Business is built on relationships and the relationship you build with your potential customers starts from the moment they become subscribers.

When someone subscribes to your blog, they are showing that they are interested in what you do. So why not take advantage of that moment to offer him something to pay for that solves the problem or covers the need of what has brought him to you?

This is where tripwire comes into the picture.

What Is A Tripwire?

A tripwire is a time-limited product or service offer specifically designed to convert as many subscribers as possible into customers.

You may know it by other names, such as flash offer or OTO ( One Time Offer ). Whatever you call it, the important thing is that it is a very attractive offer for a very short time that is offered to a person who has just subscribed .

As strange as it may seem, the main objective of tripwire is NOT to make a profit , but to generate that first sale to the person who has just joined your community.

But… is it okay to try to sell to someone who just signed up? Isn’t that a bit aggressive?

Absolutely. In fact, surely as a user, you yourself have subscribed to more than one blog where you have been presented with an OTO offer of this type.

What do you think if we see what characteristics define a tripwire?

Characteristics Of A Tripwire

There are certain elements that differentiate a tripwire from other fantastic beings in the world of online marketing 😉

It is aligned with your lead magnet and with your star product or service

The idea is that your subscribers enter a funnel and progressively move towards a medium or medium-high price offer; that is, your main product or service (or one of them).

Therefore, the tripwire must be in tune with the theme of the lead magnet and with the product or service that you want to sell later in your funnel.

Solve a specific, concrete problem that “hurts”

You do not want to offer just anything, but the solution to that “china in the shoes” with which your potential clients have spent time and which they want to get rid of.

Connect with the pain points of their main concern or desire and show a real benefit, as you would with any other product or service.

Keep in mind that this first purchase is your best opportunity to show that you are capable of helping him effectively.

Obviously, to offer an irresistible tripwire, you have to know your ideal client very well .

It’s not free

A tripwire must be paid , because we want it to cross the fine line that separates a subscriber from a customer. Taking that step is very important at a subconscious level, even if the outlay is negligible.

Normally, it is said that a tripwire offer must have a very low price (up to 80% less than its normal price) . In fact, most OTO deals do it this way.

However, this does not have to be like this. There are many tripwires that cost 200 euros (or more) that work and convert very well.

And notice one thing.

Although a priori you think that the lower the price, the more irresistible the offer will be, you can fall into a trap. Your intention should not be to present your OTO offer as something “cheap”, but to convey that they have the opportunity to take advantage of an incredibly valuable offer and they would be crazy to pass it up.

If the perceived value of your tripwire is not greater than the price, your leads will not be interested in the offer.

This is the real crux of the matter: perceived value.

High perceived (and delivered) value

When the perceived value is high, you will achieve a higher conversion rate and tripwire sales will increase.

In the same way, when the delivered value is high, it will increase the confidence of your client and the chances of repeating. And for this to happen, the quality of the tripwire must be VERY HIGH .

The content of the tripwire must surprise your client, generate a WOW effect. And if that is only achieved by delivering quality.

leave you wanting more

Remember that the number 1 goal of a tripwire is to convert a lead into a customer. And when we have achieved it, what we want is for you to continue moving forward in your funnel and be willing to invest in higher priced solutions .

A tripwire solves a specific problem, but it won’t change your customer’s life. It is a product that solves the acute problem you are suffering from, but to get 100% free of it, you will have to go through your most expensive offers.

Why Do You Need A Tripwire: To Generate Online Income?

There are a handful of good reasons to launch a tripwire.

First of all, because some of your readers are already ready to buy . They are people who have had a problem for a long time and when they find a possible solution, they do not want to miss the opportunity.

And forcing him to wait when he’s willing to pay doesn’t make much sense. Remember that:

A buyer is worth more than a reader 

Keep in mind that once a subscriber becomes a customer, the relationship changes, in part because paid content achieves a greater transformation than free content, and that helps establish a closer and more complicit relationship .

In addition, it is much easier to sell high-value products or services to a person who has already bought previously than to get a new customer.

It is logical, because when someone has experienced first-hand the value you bring to them, they will offer less resistance when buying than someone who has not yet tried your solutions.

Whoever buys your tripwire is 7 times more likely to buy from you again than a new customer. 

On the other hand, you need to incorporate a tripwire to your professional website to convert as many subscribers into clients as you can to increase your sales opportunities from the first minute (you have a business, right?) 😉

And thirdly, you are interested in selling such a flash offer to recover and maximize the investment of your lead acquisition campaigns in Facebook Ads : the more return you get with the tripwire, the more money you can invest in paid traffic to generate more subscribers.

