How to Craft A Tripwire Offer Your Audience Will Love

5 min readAug 5, 2021

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What is a tripwire funnel?

A tripwire funnel is a marketing funnel that begins with a low-cost offer. Think of it like a ‘gateway drug’ to your higher ticket offers.

You may also have heard tripwires called things like …

low-cost offers
tiny offers
micro offers
self-liquidating offers
front-end offers
pocket products
bite-sized offer
and probably several other terms

Whatever you call it, it’s a simple and effective strategy to attract clients and customers into your world. And in a way that not only makes you some money but also encourages an ongoing relationship.

A tripwire is a great way to:

connect with your target audiences
let them experience your brand in a low-risk and positive way
create trust with them before you begin introducing higher ticket offers
and bring some revenue into your business at the same time

In this post, we’re giving you an overview of everything you need to set up a tripwire funnel that works like magic.

Ready? Let’s do it.

Why is a tripwire funnel a good marketing strategy?

The key to any marketing strategy is knowing WHO your audience is and WHAT they want.

A tripwire funnel helps you do that by:

Attracting actual buyers who are ready to invest to achieve a specific outcome
Eliminate non-committal freebie seekers who aren’t likely to ever buy
Build a highly engaged email list of people primed to buy from you again and who will tell you what they need next

And another amazing benefit? It pays for itself.

That’s because you can cover the cost of any advertising you use to bring in cold traffic with the revenue the tripwire creates. #winning!

How do I make a tripwire?

So now that you know why a tripwire is a good idea, how do you go about it?

Well, from a technical point of view, here’s what you’ll need to set up your tripwire funnel:

email marketing software
a lead magnet
landing page with an opt-in form for lead magnet
ability to link the opt-in form completion to your tripwire offer page
a tripwire offer (more on this below)
an easy way to claim or buy the offer
a final thank you page if they buy
a final thank you page if they don’t buy
a nurture sequence from opt-in that leads to the tripwire (if they don’t buy)
a nurture sequence from opt-in to your bigger offer/welcome series (if they do buy)

What makes a good tripwire?

Now you’ve got an idea of how to build the actual funnel. But before you can start building, you need your tripwire offer.

So, what kind of offer can you create that people actually want?

To craft a seductive tripwire offer requires these things:

An irresistible lead magnet that helps solve one very specific problem or question quickly and easily (aka low-cost but high value)
A clear map of the next step from that solution to the bigger problem they really want to solve (the tripwire should provide real value but also open the door to your next offer)
And a clear way to take that next step in their problem-solving journey

But when it comes to WHAT to create, there are so many different options. So, let’s look at some examples to get your creative juices flowing.

Examples of tripwire funnels

Have you ever seen those offers for a free book (or whatever), but you have to pay the shipping cost?

That’s a tripwire. And you can find tons of other examples around the web, too. Once you start looking for them, you’ll see them everywhere.

Example 1: Mini-Course

But let’s set up a hypothetical situation here. Let’s say you have a signature course you want to sell. It’s epic and costs $999.

That’s a pretty hefty price tag, so most people won’t even give it a good look.

But what if you created a mini-version of it with a few videos, a checklist, and a resource list, and offered that for $17?

Many people may opt-in for that because it’s a nice, low-risk way to check out your work. And once they’ve seen the value you packed into the $17 mini-course, they will feel much better about considering your high-priced course.

Plus, you now have them on your email list and can nurture them toward a bigger purchase.

Example 2: Swipe File

Another great example is a Swipe File. Perhaps you are a copywriter teaching other copywriters.

You can offer a simple Swipe File at a low cost to attract aspiring copywriters into your world. And then offer them a higher-priced, higher-value product before checkout. Or nurture them toward that over time.

Example 3: Challenge

Maybe you are a fitness coach.

You can offer a “1-week challenge” that is a preview of your best training program. But in a shorter time period so people have more incentive to give it a shot.

At the end of the challenge, you can offer your full program to the attendees. And also nurture over time those who don’t buy right away.

Example 4: E-Book + Webinar

Another great option is to create a good, lower-priced e-book that provides a lot of value.

But also tack on a webinar for just $10 more. That will appeal to people who are curious about your work but want to learn even more before they buy.

Then you can move them toward the high-ticket offering in your nurture sequence.

The key to creating an effective tripwire funnel is being clear about what your audience WANTS, and providing it in a really easy way that gives them some quick value without costing much of their time or money.

The shortcut to an effective tripwire funnel

If we’ve done our job here today, you should be seeing the advantages of building a tripwire funnel for your business.

But we won’t lie. There is definitely work involved in planning, packaging, and creating an irresistible tripwire funnel.

That’s why we love this Bite-Sized Offer Masterclass. This masterclass walks you through exactly how to create a tripwire offer that attracts ideal customers, elevates your brand, and fills your list with buyers primed for your next level offers.

It’s called the Bite-Sized Offer Masterclass and it will help you create a bite-sized offer that’s:

formulated to increase your brand visibility & authority
engineered to create desire for your next offer
designed as a ‘painkiller’ with rapid results
built to maximise your profitability

We’ve been through this Masterclass and it’s got everything you need to get clear on your tripwire funnel.

So if you’re ready to inject some $$$ into your business every month without launches or hustle, go and watch the Bite-Sized Offer Masterclass now.