A tripwire (or front-end offer) is a digital product that is offered to email subscribers immediately after they have opted in. It's a way to quickly convert leads into customers by offering a product that is low in cost, but high in value.
In this article, we'll explain what tripwires are, and give you six tips for creating and pricing your own tripwire products.
What Is a Tripwire?
Tripwire products are generally digital products, such as ebooks, templates, or mini video courses. They are designed to be quick and easy to produce, so you can get them to market quickly.
Think - one problem, one solution type product.
The goal of a tripwire offer is to convert the subscriber into a customer as quickly as possible by providing them with an irresistible deal. A subscriber who is willing to pull out their credit card and purchase something from you is more valuable than a subscriber who signs up only for your free lead magnets.
Make a tripwire product that has true value, and you'll be on your way to a successful customer engagement strategy.
How to Decide What to Create as Your Tripwire
1. Identify Your Buyer
In your niche, you'll find your ideal client. You love working with them and when they follow your advice, trainings etc they achieve fantastic results. They are aware they have a problem and is looking for solutions for it. You can help them out by creating products addressing these needs. with the view of being of service and adding value to their self and/or business.
You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.
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2. Set Expectations
It's important to set expectations with your tripwire offer. Don't make the offer too complicated. This will leave you with a few unhappy customers, and you'll lose credibility in the eyes of your subscribers.
Instead, set the offer up as a "time saver/quick results deal" that is too good to pass up and by following your instructions or using your templates etc, they will receive the result promised.
3. Match the Offer to the Customer
You'll want to make sure that your tripwire offer matches the type of buyer you think they'll be. This is where your research in #1 will come in handy. For example, if you think your customer is a newbie then the terminology you use should be simple and easy to understand, while if they are more advanced you can use technical or industry specific words and delve deeper into the problem.
By having different levels of customer, all with differing problems you can expand the number of tripwires you have on offer.
4. Offer More Value Than the Cost
When it comes to tripwire products, the more value you can offer upfront, the better. This should be a no-brainer for the subscriber. They have a problem and you have offered to solve it for them. Now all they need to do is decide whether or not the value your tripwire provides is worth the cost.
The great thing about tripwires is that you can have them for sale on your website at a higher price, which will be the 'normal' price. You then create a tripwire offer for it at a discounted price, which then gives even more value and irresistibility to it.
Tripwires typically range from $5 to $49.
The higher your other offers are, whether that's courses, programs or services, the higher the tripwire cost can be. You'll not know your 'perfect' price until you test different price points to see which one brings in the most sales.
5. Offer a Free Trial/Piece of an Existing Course
A free trial helps to reduce perceived risk for subscribers. It's much easier to offer a free trial than to ask them to pay upfront. If you have a membership site, this is a great tripwire offer.
Or, if you currently have a course for sale, you can offer the first module or couple of lessons as a tripwire with the view that they will lose it so much that they'll upgrade to the full course.
6. Offer Shortcut Templates
You may use templates with clients as part of your service, or as part of running your business that would be perfect as a tripwire. Many subscribers willingly pay for anything that will shorten their learning curve or save them time. If someone charges $75/hr and you can save them an hour each day or week with your $20 tripwire, isn't that a no-brainer offer?
Finally, it's important to have a way to track your tripwire offers. This will allow you to follow up with those that decide to not to purchase and offer them another chance to buy. You can choose whether or not to increase the price within these 'upsell' email sequences or not.
If someone does purchase you want to tag them as a customer so that you don't show them this offer again, you also know they are willing to purchase offers from you and you can present more, related offers to them with a higher chance that they'll purchase.
As with everything in your online business - test, test, test.
Once you've sold a few, look at your analytics and see if there is anywhere you can make improvements and then test them, one at a time.
Set up a notification for your phone for whenever you sell a tripwire offer (or any sale) and celebrate every sale in real-time!
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Creating and Implementing Tripwires
Navigating the cosmos of tripwires can be a thrilling journey, but it's not without its pitfalls. Here are some common mistakes to avoid as you chart your course:
- Overcomplicating Your Offer: The beauty of a tripwire lies in its simplicity. It's a low-cost, high-value offer that solves a specific problem. Avoid the temptation to overcomplicate your offer with too many features or benefits. Remember, the goal is to provide immediate value and make the purchase decision a no-brainer for your subscribers.
- Undervaluing Your Offer: While a tripwire should be low-cost, it shouldn't be low-value. Make sure your offer provides substantial value to your subscribers. If your tripwire is perceived as cheap or low-quality, it could harm your reputation and deter subscribers from making further purchases.
- Not Testing Different Offers: What works for one audience may not work for another. Don't assume you know what your subscribers want. Test different tripwire offers to see what resonates best with your audience.
- Ignoring the Follow-Up: The journey doesn't end once a subscriber purchases your tripwire. This is just the beginning of their customer journey. Make sure you have a follow-up strategy in place to nurture these new customers and guide them towards your core offers.
- Not Tracking Your Results: As with any marketing strategy, it's crucial to track your results. This will allow you to see what's working, what's not, and make informed decisions about how to optimize your tripwire strategy.
The most important part of creating a tripwire is hitting 'publish' - getting it out there for your visitors to see and purchase.
Learn from your experience and results and each time you create an offer, whether it's a tripwire or not, you'll improve in both the sales copy, the offer and the results!