Email countdown timer testing and performance
Once you’ve completed your design, it’s time to test it.
How to test your countdown timer
Here at Litmus we’re a bit obsessed with pre-send testing, and we always recommend doing this with any new elements in your email (especially email client support which can sometimes change without warning). Preview countdown timers directly in Litmus Personalize, so you don’t have to wait for a test to be sent or switch between multiple tools to see exactly how it will appear.
Should IA/B test my countdown timer?
In addition to pre-send testing, countdown timers are also an important element of A/B testing in emails. Every audience is different, and so is every marketing campaign, so this is the best way to know if it actually increased urgency and improved conversions or failed. Make sure you have a specific hypothesis behind your test—why countdown timers will increase engagement. If there’s no reason to add a countdown timer to your email, you probably won’t see the engagement boost you want.
Can I track countdown timer performance using Litmus?
Yes! Litmus Email Analytics shows your email performance, from open rates to read rates. You can also use your email service provider to check your performance.
To determine if your countdown timer was successful, return to your campaign goal. is to encourage more people to reopen email, like our New Year’s gift drops Email, or get more conversions, like from Black Friday or Cyber Monday events? As you evaluate future activities, see how your countdown timer can help you achieve those goals (or not!).
How to create an email countdown timer using Litmus Personalize
You don’t need to know how to code HTML to create a countdown timer in an email marketing campaign. Steps to embed your own email countdown timer in Litmus Personalize:
- Go to your “Campaigns” tab. There you’ll find a library of email templates that you can use as a starting point. Under Templates, click Countdown Clock > New Template.
- Upload a background image that will appear after the days, hours, minutes, or seconds in the countdown timer.
- Add a new block to fill in the numbers, then customize the countdown timer from the editor on the right to a font, color, and size that matches your brand and email design.
- If you want to create a special expiration message, scroll down under “Expiration Status” on the right and select a custom message with the same background color to edit or upload your own image.
- Likewise, create a fallback for email clients that don’t support countdown timers by going to the MPP fallback state to choose whether to hide the countdown timer completely or create a fallback option.
- When you’re ready, click “Preview” and double-check that it displays correctly. If it looks good, click Save and name your timer.
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Example of countdown timer in the wild
Countdown timers are extremely versatile. This is a common tactic for promoting sales or events, but it’s just the beginning of how you can use them:
How retailers use countdown timers
In retail, they are mainly used to count down until the start or end of a sale. They are also often used to visually display delivery information (for example, there are two hours left until shopping for next day delivery). Brands also use them for product launches, inventory drops, or in-store events.
This timer comes from Kate SpadeLocated right below the logo is a cute little but punchy example of a timer that grabs people’s attention.
How financial services use countdown timers
Although financial companies have more regulations on what they can and cannot send in emails, they can still use personalization effectively. Strict deadlines—tax season, retirement contributions, insurance coverage, or other filing dates—can all use countdown timers.
We’ve created this example in Litmus Personalize to show you what it looks like.
How the travel and hospitality industry uses countdown timers
For hotels, airlines, and restaurants, countdown timers can bring a lot of excitement. This could be the countdown to your check-in time or flight, or it could be the countdown to when tickets go on sale for a special event or dinner or a local holiday.
P&O Ferries Use the circle as a countdown timer to let customers know how long they have until they can change their departure date without paying extra. Simple, but effective!
How B2B Companies Use Countdown Timers
We firmly believe that B2B doesn’t have to mean boring. Embed a countdown timer to surprise a customer on their loyalty anniversary, remind new customers that a free trial is about to end, or promote the biggest sale of the year.
This example from Wix shows how to put a countdown timer front and center of your email and provide some supporting details about the promotion to really make an impact.
How Nonprofits and Higher Education Institutions Use Countdown Timers
They can use countdown timers to create a sense of urgency around donation matching periods or school, grant or scholarship application deadlines.
We’ve created this example in Litmus Personalize to show you what it looks like.
Participate in a 1:1 experience
Deliver personalized content at scale. Use instant polls, dynamic content, and advanced targeting to drive results.
