Kajabi Partners With Adobe To Stop Creator Burnout

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U.S. funding for the Ukraine war is in limbo, there is still no permanent solution to funding the operations of the federal government, and immigration reform has stalled, but the biggest issue in Washington, D.C. this week seems to be TikTok. A bipartisan bill was introduced last week that would force apps owned by countries deemed foreign adversaries to sell to U.S. owners within six months or be banned. TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, is actually named in the bill, though a congressional aide told Forbes the bill applies to all apps owned by ByteDance and “the TikToks of the future.”

Unlike many bills that are proposed in Congress, this one got a speedy vote, passing the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously last Thursday. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the bill today, with 349 voting yes, 66 voting no, one voting present and 14 not voting. Many inside and outside of government have weighed in on the issue in the last week. President Joe Biden said he will sign the legislation if it is passed, while his election rival Donald Trump has said he is against it. (Though his reasoning seems to have less to do with national security; Trump said he doesn’t want more people to use Facebook.)

TikTok is wildly popular, but it’s also been scrutinized by policymakers. ByteDance has used the app to track individual Americans, including Forbes journalists, and some are leery of the access the app may give the Chinese government to things going on in the U.S. A total of 39 states and the federal government have banned TikTok from government-issued devices, but private citizens have had unrestricted access to it.

While there’s a lot to be leery about when it comes to TikTok, it’s vital for marketers, content creators and just about everyone in Generation Z. According to TikTok’s most recent statistics, published last March, 150 million Americans use the platform regularly. Nearly 5 million businesses—including Biden’s re-election campaign—use TikTok. And the app has displaced news websites and Google search for young adults and teenagers. A ban might not personally impact policymakers too much, but it would have an outsized impact on how their youngest voters get information. It might be best for TikTok to be left in place right now, while policymakers focus on how to put controls in place, and support people trying to create the next big social media platform.

TikTok is just one of the platforms that is important to content creators, and the pressure is on for creators to be active on everything—from YouTube to Threads to email newsletters—in order to maximize exposure and revenue. Today, creator platforming tool Kajabi is announcing a new AI-powered Creator Studio platform to make that step easier. The platform also is integrating Adobe’s tools for editing and enhancement. I talked to Kajabi CEO Ahad Khan and Adobe VP of Developer Platform and Partner Ecosystem Aubrey Cattell about the launch, which is featured later in this newsletter.

BRANDS + MESSAGING

Outdoor clothing and gear brand The North Face has a new promotion in the U.K. that may prove controversial. Forbes senior contributor Pamela Danziger writes the company is offering 20% off merchandise to U.K. customers who complete an hour-long online diversity, equity and inclusion course: “Allyship in the Outdoors.” It’s not clear how this course will go over with British customers, but it would probably at least raise some eyebrows in the United States. The North Face and its parent company VF are not likely to be proposing the course just to attract viral headlines. Judging from their past corporate behavior, they truly believe in spreading education about DEI, Danziger writes. But DEI is getting to be extremely controversial in the U.S., with more than 30 states having at least introduced bills that limit or prohibit DEI measures, according to NBC News. The North Face might be best at limiting the new promotion to the U.K., where DEI initiatives seem to be more accepted.

NOW TRENDING

Craft supply store Michaels launched its MakerPlace several months ago as a way for the crafters who use the company’s stores to sell their wares online, sort of as a competitor to online crafters’ selling site Etsy. Michaels efforts have been effective enough to broaden the MakerPlace footprint. Forbes senior contributor Joan Verdon writes about a pilot program that allows MakerPlace merchants to set up in Michaels stores and sell their wares in person. These crafters will get an experience unlike any on Etsy or another online marketplace, being able to interact with potential customers. Michaels is also kicking off an ad campaign highlighting its MakerPlace options, Verdon writes. Michaels CEO Ashley Buchanan told Verdon trials of MakerPlace merchants selling in stores have been positive so far, showing that in-person shopping is very much alive.

