Today, we’re going to take you deep into a sales funnel that is…well…a unicorn. Our hope is that you can learn a few lessons from unpacking this funnel, to understand just why it converts so well.
It’s our clients funnel for a Printables Workshop and List Building Academy.
To begin, let’s talk about what KIND of funnel it is. In Russell Brunson terms, it’s called a Self-Liquidating Funnel. The idea is that your funnel will pay for your ad spend so you can acquire new subscribers (and long term customers) for free. And if your funnel works REALLY well, you’ll get some additional profits through an upsell.
Here’s how the self-liquidating offer funnel works.
You start with an ad. A Facebook ad is quite common.
Then, you offer something for free. A PDF, a checklist, quiz, guide, e-book, or e-course.
When they submit their name and email, cha-ching…you have a subscriber you can market to. But you don’t stop there.
On the thank you page, you offer something irresistible. Something not too expensive. Usually it works out to be less than $30. We call this a tripwire.
Once they submit their credit card information, it’s time for a “WAIT. Your order is not complete!” page. There…you offer a time sensitive offer that’s higher – around $97-$197. Only about 1% of people will even take you up on this, but that’s okay. We call that an upsell.
Even if they pass your big offer by, you still have an email address…and can provide value, build trust, and continue to remind them of both your tripwire and core offers.
What you see in this funnel diagram above, is the combination of pages and emails. When they finally finish their purchase, depending on what they bought, they will proceed through a sequence that ultimately gets them to back to the core offer.
You want to create a traditional sales page for the core offer in addition to the upsell version, since sending them back to your special offer page was a one-time offer deal, and you don’t want to look like someone who goes back on your word!
Industry averages
So what can you expect in terms of numbers?
- 20% of people who see your free offer will opt-in.
- An additional 1-5% will buy your tripwire, right then and there.
- AND…about 1-5% of the people who buy your tripwire, will then purchase your core offer.
- For the remaining 95% of people, they will go through your email sequence and you can expect another 1% or so to buy the second time around.
So for an example…industry standard says…
- 5000 people SEE your opt-in.
- 1000 will opt-in.
- 10-50 people will buy the tripwire (let’s say it’s $27).
- Maybe 1 will purchase the core offer ($197) of those people (again – maybe! We’re talking 1% of the people who buy the tripwire)
- And an additional 5 or so will buy the offer after going through the sequence.
If it costs you $1.50 per subscriber, that means you’re paying $1500 in ad spend, and then making $1350 or so on the tripwire, and then most of your core offer is profit.
Alright, so that’s industry…. What you can expect…
But what about going above and beyond? Watching your self-liquidating funnel actually make PROFIT on the tripwire?
Here’s some of the numbers and examples of our best performing self-liquidating funnel.
Opt-in.
- Industry Average: 20%
- Our Average: 72%
Why?
It all comes down to getting inside the head of your ideal customer. I don’t care how pretty or plain your opt-in page design is. If you can give your ideal client something to salivate over, they will bite. DO NOT skimp on the opt-in. It’s the most important part of your funnel. We’re getting an insane 72% conversion rate on our page for the free-offer.
Tripwire
Per our client’s request, we’re running ads to the opt-in, which leads to the tripwire…AND, directly to the tripwire itself. And believe it or not, the ad that runs direct to the sales page is performing better than the lead in with the free offer?!
Here is a screenshot of our purchases on the thank you page of the opt-in…
Here is the screenshot of our purchases on the page DIRECT off the ad…
- Industry Average: 1-5%
- Our Average: 24-47%
HOW is that happening?
It’s what we call the triple decker.
Fantastic Copy
- Both on the AD itself, and we’re using longform ad copy, and the tripwire
Fantastic Design
- Beautiful aesthetics keep people on the page longer, which make Facebook happier, and it’s just an all-around good time
Fantastic Targeting
- Know your audience and give them WHAT THEY WANT
Core Offer
Right now, our core offer is converting at 2%. We’ve had 75 people hit the upsell offer and 2 have purchased. And…both purchases have come from people who are buying right off the ad, without an opting in. My guess is that psychologically, they are more prepared to buy when they click on the ad, because it’s clear it’s an offer, and not a freebie.
So what about the ads? What are we seeing?
It’s costing us about $.40 an email address (INSANITY) and then anywhere between $6-10 to get a purchase on a $25 product.
So here’s how it breaks down…
Our client has spent to date, $1600 on ads (estimate). She has earned $4234.00. That means, a profit margin of 37%. For a self-liquidating funnel, this percentage is the absolute best you can hope for.
Not only are you getting your subscribers for free, you’re profiting direct on the ad to the tripwire.
You might be wondering why we aren’t providing links? The simple reason is we don’t want to skew the data with lots of people opting in just to see the funnel.