deadline funnel review 1 min

Deadline Funnel Review: The Best Countdown Timer For Course Creators & Bloggers

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Are you looking for a countdown timer to help promote your next online course through evergreen campaigns? Deadline Funnel is the perfect tool for the job!

In this Deadline Funnel review, I'll tell you all about what makes Deadline Funnel so great for evergreen marketing funnels on your website and landing pages and how you can start using it to increase your bottom line.

So keep reading to learn more!

Photo of a pink clock on a maroon background for a deadline funnel review.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I appreciate your support! You can read my full disclaimer here.

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This deadline software, Deadline Funnel, is turned into a key part of my online course business. So let me tell you all about it…

What is Deadline Funnel?

Deadline Funnel is a powerful countdown timer software that helps online course creators and bloggers their grow their email list, increase conversion rates, and make more passive income.

It does this by creating a sense of urgency and scarcity for potential customers, which are two of the most powerful psychological triggers that influence people's buying decisions.

Urgency and scarcity really work, and they work quite well. People tend to act quickly when an issue is important enough. People tend to buy when something is scarce enough. These two techniques change the consumer’s behavior toward supply and demand — two fundamental economic building blocks.

Buyers do what their instincts tell them to do — to act immediately on what is important (urgency), and to acquire what is limited (scarcity).

CRAZEGG.COM

Deadline Funnel allows you to create evergreen timers, meaning that every person in your funnel gets their own unique deadline based on when they entered your funnel. No other deadline software is better at this than Deadline Funnel.

This makes Deadline Funnel perfect for an evergreen marketing funnel for digital marketers looking for business growth for their digital product.

How does Deadline Funnel work?

Deadline Funnel works by integrating with your email service provider (ESP) and then tracking the actions that your leads take in your funnel.

Based on those actions, Deadline Funnel will assign each lead their own unique evergreen deadlines and then display the countdown timer on the page or in the email where they're most likely to see it.

This ensures that every lead in your funnel sees a deadline that's relevant to them, which maximizes the chances of them taking action. It can be used in multiple ways in your sales sequence, especially when you've got a limited-time offer.

Deadline Funnel can be triggered in multiple ways, like email opt-in forms, tags, or page views.

Is Deadline Funnel a WordPress plugin?

No, Deadline Funnel is not a WordPress plugin. Instead, all you have to do is copy/paste some tracking code into the header of your website (which can easily be done with a free plugin like Header & Footer Scripts).

Why do you need a countdown timer?

There are lots of reasons you might need a countdown timer.

You might need a countdown timer for a live launch, when everyone has the same deadline–Thursday at 11:59 PM (for example). Deadline Funnel can do these types of deadlines just fine, but it also does much much more.

You also need a countdown timer when are are running an evergreen marketing funnel or an evergreen webinar funnel, or really any evergreen funnel of any kind, you need an evergreen timer. And that's where Deadline Funnel shines.

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Deadline Funnel timers are great for online courses or digital courses.

Types of countdown timers

Deadline Funnel offers lots of types of timers, including:

  1. Live launches
  2. Evergreen funnels
  3. Tripwires
  4. Upsells
  5. Automated webinars (or “evergreen webinar funnels”)
  6. Custom
Screenshot of Deadline Funnel for evergreen marketing funnels.

Let's talk about each of them.

Live launches

Deadline Funnel describes this type of timer this way:

Choose this campaign when your deadline needs to be a fixed date that's the same for everyone. Common use cases are launching a new product, live webinar, doing a holiday promotion, or a big launch that only happens a few times a year.Example: A subscriber joins your sequence on Monday and has until Saturday to buy your course. A different subscriber joins on Friday and also has until Saturday to buy the course.

DEADLINEFUNNEL.COM

What is Deadline Funnel used for?

Deadline Funnel can be used for any kind of sales page or sales email. I use it for online courses like Break Into Blogging and Course College, but it could be used to sell any product.

You can use it for fixed deadlines, or for an evergreen marketing funnel.

An example of Deadline Funnel in a real evergreen marketing funnel

What is an evergreen deadline?

First things first, what is an evergreen marketing funnel? I think it's best illustrated with an example:

Susie runs an automated webinar and she wants people who watch her webinar to have 72 hours to buy the course after the webinar ends. So she needs an evergreen deadline.

So, for example, if Joe finishes the webinar at 11:00 AM on Sunday, his 72 hour deadline will end at 11:00 AM on Wednesday. If Tom finishes the webinar at 4:45 PM on Friday, his deadline will end at 4:45 PM on Monday.

So everyone has their own unique deadline, based on when they entered the funnel.

An an evergreen deadline means one that keeps changing based on the person's behavior. Deadline Funnel is the only deadline software that can do this (to my knowledge).

This is in contrast to a fixed deadline, where everybody has until 11:59 PM EST on Friday to buy, not matter what.

