“Hey, Ieva–how do I create a tripwire offer that actually helps me convert my new subscribers into buyers?”

So glad you asked, my internet friend. 

When it comes to selling digital products, tripwire offers are often positioned as a “magic bullet” of sorts. 

“Make back your ad spend overnight! Scare those pesky freebie seekers off your list!! Buy a Rolls-Royce tomorrow with all the cash you just raked in!!!

(Umm… Can we not? Please? 🙄)

The truth is, tripwire funnels *can* be pretty magical–but they are much harder to get right than the internet marketing bros make it seem.

The first step in getting it right? Making sure your tripwire offer *itself* is as enticing as possible. 

What Is A Tripwire Offer?

💡 A tripwire offer is a low-cost product designed to “trip” (<<< gosh, don’t you just hate this terminology?) new subscribers into becoming buyers immediately after signing up to your list.

Instead of sending your new subscriber to a thank you page after they sign up, you will send them to a mini sales page (also known as a tripwire page) for one of your paid offers.

Most of the time, there will be a limited-time, “you can only get this on this page” discount available–although that’s not mandatory.

(Sometimes putting the right offer in front of the right audience at the right time is enough to get a “Yes”–no discounts required.)

The Psychology Behind Tripwire Offers

One of the reasons why tripwire offers work so well is what’s known as the “foot in the door” effect.

People who just said “yes” to something (like your free lead magnet) are more likely to say “yes” to something else (like your $7 eBook).

In other words, your freebie helps you get your foot in the door… 

🚪 And your tripwire offer helps you nudge the door open.

Why You Need A Tripwire Offer

The “foot in the door” effect doesn’t end there. 

Once someone becomes a customer (even if they make the tiniest purchase), they are more likely to purchase from you again.

And again. 

And again.

See what I am getting at here? A solid tripwire offer (that actually delivers on its promise) can set you up for a lifetime of repeat purchases down the road.

💸 The $7 becomes $700… Maybe even $7000. 

Plus, a quick cash infusion is always welcome, especially if you are running ads and want to make back your ad spend ASAP.

Are Tripwire Offers Scammy?

Let me be real with you: I don’t love the word “tripwire” (just like I don’t love the term “sales funnel”–but Mother Google does, so I use it anyway). 🤷🏻‍♀️

Like… Why are we tripping up people up again?? 

That said, I think intention matters here.

If you approach tripwire marketing with the energy of “let me trick some poor sod into buying this half-baked PDF while they are in a vulnerable emotional state”…

Yep, that’s scammy AF.

👉🏻 But if you strip away the gross energy and the sleazy sales tactics, a tripwire offer is just this:

Offering someone a resource they need, the moment they need it–at a price point that feels like a win-win for everyone involved.

So no, tripwire offers are not inherently scammy.

(Just hold off on the fake countdown timers, yeah? We all know we can get the same deal tomorrow if we sign up with a different email address.)

How To Create A Tripwire Offer That Converts

Tip #1: Go smaller

In my experience, the tripwrite offers that sell the best are TINY.

They solve ONE specific problem, ideally in 30 minutes or less. (That’s also my advice for creating a high-converting lead magnet, btw.)

Sure, some creators have seen success with the “here are 57 of my best resources for just $7 (worth $7000)” offers.

However, I would not recommend this strategy for most people.

Instead of feeling generous, the “everything but the kitchen sink” approach tends to come across as desperate.

📉 Seeing so many products on sale for so cheap can devalue your brand in the eyes of your new subscriber.

(Not great if you’re hoping to sell them more stuff down the line, y’know?)

Plus, dumping dozens of resources on someone can be quite overwhelming for the recipient.

Decision fatigue sets in, and they end up not cracking open a single one.

And when you try to sell them something else? 

They don’t have a frame of reference for how awesome you are as a teacher, so your new offer doesn’t feel all that enticing.

Giant “let me fix your whole business” courses are also not a great fit for this type of funnel, for similar reasons. 

Bottom line? When in doubt, go smaller.

Tip #2: Connect it to your freebie

Your new subscriber just downloaded a freebie all about creating a stellar onboarding workflow in Dubsado… 

So why are you hitting them with your top 10 money manifestation techniques on your tripwire page?

I know it can be hard to hear (and even harder to do), but listen: you have to meet your people where they are at.

Sure, that new subscriber *might* be interested in money mindset (aren’t we all!)… But that’s not what they are actively thinking about in this moment.

Right now, they are thinking about their broken intake form automation they’ve been putting off fixing for months.

➡️ They don’t need mindset hacks. They need a Dubsado wizard to come and save them from automation overwhelm. 

And yes, while you might moonlight as a business & manifestation mentor… You are that wizard. 

And now is the best time for you to pull out your Dubsado grimoire and show them how it’s done. 

Always make sure your tripwire offer connects to your lead magnet in some shape or form.

Dive deeper into one aspect of your freebie with a 20-minute training video.

Make it easier/faster to Do The Thing They Downloaded Your Freebie For with extra checklists or templates.

Or offer to solve an adjacent problem that someone who downloaded your freebie might be facing.

Just make sure your offer meets them where they’re at, okay?

Tip #3: Add a quick win

Most tripwire offers work best when there’s an element of instant gratification present.

💭 If your new subscriber will need months to see the first real results from your offer… A tripwire funnel is not the right place for it. 

The magic formula?

Buy >>> Use >> Feel Awesome About Yourself–all before bedtime tonight.

Think: a cold email script they can customize and send today (instead of a 6-month cold outreach plan).

