Testing and efficiency for e mail countdown timers
After you’ve completed your designs, it’s time for testing.
The way to check your countdown timer
Right here at Litmus, we’re somewhat obsessive about pre-send testing, which we at all times advocate for any new component in your e mail (particularly with e mail shopper help altering with out warning typically.) You may preview your countdown timer immediately in Litmus Personalize, so that you don’t have to attend for a check ship or toggle between a number of instruments to know precisely the way it seems.
Ought to I A/B check my countdown timer?
Along with pre-send testing, countdown timers are an amazing component to A/B check in your emails. Each viewers is completely different, and each marketing campaign is completely different, so it’s the easiest way to seek out out if it actually does add a way of urgency and enhance conversions or fall flat. Be sure you have a particular speculation behind your check – why will the countdown timer enhance engagement. If there isn’t a purpose for a countdown timer to be in an e mail, you may not see the increase in engagement that you just’re on the lookout for.
Can I observe the efficiency of countdown timers with Litmus?
Sure! Litmus E mail Analytics exhibits your e mail efficiency, from open to learn charges . You too can use your e mail service supplier to take a look at your efficiency.
To find out whether or not or not your countdown timer was profitable, return to your marketing campaign’s objectives. Is it to encourage extra folks to re-open the e-mail, like our NYE Swag Drop Email, or to get extra conversions, like for a Black Friday or Cyber Monday marketing campaign? Check out how your countdown timers enable you to obtain these objectives (or not!) as you consider it for future campaigns.
The way to create an e mail countdown timer with Litmus Personalize
You don’t must know how one can code HTML to create a countdown timer in your e mail campaigns. Steps to create your individual e mail countdown timer in Litmus Personalize:
- Go to your Personalised Content material tab. Underneath “Personalised Content material,” click on “Countdown Clocks” then select from considered one of our many template choices
- Set a time and date in your countdown timer to run out.
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Customise your countdown timer to the font, coloration, and sizing that matches your model and e mail design from the editor on the fitting. Alternatively, add a background picture that may seem behind the day, hour, minutes, or seconds within the countdown timer.
- Greatest apply is for background pictures to be small. If in case you have a bigger hero picture, we advocate slicing it and utilizing the smaller slice because the background picture for the timer.
- If you wish to create a particular expiration message, scroll down on the fitting hand aspect below “Expiration State” and select a customized message or add a picture as a replacement
- Equally, create a fallback for e mail shoppers that don’t help countdown timers by going to MPP Fallback state to decide on whether or not to cover the countdown timer fully or create your individual fallback choice.
- While you’re prepared, click on “Preview” and double-check that it seems accurately. If it appears to be like good, click on save and replica HTML.
- Place that HTML in your e mail and you might be good to go!
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Examples of countdown timers within the wild
Countdown timers are extraordinarily versatile. It’s a standard tactic to advertise gross sales or occasions, however that’s only the start of what you should use them for:
How retailers use countdown timers
In retail, they’re predominately used to countdown till the beginning or finish of a promotion. They’re additionally used quite a bit to visually present supply data (e.g. two hours left to buy next-day supply). Manufacturers additionally use them for product launches, stock drops, or in-store occasions.
This timer from Kate Spade, positioned immediately beneath the emblem, is a stunning instance of a small, punchy timer that captures consideration.
How monetary companies can use countdown timers
Whereas monetary corporations have extra laws round what they’ll and can’t ship of their emails, they’ll nonetheless use personalization successfully. Laborious deadlines—round tax season, retirement contributions, your insurance coverage protection, or different utility dates—can all use a countdown timer.
We created this instance in Litmus Personalize to point out you what it might appear like.
How journey and hospitality makes use of countdown timers
For accommodations, airways, and eating places, countdown timers can construct a number of pleasure. It may be a countdown till your check-in time or flight, for when tickets go on sale for a particular occasion or dinner, or to a sure native vacation.
P&O Ferries makes use of a roundel for his or her countdown timer to let clients understand how lengthy they’d left to vary their departure dates for no additional value. Easy, but efficient!
How B2B corporations use countdown timers
We’re massive followers of the concept that B2B doesn’t need to imply boring. Embed a countdown timer to shock clients for his or her loyalty anniversary, remind new clients about their free trial ending, or promote your greatest sale of the 12 months.
This instance from Wix exhibits how one can make the countdown timer entrance and middle in your e mail, with just a few supporting particulars on the promotion, to essentially make an impression.
How nonprofits and better ed use countdown timers
They may use a countdown timer to create urgency round a donation matching time interval or round utility deadlines for college, a grant, or scholarships.
We created this instance in Litmus Personalize to point out you what it might appear like.
Interact with 1:1 experiences
Ship customized content material at scale. Use reside polls, dynamic content material, and superior focusing on to drive outcomes.
