A funnel with an upsell and a downsell: what each step does

A funnel is a sequence of pages where each step knows what happened in the one before. That's the whole difference from five separate pages you hope will work together.

Landing page: one promised outcome

The first page has one job: to get the person to take the next step. Not to tell them everything about the company.

Order form: as few fields as possible

Every field is a chance for someone to give up. Name, email and payment are enough for most cases. An address only makes sense if you're shipping something physical.

This is where the order bump goes: a checkbox with a small add-on right in the form. It works because it doesn't ask for a new decision to trust you, only for a little more value.

Upsell: after payment, not before

The upsell appears once the person has already paid. They accept it with one click, without entering their card again. It works precisely because the decision to trust you was made a minute ago.

The upsell should be related to what they bought. Someone who bought a guide may want the templates that go with it. Don't offer them something from a different area; that's just a second sale started from scratch.

Downsell: for the one who said no

The downsell is for the person who said "no" to the upsell. So it mustn't be the same offer repeated at a lower price, because they've already turned it down. A smaller version, shorter access, just one part of the bundle.

The key is that the path is different: someone who accepted should never see the downsell. If they do, you've just told them they paid more than they needed to.

An exit-intent downsell

The last attempt can be a window that appears when someone tries to close the tab. Once per session, with a clear way out. If it appears with every mouse movement, it's not an offer, it's an obstacle.

Where email fits in

A real order starts the campaign: not a filled-in form, a paid order. The automation knows what was bought and can send a different message to the person who took the upsell and to the one who declined it.