Please note: This is an advanced topic. If you are not sure what URL or UTM parameters are, or how to use them, we would recommend that you keep your Countdown Hero funnel simple with a simple timer page and do not attempt to add extra pages and complexity into your countdown campaign.
In this article I'll show you how to use multiple deadlines inside your webinar campaign. This is perfect for offers like 'Fast-Action Bonuses', which is the example I'll use throughout this article.
This is best used for SELF-HOSTED webinar campaigns where the replay is embedded onto your own webpages and links to offer pages that can also contain the timer.
REMEMBER: Using evergreen webinar platforms has a number limitations that doesn't make this possible in most platforms. You can find more information on the limitations (and what to do about them) in this article HERE.
Let's get started! :)
PART 1: Creating Your 'Fast-Action' Countdown Hero
Because we're adding a second deadline into this campaign, we will need to set up and create a second Countdown Hero that will manage this deadline for us.
Create a new Countdown Hero.
Set up your 'Basic Settings' based on your particular requirements. For example, if you'd like the webinar replay and special offer to be available for just 5 days, set that up here. (More info on doing this can be found in this article)
PART 2: Triggering Your Fast-Action Bonus Timer
The next step of this process is to set up the trigger method that you'd like to use to start this Fast Action timer. Without this step, your subscribers won't be able to access your Fast-Action Offer Page.
If you're using an email platform that supports the use of a HTTP Post/ Webhook to start the timer, or the application of a tag/ group/ list to start the timer - I'd recommend setting this trigger action to fire at the start of your automation as the first step after a subscriber registers for the webinar.
^^ This is the cleanest/simplest way of doing this, without needing to completely update the settings inside your previous Countdown Hero and is the way that we recommend that you set this up.
PART 3: Your Page/ Design Settings
Choose your favourite design in the 'Design Settings' tab. If you have a Pro account, you'll be able to edit and customise these designs to match your brand too. (Not a Pro user? Click here to upgrade to Pro)
In the 'Page Settings' tab, add the URL of your Fast-Action Bonus Page into the 'Active Offer Page' field.
In the 'Expired Offer Page' we will need to paste the TRIGGER LINK from our other Countdown Hero (and not our regular expired page). This is what will allow our Fast-Action timer to expire into our second timer. To do this, do the following;
a) Open your main webinar Countdown Hero and navigate to the 'Trigger Settings' tab.
b) Copy the 'Link Click URL'
c) Return to your Fast-Action Bonus CDH and paste this 'Link Click URL' inside the Expired Offer Page.
d) REMOVE the < /[email] > section from the URL that you've pasted into your Expired Offer Page.
This will look different based on the platform that you have connected, but make sure there is not a personalisation/merge field in this button link. It will attempt to pass this information through twice and will instead break the countdown - and we don't want to do that.Enable the 'Forward Email Address to the Countdown URL' setting.
This is an important step as it will keep your subscriber's email address in the URL bar as a Query String Parameter - which is what will allow the magic to happen here as your Fast-Action Bonus expires, into your normal timer.
(In basic terms - their email address will stay in the URL)Hit 'Save and Next'
Set up your Sales Tracking first, before going to Part 4. It takes a few seconds and once it's done, it'll be working for you and automatically tracking your evergreen webinar conversions in the background. We'll look at triggering the timer in Part 4.
PART 4: Adding The Timer To Your Fast-Action Bonus Page
Return back to Countdown Hero and enable 'Test Mode' at the top right of your dashboard. This will disable your timer, allowing you to add it to and edit your pages.
Next, click on the 'Design Settings' tab. You will notice that next to each timer, there will be a button titled 'Copy Embed Code to the Clipboard'. Click the one next to your Webpage Timer to copy the timer code.
Open the Page Editor for your Fast-Action Bonus page and paste the timer code that you've copied onto your page as a HTML element. If you are using our 'Inline' Page Position, you can add the timer onto the position of your page that you would like it to appear in. If you are using our floating banners, you can add the HTML code anywhere onto your page.
Once you've added the timer code, return to Countdown Hero and disable Test Mode.
This will activate your timer, meaning that your Fast-Action Bonus page will now be locked and if you try to access this page using the 'normal' page URL, you will instead see a 404 Page (or be redirected to your 'Not In Countdown URL').
Don't panic - if this is the case, that means that your Countdown Hero is working CORRECTLY. (More info on this here; Why is my page 404-ing?)
PART 5: Updating Your Button Links
Because we're going to be adding this timer BEFORE our other timer in this particular campaign, we are going to need to replace the button link that we set up in the previous article from our main CDH, to this Fast-Action CDH.
(I've pasted the steps from that article below for convenience)
NOTE: If you are using the HighLevel platform, or a Whitelabel version, you can set the button to take your subscribers to the 'Next Step' setting. These steps will not apply to you when using this platform.
As you know, Countdown Hero requires an email address to be present in the URL bar in order to 'unlock' page access for a particular subscriber, which typically gets merged in at the point of the opt-in or clicking the links in your emails.
Normally, when you click the button on the sales page to go to the checkout cart, all of the URL parameters are left behind, meaning that the page will appear locked (404'd) for any users as they click that button.
Because of that, the only major requirement is that the buttons on your sales pages can also pass the URL parameters through to the checkout page.
(In case it helps, we use Convertri (AFFILIATE LINK HERE) as our page builder, though you may need to confirm that this is also possible with the support team for your page builder, in case it's not a 'Google-able' answer)
^^ That way you'll be able to add a countdown onto your checkout page too.
NOTE: If this is not supported by your page builder, you may be able to use Option B (see below) to add custom code to your page that will enable this.
If your page-builder DOES allow you to pass the URL parameters through to the next page, follow these steps;
Return to your Countdown Hero and copy the yellow 'Page Link (Redirect URL)' of the Fast-Action Bonus Page.
Inside the button link on your webinar replay page, paste the Page Link that you've copied.
REMOVE the < /[email] > section from the Page Link URL that you've pasted into your button link.
This will look different based on the platform that you have connected, but make sure there is not a personalisation/merge field in this button link. It will attempt to pass this information through twice and will instead break the countdown - and we don't want to do that.Enable any settings required to have your buttons pass the URL parameters through to the next page.
You're good to go! Subscribers will now be able to register for the webinar, access the webinar and click through to your Fast-Action Bonus Page, which will automatically expire into the 'main' timer deadline - all of which is being secured by your Countdown Hero! :)
PART 5 (Option B) - Add A Custom Script To Your Page:
If your page builder doesn't support the passing of URL parameters to the next page, you may be able to manually add this functionality by adding this script onto your pages instead:
<script>$( document ).ready(function() { $('a').each(function(){ this.href += location.search;})});</script>IMPORTANT NOTE: Whilst this method is recommended in instances where a page builder can't naturally pass these URL/ Query String Parameters, this custom code is not provided by Countdown Hero, which means that our support team are unable to offer support or guidance when using this (or any other) custom code. You will instead need to contact the support team at your page builder for more information.
And that's it - you've now set up your Webinar Replay Page to correctly link to your Fast-Action Bonus Offer Page that contains the Countdown Hero timer, before redirecting into your regular offer page once that expires.
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PS: Still got questions? Join our Official Countdown Hero Support Group on Facebook! You’ll be able to join and post your question in there and not only are your fellow Countdown Hero users in there helping each other out 24/7 but our support team are in there too. (Heck, you might even find the answer to your question is already in there and you’ll get an even speedier solution)
Join the group here; https://www.facebook.com/groups/countdownheroofficial