Credit where it’s due: GetResponse has the most complete built-in countdown of any platform in these guides. Its Countdown timer block has a Fixed date mode, with an end time and a time zone, and an Evergreen mode that starts when the message is opened and runs for a duration you set. Labels follow the language of the list. That covers the sale deadline and the “48 hours from now” welcome offer, which between them are most of what people want from a GetResponse countdown timer.
So this guide starts by saying it plainly: if one of those two modes fits, use the block. What follows is for the two cases it doesn’t cover, using an Alterable countdown timer in the Custom HTML block.
What the built-in block leaves out
- A deadline stored on the contact. A renewal date, a course start, a personal offer window sitting in a custom field. Neither mode reads a date from the contact. A merge tag timer does, so each contact counts to their own date.
- One timer in more than one place. The Alterable timer is an image URL. Put the same clock in the GetResponse message, on the landing page and in a transactional email from elsewhere, and they all agree.
- What comes after the timer. If the plan is to move on to images that change per contact, or a product block that reflects live stock, it’s the same image-tag approach and the same account.
Step 1: Create the timer in Alterable
1. Open the Alterable countdown timer page.
2. Choose Merge tag for a deadline held on the contact. Standard and Evergreen exist too, though for those GetResponse’s own block is the simpler choice.
3. Set the style to match your message.
Step 2: Add the countdown timer to your GetResponse message
1. Open the message in the message editor.
2. Under Layout, open Basic blocks and drag Custom HTML into a section where the timer should sit.
3. Paste the Alterable embed into the properties panel on the right.
4. Save and preview.
GetResponse’s custom code documentation allows HTML and CSS and rules out JavaScript, which a timer doesn’t use. Automation messages open the same editor, so the block is available there as well.
Per-contact deadlines with GetResponse dynamic content
GetResponse’s newer dynamic content syntax works in link URLs and, per its own documentation, in the Custom HTML element. A merge tag timer takes the deadline from a custom field as an ISO date such as 2026-10-01T18:00:00Z. Store it in a text custom field, say offer_end, and pass it:
<img src="https://next.alterable.com/countdown-timers/YOUR-TIMER-ID.png?d={{CUSTOM `offer_end`}}" />GetResponse has Date and Date-and-time custom field types, but doesn’t document a way to reformat them in a message, so a text field holding the ISO string is the safer bet.
An evergreen Alterable timer needs a per-contact identifier so it can keep each person’s clock across opens. GetResponse’s [[email]] merge word does that, though for a plain “starts at open” window the built-in Evergreen mode gets there with less effort.
Previewing a GetResponse countdown timer
GetResponse says it directly: test messages won’t contain personalization. A tag in the timer URL arrives literal and the image fails. Use Preview and its personalization check, choose a list and a contact, and the tag resolves. A standard timer carries no tag and shows fine in a test.
After the deadline the Alterable timer holds at zero, or shows the text or image you chose as its expiry placeholder. That’s set on the timer, not the message, so late openers see it without a resend.