works across every platform — Kajabi included — start by clarifying your foundation: your message, your lead path, and your nurture flow.