Greatest practices for utilizing countdown timers
Like every e mail advertising and marketing tactic, you don’t wish to overdo it. Whereas they are often highly effective parts so as to add to your emails, keep away from utilizing countdown timers too often. Right here’s how one can benefit from them:
E mail advertising and marketing technique for countdown timers
If you happen to’re doing a countdown in an e mail, ensure it’s tied to the remainder of your promotional technique. Will this be the final sale of the season, for instance? Or the very best one of many 12 months? Ask your self these questions as you propose your subsequent e mail advertising and marketing marketing campaign:
What kinds of campaigns are e mail countdown timers finest fitted to?
Use them for large occasions, pricing promotions, or private issues like a birthday or vacation countdown. “We solely add them to an e mail marketing campaign or promotion that ends,” says Carin Slater, Lifecycle E mail Advertising and marketing Supervisor right here at Litmus. “We used to place countdown timers in all of our occasion webinar emails, for instance, however we discovered that as a result of webinars are recorded, there wasn’t sufficient urgency there.”
Countdown timers can be utilized in transactional emails (or operational emails). Under is an instance from a transactional ship to Litmus Dwell 2022 attendees that includes a countdown timer not essentially to drive motion however extra so create pleasure for an upcoming occasion.
How lengthy is simply too lengthy for a countdown timer?
Countdown timers don’t create a way of urgency and shortage on their very own. They work along with the remainder of your promotion to take action—that’s why you must solely run a countdown timer on a marketing campaign that really ends. We’d additionally advocate not utilizing timers when the promotion ends too far sooner or later as a result of brief time home windows imply openers are extra inclined to take motion.
Do countdown timers have an effect on your deliverability?
Like something with deliverability…it relies upon. (We all know! So irritating!) There’s nothing inherent a few countdown timer that journeys a spam filter, for instance. However for those who overuse countdown timers—or persistently faux out your subscribers and lose belief with them—it might impression your engagement, which might negatively impression your sender repute in case your subscribers resolve to begin marking your emails as spam
Are you able to embrace different kinds of personalization with a timer?
Sure, after all! Litmus Personalize permits you to add a number of layers of real-time personalization in your emails alongside a countdown timer. An excellent instance of pairing a countdown timer with different reside content material is with customized pictures. Making a dynamic, individualized expertise at scale? *chef’s kiss*
This timer from style retailer Topshop consists of the recipient’s identify (through customized imagery) above the countdown timer, including a contact of personalization in addition to urgency to buy.
It nonetheless blows our minds that 56% of entrepreneurs personalize lower than 25% of emails they ship. Countdown timers are only one approach to personalize your emails—the extra you should use subscriber knowledge and habits to construct a dynamic, individualized e mail, the higher efficiency you’ll see.
A part of why entrepreneurs don’t use personalization as a lot as they might is as a result of it has a repute for being finicky and tough to implement with e mail shopper help and coding hoops you need to soar via. With Litmus Personalize, you possibly can simply add all types of dynamic content material without having to be a coding whiz. The extra artistic, the higher.
A observe on the ethics of utilizing a countdown timer
Urgency and shortage are each efficient psychological instruments to encourage extra folks to enroll or buy from you. However you must use them sparingly, and ethically.
Don’t mislead your subscribers by making them suppose a sale is ending whenever you’ll be operating one other one in 24 hours or telling them there are only some objects left in inventory when you will have warehouses filled with stock. Countdown timers can create a way of urgency round an occasion or promotion, however provided that the occasion or promotion really has an finish date.
“If you happen to say one thing goes to finish, then it has to finish,” says Slater. “In any other case, it’s a breach of belief. It’s just like the boy who cried wolf, basically. Folks aren’t going to belief you after that. Particularly for those who do it repeatedly.”
If you happen to create a false sense of urgency with a countdown timer your subscribers will keep in mind and including a countdown timer to your subsequent e mail may not have the impression that you desire to.
The way to message and label your countdown timers
For max impression, clear messaging is important to creating a countdown timer significant and straightforward to know. In some circumstances, we’ve seen countdown timers positioned on the prime of an e mail with out every other data. “If it’s only a banner throughout the highest with no rationalization or purpose as to why it’s there, it gained’t carry out as effectively. Why are we counting down? Why ought to I be enthusiastic about this?” says Slater.
This instance from lingerie retailer Boux Avenue makes use of clear, informative messaging, however nonetheless retains the model’s identification on the forefront.
Then, ensure to place time labels on each countdown timer so recipients understand how lengthy they’ve left earlier than the timer runs out. Don’t neglect to incorporate days, hours, minutes, or seconds to make it clear to subscribers what you’re counting all the way down to. Keep away from solely utilizing numbers as this may be complicated.
On this instance from sports activities diet and wellness retailer Bulk, they’ve clearly marked out the hours, minutes, and seconds within the header picture. This looks like a easy step, however it’s one too many manufacturers neglect.
Improve conversions with Litmus Personalize
It doesn’t take fancy coding so as to add a countdown timer or different highly effective personalization techniques to your subsequent e mail marketing campaign. Use Litmus Personalize to create beautiful e mail designs tailor-made to particular person subscribers. Study extra >