Adding a dynamic countdown timer to a newsletter

Displaying a dynamic countdown timer inside an email or newsletter was previously considered impossible. This is because most web countdown timers require server-side input or client-side Javascript to function. But having found a solution, and a free solution at that - I felt compelled to add this information to our blog to help anyone else who needs to insert a countdown inside a newsletter.

Back story: We have been building newsletters for companies for many years, but more recently, DK Engineering has hosted several online and live car auctions powered by Carhuna.com

As a result, I had to source a solution to advertise stock with a finite auction end time. My search led me to 'Sendtric'. They offer a free service for generating countdown timers. You don't need to register or pay for a subscription to use it, either!

The service allows you to define the time zone settings, countdown end date (any date and time within the next 30 days), language, background colour and finally, the text and number colour. They also have a premium solution that provides much more flexibility over the design/fonts.

Here is a snapshot of us creating the countdown timer over at Sentric.

And a screenshot of the final article once we have embedded the HTML code generated...

Our search did unveil some alternatives, so these are also worth a mention too, although we have not personally used them to date:

• Motion Mail - motionmailapp.com
• Promo Features - promofeatures.com