Types Of Tripwire: Define The Perfect Irresistible Offer For Your Customers

I imagine your question right now: what am I doing my tripwire about? The truth is that tripwire options are almost endless, so let’s look at some ideas to spark your inspiration.

1. Partial Access To Your Online Course

Do you have a digital product or online course already created? So consider extracting a portion of the course and offering it as a tripwire .

In addition to helping your client solve their problem, this type of OTO will be 100% aligned with the flagship product that you will sell at the end of the funnel.

2. A Physical Book

Publishing a book is still a great way to show that you have mastered the subject matter of your work.

The key for a book to be effective as a tripwire is for it to be physical. Although e-books have gained a lot of ground in recent years, the market still considers the physical book as “higher end”.

In practice, a common way to offer this type of OTO is to offer the book for free and only charge shipping costs .

And already put, why not also give away the shipping costs? Because if you give away the book and shipping costs, you break the essence of tripwire: the economic transaction.

3. Master Classes

Think of the most acute problem that your potential client has and offer them the solution step by step.

Creating a paid webinar or a masterclass can be another interesting option to create a tripwire.

Most webinars are free and contain a sale at the end, so to prevent your subscribers from subconsciously thinking “sales webinar”, use other terms, such as “masterclass”, “training”, “course” or “ seminar”.

For example, if you are dedicated to online marketing and target novice entrepreneurs who need to increase their visibility, you can offer them a masterclass or a guide with VIP tricks to get 1000 visits in 1 month.

4. Software Trial Or Membership

Depending on your industry, access to a software, tool, or membership might be the best possible tripwire .

If your business follows a SaaS model, offering access for a certain period (7, 14 or 30 days) for only 1 euro can considerably increase your customer base.

And the same thing you can do if you work with a membership site: allow access to your community for a week for 1 euro and if they like what is inside, they will not hesitate to pay to stay in it.

5. Access To A Service Or Product At A Very Low Price

The last type of tripwire I’m going to talk about is selling your entry product at a very substantial discount (between 60 and 80%) for a VERY limited time .

It supposes a price reduction so powerful that it can become the trigger that moves your client to buy.

Similarly, you can also offer your services . When this is done, a heavy discount is usually applied to make the offer more attractive.

It is an option that you can value, although it is not the one that I recommend the most and I suggest you consider it carefully.

When Should You Present The Tripwire To Your Subscribers And How Long Should The Offer Last?

You already know what your flash offer is going to be about. Now, the question is when and where to offer it.

There are several possibilities, and I am going to tell you about the 2 most common ones.

On The Same Subscription Confirmation Page

The first option is to offer the tripwire on the “thank you for subscribing” page .

That is, a person enters their email to receive your lead magnet and on the same page where they land and you thank them for joining your community, you present the tripwire, so that you turn this thank you page into a real sales page , with all its elements:

• pain points
• Profits
• Product or service details
• Testimonials and social proof
• Warranty
• Frequent questions
• Price

And, in addition, you can include a countdown clock to encourage urgency and stimulate sales.

After Confirming The Subscription

Alternatively, you can present your OTO offer after the subscriber has reviewed the email and confirmed their subscription .

The page where you offer the tripwire does not vary from the previous option. The only thing that changes is the moment in which your potential client sees the offer.

Which Option Is Better?

Both work well, although I recommend that you choose to offer your tripwire after you have confirmed the subscription , because in this way you reduce the rate of non-confirmations and you do not lose potential subscribers.

However, if you offer it before confirmation, you will surely sell more, but you run the risk of more people not confirming.

Once we have resolved this question, we still have another question to answer:

How Long Should An Oto Offer Last?

The truth is that there is a definite standard time that you must meet. Ideally, (just like any other marketing strategy) you test, measure, and make decisions based on data.

However, remember that a tripwire is a limited time offer, so you should think about a specific period and keep it short .

If you offer the offer for 1 month, the sense of urgency disappears at a stroke. You have to activate the springs that move to action, so the most common thing is that the offer lasts a short time: 20 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 24 hours…

Give Profitability To Your Website And Increase Your Profits From Today

If you’ve made it this far, you already know all the ingredients you need to get your tripwire off the ground, building trust with your subscribers at lightning speed, and generating revenue .

But WOW! Be realistic with expectations.

The normal thing is that many of the subscribers DO NOT buy your tripwire. It is normal. As I said before, test and measure to adjust and optimize the system more and more, but remember that there will be many people who are not yet ready to buy at that time and need to receive more content before opening the portfolio.