Product Requirements

A countdown timer is a virtual clock set to expire at a given time, usually indicating the beginning or end of an offer. The display helps generate awareness while creating a sense of urgency and scarcity that encourages shoppers to expedite their purchase decision. Countdown timers are an essential component of any business' conversion rate optimization (CRO) strategy, as they leverage the innate power of FOMO (fear of missing out) to generate more conversions.

The countdown timer with signup play differs from the countdown timer bar play in that it allows you to collect visitor information, letting you grow your email list and reach out to them later.

Create the display

To create a countdown timer:

Navigate to the Plays dashboard clicking Convert > Plays on the main navigation.
Locate the Countdown Timer Bar with Signup play, and select the Create button.
Adjust the Coupon, Start date, Start time, End date, and End time of your timer. The selected coupon is provided to visitors who signup for the display via the thank you page and the optional follow-up email.
Click Continue to start customizing the display's design.

Customize your display

To customize your new countdown timer bar:

Select the Bar option from the sidebar menu.

In the subsequent menu, select the headline, timer, and button elements to customize the content, styling, and any applicable actions. Make sure to leave the {{ countdown }} merge tag in the timer element, as the display needs it to function.
To edit the display's background, click < Edit Text Element to go back to the Elements menu. Under Display Styles, click Background color to select a new color for the countdown bar, or click Background image to set an image as your timer's background.

Next, click the < Elements to go back to the Displays menu and repeat the process for the additional Popup and Thank-You Page that is enabled when the bar's button action is to show a display - this is the default and recommended setup for this display type.

When your design is complete, click Save in the upper-right.

Target the right audience

As with all Privy plays, a recommended target audience is already selected for your display. In this case, a countdown timer with signup appears Immediately to All audiences (everyone). To change these default settings, click on the appropriate card and update the settings.

The When To Show setting allows you to determine when and how often the display appears to visitors. If you make any changes, please select Save.
The Who To Show It To setting allows you to target a more specific segment of your visitors instead of all visitors. If you update these settings to include various other attributes, activities, and behaviors, please select Save.
The How Long to Show It setting determines how long the display will appear to visitors. Update the setting if you'd like to update the remaining time on the timer and Save.

Follow-up the display

To sync the display's signups to another service or send a follow-up message to the customers that submitted the display, move to the Follow-up step, and review the following optional options:

Enable and customize the default after signup email to send an email to the individuals that decided to sign up for the display.
Select the Create series option to send additional after signup emails.
Select the Sync signups option to sync the signups to a list in a linked account. If you're not using Privy Email, this setting is particularly important as it ensures the contact information (e.g., Email address) is available in the third-party provider.
Select the Send text message option to send an after signup text message to the individuals that decided to sign up for the display.
The Notifications setting allows you to enable or disable real-time notifications for your users. These notifications will alert the user of new display signups immediately. If you make any changes, please select Save.

Note: The text message option requires a Privy Text subscription. Additionally, a customer is only eligible to receive texts if their phone number was collected via a Privy display using the phone field, they checked the text opt-in checkbox, and they answered "YES" to the double opt-in message sent to their number.

Launch the display

Once the display has been created, the target audience selected, and any desired follow-up messages configured, select the Publish button at the upper right of the Follow-up step and confirm your decision in the prompt.

The countdown timer display is now live and will appear to your qualifying customers.

Review the results

After a display is published, you can dig into its performance by navigating to the All Displays dashboard, selecting the display, and clicking the Results option.