Best practices for using countdown timers
Like any email marketing strategy, you don’t want to overdo it. While they can be a powerful element to add to emails, avoid using countdown timers too often. Here’s how to get the most out of them:
Countdown Timer Email Marketing Strategy
If you include a countdown in your email, make sure it ties in with the rest of your promotional strategy. For example, will this be the last sale of the season? Or the best this year? When planning your next email marketing campaign, ask yourself these questions:
What type of marketing campaigns are email countdown timers best suited for?
Use them for large events, price promotions, or personal events like birthdays or countdowns to the holidays. “We only add them to the end of the email campaign or promotion,” says Carin Slater, lifecycle email marketing manager at Litmus. “For example, we used to put a countdown timer in all event webinar emails, but we found that since the webinars were recorded, there wasn’t enough urgency.”
Countdown timers can also be used for transactional emails (or operational emails). Below is an example of a deal send to Litmus Live 2022 attendees that includes a countdown timer, not necessarily to drive action but more to create excitement for the upcoming event.
How long is too long for a countdown timer?
A countdown timer by itself does not create a sense of urgency or scarcity. They work in conjunction with the rest of your promotion, which is why you should only run countdown timers on campaigns that actually end. We also recommend not using timers when a promotion ends too long ago, as a short window means openers are more likely to take action.
Will a countdown timer affect your deliverability?
like anything with Delivery capability…. it depends. (We know! So frustrating!) Countdown timers, for example, don’t have any inherent functionality that triggers spam filters. However, if you overuse countdown timers, or continually trick your subscribers and lose trust in them, it could impact your engagement, which could be detrimental if your subscribers decide to start marking your emails as spam. May negatively impact your sender reputation
Can you add other types of personalization via timers?
Yes of course! Litmus Personalize allows you to add multiple Instant personalization layer Display with countdown timer in your email. A great example of pairing a countdown timer with other instant content is personalized imagery. Creating dynamic, personalized experiences at scale? *chef’s kiss*
This timepiece comes from a fashion retailer top store Including the recipient’s name on the countdown timer (via a personalized image) adds a personal touch and a sense of urgency to the purchase.
it still shocks us 56% of marketers personalize less than 25% of emails They send. Countdown timers are just one way to personalize emails – the more you use subscriber profiles and behavior to create dynamic, personalized emails, the better performance you’ll see.
Part of the reason marketers don’t use personalization as much as possible is that personalization is considered finicky and difficult to implement with email client support and coding hurdles that must be jumped. With Litmus Personalize you can easily add a variety of dynamic content No need to be a coding guru. The more creative the better.
The ethics of using countdown timers
Urgency and scarcity are both effective psychological tools for encouraging more people to sign up or buy from you. But you should use them carefully and ethically.
Don’t mislead your subscribers Let them think the sale is over when you are about to have another sale in 24 hours, or tell them there are only a few items left in stock when your warehouse is full. Countdown timers can create a sense of urgency in an event or promotion, but only if the event or promotion actually has an end date.
“If you say something is going to end, it has to end,” Slater said. “Otherwise, it’s a breach of trust. Essentially, it’s like the boy who cried wolf. People won’t trust you after that. Especially if you do it repeatedly.
If you use a countdown timer to create a false sense of urgency, your subscribers will remember it, and adding a countdown timer to your next email may not have the effect you want.
How to send a message to a countdown timer and add a label to it
For maximum impact, clear messaging is crucial to making your countdown timer meaningful and easy to understand. In some cases, we see countdown timers placed at the top of emails without any other information. “If it’s just a banner at the top with no explanation or explanation for why it’s there, it’s not going to perform as well. Why are we counting down? Why should I be excited about this?” Slater said.
This example comes from a lingerie retailer Brooks Avenue Use clear, informative messaging but still keep your brand image at the forefront.
Then, make sure to put a time label on each countdown timer so the recipient knows how much time is left until the timer runs out. Don’t forget to add days, hours, minutes, or seconds so your subscribers clearly understand you’re counting down. Avoid using just numbers as this can cause confusion.
In this example, from sports nutrition and wellness retailer mostthey clearly indicate the hours, minutes, and seconds in the header image. This may seem like a simple step, but many brands forget about it.
Increase conversion rates with Litmus Personalize
No fancy coding required to add a countdown timer or other powerful personalization tactics to your next email campaign. Use Litmus Personalize to create beautiful email designs tailored to individual subscribers. Learn more>
