Using Countdown Timers in Email

Using Countdown Timers in Email

What is a Countdown Timer?

A countdown timer is a visual representation of a clock, programmed with an end date, that counts down to zero. Countdown timers in emails can create a sense of urgency, encouraging customers to act quickly on limited-time offers, upcoming events, or product launches. For example, a retail store might use a timer to highlight the last hours of a sale, or a nonprofit might set one up for the end of a matching donation period, effectively driving engagement and maximizing responses.

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Examples of Use Cases

Businesses use timers in a variety of ways, here are a few examples of how you can use countdown timers in your email campaigns:
  • Retail: Count down to the start or end of a sales event
  • Tech: Count down to new product launch or upcoming trade shows
  • Travel: Count down to a departure date
  • Media/Subscriptions: Count down to expiration of a subscription or renewal period/renewal offer ending
  • Events: Count down to the start of an event or pre-sale ticket window
  • Non-profits: Count down to the end of a donation matching period
  • Restaurants: Count down to a popular menu item being available for a limited time

 

How to add Countdown Timers to your Campaigns

Simply drag a countdown timer block into your canvas, then use the timer editor on the right-side to:

Set Countdown Options

  • Set end date & time
  • Select time increments to display: months, days, hours, etc.
  • Language: English, Spanish, French
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Set Countdown Timer Styles

  • Set display style: Circle, Square, Ring, No Style
  • Display size: Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large
  • Set spacing in px
  • Fill color, digit color
  • Digit font, digit size
  • Label color, font family, size
  • Placement

 

  
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Best Practices

By following these best practices, you can enhance engagement and overall effectiveness of your time-sensitive email campaigns using countdown timers.

Deadlines and CTAs

  1. Countdown timers work best when they are directly tied to a deadline. Your email should clearly indicate such deadline for the release of a new product, the end of a sale, a conference registration end date, etc.
  2. Countdown timers need to be clearly linked to your primary CTA to encourage recipients to take action before the timer expires.
  3. Countdown timers are perfect for creating a sense of urgency. Your email should include CTA phrases like "Only 1 day left!" or "Hurry before it’s gone" to amply the effect.

Design and testing

  1. Countdown timers should be prominently displayed in the top half of your email so that recipients see it immediately without having to scroll.
  2. The design of the timer should be simple and not overwhelming. Use large, easy-to-read font for digits & labels, as well as contrasting colors to ensure your timer stands out.
  3. Test your countdown timer across different email clients and devices to ensure it works and displays correctly.
  4. Optimize countdown timer design for mobile, where many recipients will open their emails.

Overuse

  1. Countdown timers will lose their impact on your readers if you use them too often. Include timers only when urgency and taking action is essential.

 

Notes

  1. Availability: Countdown timers are available to all customers on all licenses, however you will only find countdown timers in Delivra's Air email designer.
  2. Start time: We currently support the current date (email send date) as the start time. Future enhancements may include support of start time being at time of email open.
  3. Expiration: When the timer ends, it will display all zeros. Future enhancements may include display of static image when countdown expires.
  4. End date: We currently support the time zone set for your account. Future enhancements may include timer ability to display recipient time zone or use merged date fields to further personalize timers.
  5. Fallback: In certain cases, the timer will not render in email and users should select a fallback option in its place. right now the timer will be hidden Transparent Pixel (hide the timer). Future enhancements may include display of a static image.
  6. Limitations:
    • If a contact has Mail Privacy Protection enabled, the timer will be cached and therefore will not render.
    • Since the countdown timer is an animated GIF, certain email clients will not display the animation. Specifically, we know that the countdown timer will not work with Outlook 2013 or Apple Mail IOS 15.