Deadline Funnel features and benefits: Pros and cons of Deadline Funnel’s software

build funnels with simple blueprints

Deadline Funnel allows you to build funnel based off of simple blueprints, so you're not starting from scratch. You can build off blueprints like:

  1. Email sequence plus special offer: “Connect your email sequence to Deadline Funnel so each of your subscribers receive a special offer with a unique deadline! This is the fastest way to start increasing your conversions and getting results with Deadline Funnel.”
  2. Page visit: “Start someone's tracking when they visit a page. This can be used for campaigns where you are not integrating with an email sequence.”
  3. Automated webinar: “Integrate Deadline Funnel with your automated webinars so that each attendee receives a special offer.”
  4. Holiday or fixed date promotion: “Every once in a while you'll probably need to run a live launch. Deadline Funnel can help you automate that too!”
  5. Day of the week: “This is an evergreen deadline that will always end on a specific day of the week.”
  6. 15-minute opt-in upsell: “After someone subscribers to your list, you can present them with a special 15-minute introductory offer.”
  7. Special offer for first 100 buyers: “Some offers will be limited by quantity – not just by a date. Deadline Funnel will track your sales automatically.”
  8. Shopify promotion: “Create an evergreen Shopify campaign (beta available for ActiveCampaign and ConvertKit)”
  9. Messenger bot promotion: “Integrate with ManyChat or ChatFuel to create evergreen Messenger sequences.”

(Source).

3 Types of timers:

Deadline Funnel allows you to create three types of timers:

  1. A countdown bar on the top or bottom edge of the page
  2. An an inline timer that displays somewhere on the page itself (or in multiple places)
  3. An email timer to embed in emails

Each of these timers will be synched up to the same deadline, so there's no crossed wires.

Here's a countdown bar:

Screen Shot 2022 09 21 at 6.11.19 PM

Here's an inline timer:

Screenshot of a Deadline Funnel deadline software evergreen marketing funnel timer.

Here's an email timer:

1663798462 c1ea32bd ab0c 4d65 a7ba 8ad34c7ec6fb?em={{subscriber

(All of these timers have multiple templates to choose from and can be customized with any color you want, so these are just some of many, many examples).

Integrations

One of the best Deadline Funnel features is its integrations.

Deadline Funnel integrates with 51 other services, including (but not limited to):

  1. ConvertKit
  2. ClickFunnels
  3. MailChimp
  4. WordPress
  5. Zapier
  6. Shopify
  7. WooCommerce
  8. Demio
  9. Squarespace
  10. Teachable
  11. Teachery
  12. Kajabi
  13. Thrive Architect
  14. Thinkific
  15. Thrivecart
  16. OptinMonster
  17. Podia
  18. Samcart
  19. Mailerlite
  20. EverWebinar
  21. Kartra
  22. Leadpages
  23. Easy Webinar, and
  24. Flodesk
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This means that Deadline Funnel will easily connect with your email service provider (like ConvertKit or Flodesk), your checkout platform (like Thrivecart and Samcart), and your course platform (like Teachable or Thinkific).

But, if your program is not on that list, don't worry. Deadline Funnel also hooks up with Zapier. Zapier acts as a digital middleman to connect two programs that don't connect on their own. Zapier has literally thousands of products that it connects to, so yours is almost certainly on the list.

deadline funnel/shopfiy integration

Deadline Funnel has a new integration with Shopify. According to the website:

“Set up an automation in ActiveCampaign or ConvertKit that starts an evergreen deadline for your subscribers. Deadline Funnel will create a unique discount code in Shopify for each subscriber, and store that discount code in the subscriber record in ActiveCampaign or ConvertKit. Once the deadline has expired, the subscriber will no longer be able to use that discount code.” (Source).

track subscribers and revenue for each campaign

“Understand the numbers behind each of your campaigns. With easy in-app and email reporting, you can quickly see how many people are going through your campaign as well as the exact revenue that is generated.

  • Measure the ROI of each of your email sequences
  • Track how many people are entering different stages of your funnel
  • Automated weekly campaign reports emailed to you.” (Source).

Deadline Funnel customer service

Deadline Funnel has great customer service and there are multiple ways to contact them.

  1. You can send an email to help@deadlinefunnel.com.
  2. You can use the live chat widget on deadlinefunnel.com Monday-Friday 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM EST.
  3. You can contact the support team through the Knowledge Base, which has extensive documentation.

Email Compatibility

Deadline Funnel integrates with many email service providers, including:

  • ActiveCampaign
  • Actionetics
  • AW Pro Tools
  • ConvertKit (my all-time fav!)
  • Drip
  • HubSpot
  • Infusionsoft
  • Klick-Tipp
  • MailChimp
  • Ontraport

If your email provider isn't on that list, you may still be able to integrate by putting the Deadline Funnel code onto your landing page or by using Zapier. You can read more here.

