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The Countdown block shows the days, hours, minutes and seconds left until a date and time you choose. The timer is an image that InstantCampaign draws when the reader opens the email, so it shows the right time whether they open it a minute after you send or three days later. It works in any mail app that shows images.

Add a countdown

  1. In the email builder, open the Media group and add Countdown.
  2. Set the end date and time, and pick the time zone you mean it in. A sale that ends at midnight in Paris ends at the same moment for a reader in New York; the zone only tells InstantCampaign which midnight you meant.
  3. Optionally write a title, such as “Sale ends in”. It appears above the timer.
  4. Choose which units to show: days, hours, minutes and seconds. You need at least one.
  5. Pick a style: Tiles (each number on its own tile), Solid or Minimal.
  6. Set the colours for the tiles, the numbers, the separators, the background and the labels.
  7. Optionally add a link. Clicking the timer then opens that page.
The builder canvas shows the timer counting down as you edit.

Labels

The words under the numbers (Days, Hours, Min, Sec) are written in the email’s language. If you send a translated version of the template, each version gets its own words. To use your own wording, type it in the label fields; your text replaces the built-in words in every language. The title and labels are ordinary text in the email, not part of the image, so screen readers can read them.

Title and label styling

The Title section sets the font, size (12 to 40 px), weight (regular, semibold or bold) and colour of the heading above the timer. The font also applies to the unit labels and the ended line, so the block matches the rest of your email. Label size in the Labels section changes the unit words only. The digits themselves are drawn in the image and follow the Style and Colours sections.

After the deadline

Choose what readers see when they open the email after the end time:
  • A fallback image. Add the address of an image, such as a “This offer has ended” banner. Readers who open the email after the deadline see that image instead of the timer. The address must start with https://.
  • Zeros. Without a fallback image, the timer shows all zeros, slightly faded.
You can also write an ended message. It shows as text under the timer if the deadline has already passed when the email is sent.

Things to know

  • Images must be on. The timer is an image. A reader whose mail app blocks images sees the title and labels but not the numbers, until they load images. Outlook blocks images by default for senders it does not know.
  • The animation runs for one minute. The image ticks once a second for a minute after it loads, then stops. Opening the email again shows the current time.
  • Some mail apps keep a copy. Gmail and Apple Mail can store the image the first time it loads. A reader who opens the email again may see the time from an earlier open.
  • Every reader sees the same deadline. The end time is a fixed date and time. A countdown that starts when each contact joins an automation is not available yet.

Before you send

When you review a campaign before sending, InstantCampaign checks every countdown in it:
  • If the deadline has already passed, or will have passed by the scheduled send time, you see a warning.
  • If the deadline is less than 24 hours after the send, you also see a warning, because many people will open the email after it ends.
These are warnings only. They don’t stop you from sending.

Use a real deadline

Count down to a deadline that exists. If the offer carries on after the timer reaches zero, or a new email restarts the clock for the same offer, readers learn to ignore the timer, and in many countries consumer law treats false deadlines as misleading. Set a fallback image so that people who open late are told plainly that the offer has ended.