Google Countdown Timer Ads

It’s safe to say that customization is one of the main drivers of marketing success in 2020.

And luckily, rapidly advancing technology has allowed marketers to create much more personalized experiences across various channels and buying stages.

Google Ads offers some incredible tools that give advertisers the ability to easily tailor the messaging of ads to drive action.

What We’ll Cover:

• What are Google Countdown Timer Ads?
• Benefits of Using Countdown Ads on Google
• Setting up a Countdown Timer Ad Step-by-Step

One such tool that can take your search ads to the next level is Google countdown ads.

Never heard of it? Don’t worry.

In this guide, we’ll explain how you can harness the power of these countdown timer ads on Google and increase the likelihood of success for your PPC campaigns.

Let’s get started!

What are Google Countdown Timer Ads?

Have you ever had trouble trying to advertise a particular discount or promotion that was only available for a limited time? If you answered “yes,” then it’s time to consider using countdown ads.

With Google countdown timer ads, you’re able to incorporate a countdown feature in a headline or description within an expanded text ad that will automatically update to let customers know exactly how many days, hours, and minutes until your special offer expires. This saves you plenty of time as you don’t have to constantly check on the ads that you’re running and update the copy to accurately reflect the deal being advertised.

By including the time remaining for a sale, the ad creates a sense of urgency for the customer, encouraging them to take action right away.

Let’s take the ads below, for example. Which one better conveys the message that the sale is ending soon?

The second one, right? “Hurry Only 2 Days Remaining!” is definitely more pressing than “Sale Ends March 1^st.”

Without this functionality, you would have to go into Google Ads network and manually update your ads each day with the time remaining in the sale.

When Do I Use Countdown Timer Ads?

Google countdown ads are capable of both directly and indirectly improving PPC campaign performance by increasing the relevance of your ad’s messaging. However, while they can greatly benefit your account’s text ad copy, you need to also ensure that you’re using the best countdown timer to match your business’ needs.

Here’s a scenario that might help illustrate when and how to use a countdown timer ad.

Picture yourself gearing up for an upcoming Black Friday sale.

You sell clothing exclusively online and are looking to showcase your winter wear just in time for the holiday season. Black Friday may be the most heavily promoted shopping day of the year, but you want to let users know that your “Black Friday Sale” extends beyond Friday and well into the weekend.

What to consider: Remember—you need to reach potential customers before the sale starts to capture and retain their attention. Once the sale officially begins though, you want them to feel like time to complete their purchase is running out.

How to reach customizers: Create two different sets of ad messaging using Google countdown ads.

• Before you launch the sale, inform users of its imminent arrival (e.g. “4 days to Black Friday Sales—Avoid the Rush & Shop Now!”).
• While the sale is running, raise the stakes by notifying visitors of time running out to complete their purchase (e.g. “Score Sweet Black Friday Deals—Only 12 Hours Left to Save!”).

Benefits of Using Countdown Ads on Google

While timer ads are a lesser-known tool in the PPC world, they offer plenty of benefits that marketers should be taking advantage of.

• As evident by the example we mentioned above, these ads work wonders during the holiday season when many brands are running special promotions or want potential customers to be aware of how soon they need to place their order to confirm delivery by a certain date.
• Countdown ads enhance your ad copy and can be used to encourage the consumers who are already searching for your product(s) to take action sooner instead of later.
• There’s no need to worry about character count. In fact, you’re able to take full advantage of the character limit when it comes to your headline and description without needing to alter the ad copy to fit the countdown.
• The countdown timers set up in Google Ads can be imported directly into Microsoft Advertising since the limits in both ad platforms are the exact same.
• You can build multiple ads with a different timer for each one depending on your needs. When implemented correctly, your ads will run one after another based on countdown end and start dates. This removes the need to create several rules with varying dates and times to facilitate ads based on ad copy.
• You have the option to target potential customers internationally by selecting which language the countdown is shown in. The Google countdown language does not necessarily have to match your ad copy language, though.
• The countdown timer ads will automatically change from days to hours to minutes in order to correctly reflect your end date and time. That way, you can avoid having to review each individual ad and ensure that the correct amount of time is displayed.
• One of the best parts of these timer ads is that you don’t have to highlight special offers or be commerce-specific. If your objective is to advertise the grand opening of a cafe, store location, or a general countdown about a product or service being offered, it can easily be adjusted to reflect your specific goals.

Setting up a Timer Ad Set-by-Step

Step 1: Identify which section—headline, description, or path—of your expanded text ad that you’re looking to incorporate a Google countdown timer ad.

Step 2: Type in a left curly bracket (“{“) into the desired text field and select “Countdown” from the options offered in the drop-down menu.

From there, a dialog box will appear where you’ll be required to enter all the necessary information including dates, times, language, etc.

Step 3: Add the date and time that you would like your countdown to end. Remember that the time must be entered in 24-hour format and will automatically default to midnight (00:00:00) if you do not input an end time.

In the example above, December 25, 2019 at 11:00 pm is our desired end date and time. This means that the ad will not be visible at 11:00 pm on December 25, 2019.

Step 4: Enter the number of days before the countdown end date that you would like the countdown to start. This helps Google determine when your ad should pop up in search results. Please note that if you decide to leave the field blank, the countdown will automatically default to five days before your end date. Keeping urgency in mind, avoid kicking off your countdown any further out than two weeks before your end date.

For this example, we set our countdown to begin seven days before our desired end date. This means that my ad will begin to show up in search results on December 18, 2019 at 11:00 pm.

Step 5: Now, it’s time to choose the time zone option you want your countdown to stay on. You’ll be presented with two choices—Account time zone and Ad Viewer’s time zone. If you pick Account time zone, your countdown start and end times will be around the same time zone set for your Google Ads account. On the contrary, if Ad Viewer’s time zone is selected, your countdown start and end times will be based on the time zone of the person who sees where your ad is located.

For this example, we chose the Ad Viewer’s time zone option because this specific ad is meant for an online retailer that does business on both the east coast and west coast of the United States. Naturally, this means that the countdown will remain active until 11:00 pm PST (2:00 am EST the next day).

Step 6: Select your desired language from the drop-down menu.

Step 7: This is your last chance to review everything one last time. If all looks good, click “Apply” to save your work.

And voila—the final product:

Wondering what “3 days” means? The Google Ads platform is showing you a default preview of three days for what the timer will look like in your ad as opposed to the start and end dates entered earlier.

The Bottom Line

Now, it’s your turn to test out your own countdown timer ad!

If you want to improve the performance of your own PPC campaigns, don’t overlook this tool (as tempting as it may be).

By following our step-by-step guide, you’ll have a good idea of when the best time is to use your countdown ads and how to create ones that will maximize conversions.

There’s no better time to get started than right now!