ON MESSAGE

Kajabi Supercharges Content Creation With AI And Adobe

For content creators, being able to do a lot of things quickly can be vital to their success. Kajabi, an online platform that helps create quality content ranging from classes to social media posts to emails, is partnering with Adobe to make its new Creator Studio a one-stop shop for designing and transforming content to be ideal for a wide range of platforms.

Kajabi’s new AI-powered Creator Studio platform, which becomes available to existing users this week, will help content creators turn a single item into more than 40 types of marketing content, while integrating Adobe Express’s editing tools. Kajabi CEO Ahad Khan said this partnership enhances the experience of using Kajabi, letting creators do less work to spin off blog posts, email newsletters and short videos from a single asset like a how-to video.

“We think from a workflow perspective it really reduces the administrative burden of building a business, and that’s a massive unlock for creators, particularly given all the burnout,” Khan said. … “It’s a real accelerant for all of us.”

Among Kajabi’s creators, burnout is an ever-present and prevalent threat. The company surveyed its creators earning six figures earlier this year and found more than half (56%) think AI tools are one of the best ways to reduce burnout. Nearly three in four (73%) believe AI can help save more than 26 hours of work per week.

The new AI component to streamline Kajabi’s content repackaging is something that can save time for creators, Khan said. Adding Adobe’s tools to Content Studio is also seen as a time-saver. The creators who use Kajabi are likely already using Adobe Express or Firefly—or another third-party platform with similar capabilities—but they need to physically move their content to another app, which can interrupt the creative workflow. Adding Adobe capabilities to Kajabi brings it all into a single platform, Khan said.

Kajabi was founded in 2010 as a platform to help creators make online courses, and has expanded its scope to cover the entire creative ecosystem. As of last October, creators using the platform have earned more than $6 billion, and as of 2021, the company was valued at more than $2 billion.

Adobe VP of Developer Platform and Partner Ecosystem Aubrey Cattell said the company is focused on entering into these types of partnerships now, in which Adobe capabilities are integrated into widely used platforms for different areas of the creator economy. He called them “watering holes for creators and creatives.” Adobe has a similar partnership with website creation platform Wix.

When evaluating partnerships, Cattell said Adobe considers the people who use the platform and what they do.

“That’s really the biggest part of this,” he said. “Once we get them into the flow, our solution takes care of the rest, so you have to be thoughtful about that. Then, when you’re finished creating or editing your asset, how do we round-trip it back exactly where it needs to be?”

To begin, Cattell said, Adobe is bringing its simpler “quick actions,” including cropping and background removal, to Kajabi. As time goes on, Adobe will expand the functions available on the Kajabi platform depending on user needs. Working with a company like Kajabi, which can make changes and additions to its platform quickly, is helpful to Adobe as a whole.

“We’re in the business of extending out to developers or partners, but then they’re putting this capability in front of their consumers,” Cattell said. “For us, the design and the iterative feedback and how we evolve is as much based on how our partners and users engage, as much as what we learn from the partners themselves. It’s access to that key user base that’s creating all the time. Then, more broadly, it’s having a partner who’s willing to work together and teach us, and help us continue to improve and bring new innovations to market.”

FACTS + COMMENTS

So far in 2024, X usage dropped compared to last year, according to a report from Edison Research, while the Elon Musk-owned social media platform has given much more favorable user reports.

30%: Decrease in regular X users from 2023 to now

19%: Proportion of the U.S. population who has used X in 2024, down from 27% in 2022 and 2023

‘By far the best way to reach the smartest and most influential people on Earth’: How Musk described X in a December post

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STRATEGIES + ADVICE

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QUIZ

Utah state legislators passed a bill that impacts their state wildlife officers. What does it do?

A. Prohibits them from using recently changed bird names that are deemed more inclusive

B. Allows them to use state parks in humorous social media accounts

C. Sets aside forest plots to shoot time lapse videos of the state’s official fungus, the porcini mushroom

D. Allows them to temporarily rename state parks to commemorate holidays

See if you got the answer right here.