Marketing emails must stand out.
That’s the only way to compete with an increasingly crowded inbox of a potential customer.
It’s a great marketing tool for businesses when used right.
What exactly are email countdown timers?
These are animated or static elements that are embedded in the email such that it displays a real-time countdown to some event or deadline.
What’s the purpose?
The purpose is simple.
When you think time is running out, or when you think there is a time limit to something – that something becomes very interesting to you.
The psychology behind it is to create a similar interest and urgency for an action that is favorable to marketers.
There are two main psychological triggers:
- Loss Aversion: people are more motivated by the fear of missing out (FOMO) than by likely gains.
- FOMO: the anxiety that something exciting may be happening somewhere.
It becomes easier to drive engagement and conversions through these psychological factors being played by countdown timers.
So what are the benefits?
- urgency: you visually show limited time available for important offers and events for quick decision-making
- engagement: these timers are dynamic, and they can capture your attention to increase interactions
- conversion rates: because there is an urgency created, there are higher conversion rates as people are more likely to take instant action
- sales: time-sensitive offers help sales, and that’s why countdown timers have a positive impact on your bottom line for more revenue
- anticipation: there is more excitement around product launches, events, special promos, etc.
So what can you use it for?
For literally anything in email marketing scenarios wherein the following is involved:
- Limited-time sales or promotions
- Product launches
- Event registrations
- Abandoned cart reminders
- Holiday or seasonal campaigns
- Subscription renewals
- Webinar or workshop sign-ups
But there are some good practices that you should stick to:
- Use timers strategically: don’t overdo them. Keep them for genuine time-sensitive offers to keep that charm and effect alive.
- Keep things clear: the timer should be noticeable and should clearly communicate what it is counting down to. For most visibility, place them near the top of the email.
- Pair with strong CTAs: add clear and convincing calls to action (CTAs) near the timer so the recipients get the desired action.
- Be simple: don’t clutter your email with too many dynamic elements. The focus should be on the timer and your main message.
- Keep testing: be regular with A/B testing of your emails with or without countdown timers to measure effectiveness and make the most of your strategy.
How do you add account time to your emails?
There are two main ways; either a dedicated email marketing platform with built-in timer functionality or a custom timer using HTML and CSS.
Most email service providers can give you easy-to-use drag-and-drop editors that have countdown timer elements.
When you are using a countdown timer make sure you take care of the following:
- Design: make sure the timer matches your brand and email design
- Functionality: test the timer on different email clients and devices to be sure of proper display and functionality
- Fallback: give a fallback option for email clients without dynamic content support
How do you measure your success?
It’s pretty easy.
You have to keep track of the following metrics:
- Open rates
- Click-through rates
- Conversion rates
- Revenue generated
Try to compare these with your regular email campaigns. This will give you an idea of the impact your countdown timers have on the general email marketing performance.
When used correctly, countdown timers have the capability of helping marketers out when it comes to better engagements, conversions, and sales.Sendtric provides customizable countdown timers that can be added easily into email campaigns, landing pages, other marketing elements. They are compatible with all major email service providers and marketing automation platforms.
