LeadMagnetGeniusA tripwire funnel is a marketing strategy where you offer a low-cost, irresistible offer to new prospects immediately after they show interest (often after they opt in for a free lead magnet). The idea is to get a commitment – even a small one – from the customer, which “trips” them into your customer list, not just your subscriber list. Tripwire offers are usually priced very low (ranging from $1 to $50, commonly under $20) and deliver high value, often even above what they pay. They are sometimes called splinter offers or breakeven funnels, because the goal can be to break even on ad spend by getting some revenue quickly, and more importantly, to qualify buyers instead of just leads.
The funnel works like this: traffic comes in (through an ad or content) -> they sign up for a lead magnet or some entry offer -> on the “thank you” or next page, instead of just a generic thanks, they see a special limited-time low-cost offer (the tripwire) -> a portion of people buy that -> after buying, they might see upsells or just enter your customer follow-up sequence.
Why go through this trouble? Because once someone buys anything from you, they’re far more likely to buy again. It’s the principle of commitment and consistency in psychology – a small initial commitment can lead to larger ones. This is also known as the foot-in-the-door technique. You make it “insanely easy to do business with you” by lowering the barrier to entry with a cheap offer. After that, the door is open for upsells and higher-ticket offers down the line.