Email guide

How to add a countdown timer to Klaviyo

Countdown timers pair naturally with Klaviyo flows: abandoned-cart deadlines, welcome-series offers, back-in-stock windows. A tikio timer is a live image URL, so it drops into any Klaviyo campaign or flow email without apps or embeds.

Create your free countdown Jump to steps

  1. Design your countdown in tikio

    Create a timer in the tikio editor: pick colors, fonts, labels and the languages you need. What you see in the editor is exactly what lands in the inbox — the timer is delivered as a regular animated image.

  2. Get the code

    Click Get code, choose “In an email”, pick how the countdown works — until a date, a personal timer per subscriber, or repeating on a schedule — and copy the code. The link stores the timer, so you can change the deadline any time, even after sending: emails already sent pick it up within minutes.

    URL 
    https://t.tikio.io/e/a1b2.gif

  3. Insert the timer into your Klaviyo email

    In the Klaviyo email editor, add a Text or HTML block and paste the snippet below — or use an Image block and supply the timer URL as a dynamic image source. Klaviyo template variables work inside the URL, which is what makes per-recipient deadlines possible.

    HTML 
    <img src="https://t.tikio.io/e/a1b2.gif" alt="Offer ends soon" width="480" style="border:0;max-width:100%;height:auto;" />

Per-recipient evergreen deadlines

In flows, give every recipient a personal deadline with Klaviyo’s {{ person.id }} variable as the recipient key. With a personal timer, each person’s countdown starts at their first open — ideal for “your cart expires in 24 hours” flows.

HTML 
<img src="https://t.tikio.io/e/a1b2.gif?uid={{ person.id }}" alt="Offer ends soon" width="480" style="border:0;max-width:100%;height:auto;" />

Evergreen countdown timer in Klaviyo flows

Klaviyo has no built-in countdown block, and flows are where a fixed date fails: every profile enters at a different moment. Create a Personal timer in tikio, choose Klaviyo, and paste the code into the flow email — {{ person.id }} gives each profile their own window from their first open. Use one link per offer, so an abandoned-cart window and a welcome-code window each keep their own length and statistics.

HTML 
<img src="https://t.tikio.io/e/a1b2.gif?uid={{ person.id }}" alt="Offer ends soon" width="480" style="border:0;max-width:100%;height:auto;" />

Per subscriber in abandoned-cart flows

For “we are holding your cart for 24 hours”, set the personal timer to 24 hours and choose what shows at zero — nothing, zeros or an “offer ended” image — plus a smart link that sends late clicks to your shop instead of an expired cart. Both can be changed later and apply to emails already sent.

Timer that starts when the email is sent

For “this code expires 24 hours after this email”, the deadline should count from the send, not from the open. Create the link through the REST API or MCP with a deadline that comes from the recipient and offset_seconds: 86400, then put {% now 'U' %} (unix seconds at send) — the send time — into target= in the image URL. tikio adds the 24 hours, so there is no date arithmetic in your platform. A personal timer is different: it counts from each subscriber’s first open.

HTML 
<img src="https://t.tikio.io/e/a1b2.gif?target={% now 'U' %}" alt="Offer ends soon" width="480" style="border:0;max-width:100%;height:auto;" />

FAQ

Questions, answered

Does this work in both campaigns and flows?

Yes. A fixed date suits campaigns; a personal timer (uid={{ person.id }} in the code) shines in flows where every recipient enters at a different time.

Can the deadline come from a Klaviyo event or profile property?

Yes, through the REST API: create the link with a deadline that comes from the recipient, then put a Klaviyo variable that resolves to a date — ISO with a timezone offset, or unix seconds — into target= in the image URL. See the timer reference on the developers page.

What happens when the countdown reaches zero?

By default the timer shows zeros. In the link settings you can instead hide it or show an image (for example “Sale ended”) after zero — that applies at once, even to emails already sent. The deadline itself can be changed the same way, and a smart link can send clicks to a different page after zero.

Other email platforms

Your first countdown is minutes away

Free during early access — no credit card required. Design once, paste one snippet, and the timer ticks on every open.

Create your free countdown