Deadline Funnel alternatives

Thrive Ultimatum

Thrive Ultimatum is one of Deadline Funnel's competitors, but it's not the same product. They do have many similar features, but there are also key differences.

Thrive Ultimatum costs $97/year, but that's only for 1 website. If you're setting up even just one funnel, let alone multiple, you'll need multiple websites, and that'll get expensive fast. (Deadline Funnel has no limit on the number of websites).

Additionally, Thrive integrates with only a limited number of tools. And the more advanced features require a lot of techie setup.

IntellyWP Evergreen Countdown Timer Plugin

Another Deadline Funnel alternative is IntellyWP's Evergreen Countdown Timer plugin.

It allows you to have multiple timers, but only on WordPress.org sites. If you're on Squarespace or Wix, you're out of luck.

It costs $47/year for one site. Multiple sites need additional licenses.

What is Deadline Funnel Portal?

Deadline Funnel “Portal” is a separate part from the countdown timers. Portal is is pop-up that comes up in the lower corner of your screen and does things like display countdowns, offer discounts, or alert people to sales or freebies or whatever else you want.

Screenshot of Deadline Funnel Portal in use in Deadline Funnel Review.

According to Deadline Funnel”

Portal helps creators, marketers, and entrepreneurs deliver high-impact customer journeys. Portal means a personalized customer experience that makes it easy to understand who you are, what you do, and why they should care. Portal gives your audience the clarity and motivation they need to take the next step. Portal means high-converting marketing campaigns that are unique to each subscriber and integrate with your existing tools. Portal gives your business a connection between the nitty-gritty of executing each campaign and the bigger picture of continuing to grow your audience, conversions, and sale.

Deadline Funnel

It looks something like this:

Screenshot of Deadline Funnel Portal in Deadline Fnnel review.

In addition to being able to customize how it looks, you can also add:

  • Deadlines
  • Social proof
  • Featured snippets (text about whatever you want)
  • Call to action buttons

Portal is included with Deadline Funnel when you're on the Create or Scale plans (more on that below).

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Deadline Funnel pricing

Deadline Funnel pricing has three tiers:

  1. Start
  2. Create
  3. Scale

Start

Start costs $39/month if you pay annually, or $49/month if you pay month-to-month.

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It allows you to have 3 campaigns and up to 1,000 leads per month.

Create

Create costs $79/month if you pay annually, or $99/month if you pay month-to-month.

It allows you to have:

  • Everything in Start, plus
  • Unlimited campaigns
  • Up to 10,000 leads per month
  • Access to Portal
  • Advanced customization features
  • Custom colors
  • Removal of Deadline Funnel branding, and
  • Priority support

Scale

Scale costs $159/month if you pay annually, or $199/month if you pay month-to-month.

It allows you to have:

  • Everything in Create, plus
  • 100,000 leads per month, and
  • 5 Client accounts

Which Deadline Funnel plan should you pick?

If you're just starting out, you have 3 or fewer campaigns to run, and you don't mind having the timers being in non-brand colors, then go for the Start plan. At least at the beginning.

But, if having more than 3 campaigns would be useful, or if you really want a branded timer, then the Create plan is for you (it's the one I use).

I need more than 3 campaigns for my business, plus I'm someone who wants brand colors on everything.

If you get more than 10,000 leads per month, or if you're using Deadline Funnel with clients, then the Scale plan is for you. If you don't meet either of those criteria, then there's no real reason to spend the extra money. Stick with Create.

How do you reset your funnel deadline?

Sometime you'll need to check something on a pager with a timer on it, and you'll be locked out because your timer has expired. But luckily, there's a quick way to solve this:

  1. Log into Deadline Funnel
  2. Click on the campaign in question
  3. On the lefthand side, click “Testing”
  4. In the upper middle, click the teal button that says “Clear Tracking.”

Doing this will reset the timer (just for you, everyone else's remains the same), so you can get into the page and edit whatever you need to.

Deadline Funnel review: Is Deadline Funnel worth it?

In my opinion…

*drum roll please*

…yes, Deadline Funnel is definitely worth it!

The ability to add real urgency to my funnels is priceless. My evergreen webinar funnels are the lifeblood of my business income, and they all run on Deadline Funnel.

I can recommend it without reservation.

Hope you like it too!


That’s it for my review of Deadline Funnel.

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Overall, I think it’s a great tool and can see how it could be really helpful deadline software for many businesses using an evergreen marketing funnel. The only downside is the price tag, but if you are able to make use of all of its features then it could definitely be worth the investment.

Have you tried out Deadline Funnel? What did you think?

Leave a comment below and let me know what timer YOU are using!

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Hi, I'm Becca

I blog about blogging and teach courses about courses. I fell in love with online business a long time ago and I can't wait to share my best tips and tricks with you.

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