When does each subscriber's countdown start?

When they first open the email, or when you send it if you prefer. Either way, each person gets their own 48 hours. See evergreen timers.

Which plan includes evergreen timers?

Evergreen timers are on the Basic plan and above. See pricing.

Does the code really expire?

The timer shows the deadline; the code's expiry is set in your store or email platform. Set both to the same 48 hours so the email and the checkout agree.

Welcome email

Welcome email examples: a first-order offer with a personal timer

A bakery's welcome email with a 15% first-order code. The countdown is evergreen: each subscriber's 48 hours start when they first open it, so the offer is as fresh on day forty of the flow as on day one.

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Free plan · 20,000 views a month · No card

A round sourdough loaf on a white plate — Welcome to the table (and 15% off your first loaf)

Countdown to the end of your welcome code — Welcome to the table (and 15% off your first loaf)

The email

As your readers will see it

Switch to mobile to see how it reflows on a phone, where most of your readers will open it.

Oat & Ember Bakery

Welcome to the table (and 15% off your first loaf)

Oat & Ember Bakery <hello@oatandember.com>

to me

Today

oat & ember

Baked every night, delivered every morning

Welcome to the table.

We're Oat & Ember: two bakers, one wood-fired oven and a lot of flour on the floor. To say hello, here's 15% off your first order.

Your welcome code

HELLO15

15% off your first order

Your 48 hours started when you opened this email.

Order your first loaf

Tonight's bake

Butter croissants on baking paper — Butter croissants, 4
$14

Pastries around a cup of coffee — Breakfast box
$28

Close-up of crusty country loaves — Country sourdough
$9

Oat & Ember Bakery

41 Rye Close, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

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Brands, people and addresses in these examples are fictional. The timers are real, rendered by flashtimer.

Why it works

What makes this email work

It sounds like a person. A short letter from the bakers says who they are before it asks for anything.
The offer is personal and fair. Everyone gets the same 48 hours from their own first look, not a deadline that passed before they signed up.
The code is easy to use. It sits in its own box with the timer under it, so the reader knows what to type and how long they have.
Bread sells bread. Three photographs of what's on the shelves tonight do more than any adjective.

Subject lines

Other subject lines to try

Test two against each other. The timer stays the same, so you learn what the words do.

Oat & Ember Bakery
Welcome to the table (and 15% off your first loaf)
Oat & Ember Bakery
You're in. Here's 15% off your first order.
Oat & Ember Bakery
A warm welcome, and a warmer loaf
Oat & Ember Bakery
Your welcome code ends soon

Build it

Build it in flashtimer

1Choose evergreen timing
In Timing, choose Evergreen, then Starts on open, and set 48 hours.
2Add your platform's subscriber tag
In Embed, pick your email platform. flashtimer adds its subscriber ID merge tag to the URL, so each person's 48 hours are kept separately.
3Style it like the bakery
The Pill style in a white capsule on butter yellow, with tomato red for the colons.
4Put it in the flow
Add the timer to the first email of your welcome flow. It works for every new subscriber from then on, with no dates to update.

Questions

Answered before you ask.

More examples

See all examples