Every few months I get a version of the same question, and this one landed in my inbox from a reader last week (shared here with her permission, details slightly changed): 'I'm setting up my first group programme on Kajabi and I can't decide whether to run it inside a Community or just use email. I've been going back and forth for weeks. Please help.'
Oh, the going-back-and-forth. A ritual as old as online business itself. Let's sort it out.
Kajabi Communities vs Email: What's the Difference?
Kajabi Communities and email serve very different purposes, and the good news is: this isn't actually an either/or decision. Most people end up using both. But let's look at each one first.
When to use a Kajabi Community
Kajabi Communities are great for:
- Ongoing conversation between participants
- A sense of shared experience and peer support
- Content that builds over time, like a weekly check-in thread
- Keeping everything inside one platform so your clients aren't hopping between apps
When to use email instead
Email is great for:
- Direct, personal communication with individuals
- Announcements and updates that everyone needs to see
- Nurturing people who aren't yet in a community
- Reaching people who don't log in to Kajabi regularly
Which Should You Use for a Group Programme?
For a group programme specifically, here's what I usually suggest: use email for your welcome sequence, your week-by-week prompts, and any important announcements. Use the Community for the conversations, the questions, the peer support, and the sense of belonging that email alone can't create.
The Community is the room. Email is the knock on the door that gets people into it.
A few things worth knowing before you set up a Community: it adds a layer of admin (moderating, seeding discussions, keeping it active). If you're not sure your clients will actually use it, starting with email alone is a perfectly valid choice. You can always add a Community later.