Or: A 20-minute Quick Start Guide to their Moon Sign they can listen to while washing dishes (rather than a whole library of 25 astrology videos they may never get around to watching).

If the person can buy it, use it, and feel like “yay, I did that!!” by EOD… You’re doing right.

(You can always follow up with your bigger, more substantial offers later. Selling during your welcome sequence is not a crime, after all.)

Tip #4: Nail the pricing

If we were working together, I would most likely recommend you price your tripwire offer between $5 and $50.

While you can go lower, pricing it at less than $5 will make it difficult to break even on your ad spend.

More than $50 veers into the “risky purchase” range: if someone just discovered you, they may not feel ready to part with an amount of money that would get them a nice meal at their favorite restaurant.

(The equivalent of a latte from their local coffee shop, though? Yeah, sure, we can do that. ☕)

Another question to consider is whether or not you want to use “charm pricing.”

Charm pricing is a pricing strategy where prices end in 7s or 9s (e.g. $27 instead of $30) to make the product appear cheaper than it actually is.

At the time of writing this, I can’t say that I feel too strongly about it/

For me, there are bigger ethical marketing fish to fry (looking at you, unsubstatiated income claims & AI-generated Stripe screenshots).

That said, some audiences might be more sensitive to charm pricing than others, and it’s always worth keeping your ear to the ground to gauge how your people feel. 

Tip #5: Repurpose what you already have

You don’t have to create an entirely new product to use as a tripwire.

Do you have a $9 template you built and never did all that much with? It might make for a great tripwire offer.

Perhaps there’s a bonus video you’ve included in your course that your new subscriber could get a quick win out of? Package it up and sell it separately!

🎨 In my experience, the resources and tools YOU use in the back-end of your business actually make the best tripwire offers.

After all, you already know it works: all you have to do is package it up nicely for your audience, and you’re good to go.

My Most Successful Tripwire Offer

My most successful tripwire offer to date has been my Notion Course Tracker Template.

I first created this template when I was getting ready to participate in a huge online course bundle (= a limited-time promotional event where creators contribute their paid products for free in exchange for your email address).

My *actual* bundle contribution was this accomplishment-tracking template (also built in Notion).

On the surface, a course tracker template doesn’t seem all that related to my original contribution.

✅ However, I knew people would be receptive to it in that specific moment.

Why? Well, participating in bundles like that can be quite overwhelming, and having a way to track everything you just “bought” can be really helpful.

I also knew that the people who downloaded that first Notion template probably already had a Notion ecosystem of their own–which means that a second template was an easy “yes” for them.

(No need to learn new software!)

^^ Can you see how the success of this particular template can be traced back to all the tripwire marketing principles we discussed above?

It’s specific, it connects to the freebie, and it gives the customer a quick win (a convenient place to put all their bundle downloads). 

Adding a small discount lowered the price of the template to just $7, so the investment was a no-brainer.

(My monthly cappuccino + pistachio croissant indulgence at the local bakery costs more than that, btw.)

Oh, and the best part? It was a template I was already using inside my own business ecosystem, so I didn’t have to go out of my way to create something new.

Tripwire Offer Examples That Work

Now that you’ve seen my favorite tripwire offer, let me show you some other examples to get your creative juices flowing.

Tripwire Offer Example #1:

Lead magnet: A “Houses 101” cheatsheet, covering the basics of each house in astrology

Tripwire Offer: A 20-minute audio training all about their 2nd House of money (‘cause people love to hear about ways they can bring in extra cash)

Why it works: It goes deeper into one specific aspect of the freebie + is small enough to get your new subscriber a quick win (they can just put it in their earbuds while they putter around the house).

Plus, since it’s all about making money, you can probably price it a bit higher ($27 and above).

Tripwire Offer Example #2:

Lead magnet: 3 Healthy 15-Minute Recipes For Busy Moms

Tripwire Offer: A $7 grocery list of must-have pantry staples to keep at your house to avoid grocery shopping all the time–ideally in multiple formats (printable + app-friendly versions)

Why it works: The offer solves a related problem that their audience tends to have

 (“ugh, I never have the right ingredients!”).

It offers a quick win because they can use this list during their next grocery trip (the same one they’ll go on to get the ingredients for the initial recipes).

And $7? That’s a steal compared to the mental and physical energy required for a yet-another another last-minute grocery run.

Tools To Build A Tripwire Funnel

Want to know a secret? If you already have a way to process payments in your business…

🙅🏻‍♀️ You don’t actually have to purchase any extra tools to build your first tripwire marketing funnel.

You can simply build a tripwire sales page on your site! 

(It might even look better than some of the cookie-cutter templates you can find inside the “fancier” software solutions.)

That said, if you are going to invest in a tool for building sales funnels (including tripwire funnels), I would recommend ThriveCart.

The occasional bug aside, Thrivecart really does do it all: sales pages, checkout pages, order bumps… You name it.

And the one-time payment option (with a built-in place to host the digital products you just sold), makes it a very attractive option indeed.

Ready To Build Your Own Tripwire Funnel?

👋🏻 I’d love to help.

Want to brainstorm some tripwire offer ideas–or some expert help in choosing the best one? Book a 60-minute Sounding Board Session with yours truly.

Need someone to take a look at a funnel that’s not performing as well as you’d hoped? My Copy Reviews might be right up your alley.

Would rather hand off the whole “writing copy” thing to someone else entirely? Perhaps it’s time to hire me as your sales copywriter.