It's once again time for a new plugin release by the Thrive Themes team!
This time around, we're proud to introduce Thrive Ultimatum - the most advanced scarcity marketing plugin for WordPress. We set out to build a plugin that covers every aspect of running scarcity marketing (or countdown) campaigns and this is the result.
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If you're wondering: what does Thrive Ultimatum do? The answer is, as with many of our products: what doesn't it do? As ever, the Thrive Themes developers have outdone themselves with this latest plugin and it's not a simple one trick pony.
We've brought our usually obsessive attention to detail to bear on the topic of scarcity marketing and we've created the perfect marketing weapon to add to your arsenal.
For details on what exactly Thrive Ultimatum does, check out the sales page.
Thrive Ultimatum is included at no extra cost, as part of the Thrive Membership. If you're a member, log in to your dashboard and you'll be able to download and use it right away.
You can also find tutorials and instructions about the new plugin here. You'll also find tutorial videos directly in the interface of the plugin, once you install and activate it.
Feedback? Let Us Know!
Over to you: what are your thoughts about this latest addition to the Thrive suite? Are there any feature requests or ideas you have? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
I am interested in how this integrates with WooCommerce — on the pricing side. If I allow a limited time offer for a bit, this does the pricing, not woo? Also wondering how I integrate it with my email service? Thanks!
Hello Hilary,
We don’t have a direct integration with WooCommerce and we don’t manipulate pricing that is dictated by WooCommerce or a different shopping cart solution. However, building a tighter integration there is something that we have been considering.
Yes, would like to see an integration with OpenCart as well as one other Email provider/script (ListMailPRO), though from what I see, the ‘Lock Down’ feature may work just fine if I can append the Email address to a lookup in my email script as that appears what you’re locking down on, is that correct?
The tighter integration with the cart would help with things such as expiring coupons on the correct date, and even creating unique coupon values that are unique per-user that expire when the offer expires – make sense?
As I use woo commerce as well (together with AC) I would be interested in that as well!
Thanks for the input on this. We’ll look into these ideas to see if we can implement them as feature.
So, I am confused. How do you normally integrate the pricing changes? Can I sell directly with Thrive?
You guys keep blowing me away every single time you release anything new. Proud and honored to be part of the thrive themes family! Keep up the good work!
Thank you very much, Alejandro!
Looking forward to using this – not just because of the scarcity element (although that’s great to have), but for the simplicity of the overall setup.
Thanks, Jim! Glad you like the new plugin. 🙂
Thanks so much Shane and team. Great work once again!
It’s our pleasure, Warren. 🙂
Hi Shane,
Awesome as usual!
Will check it out as soon as I return to my PC.
I pray it has the feature I find critical…
The ability to embedded deadline dates in emails (Your offer will on May 8, 2016).
Most useful in “conditional content” (ActiveCampaign).
Great job!
Hello,
This is a feature we don’t yet have, but it’s one we’re considering. The main problem with this is the technicality of the implementation. To me, forcing the user to manipulate HTML code in opt-in forms and manually adding scripts to pages is just not an option.
Therefore, if we create this as a feature, it might be one that only works in conjunction with Thrive Leads.
Shane, This plugin is a game changer and amazing. Thank you for developing this along with everything else you’ve done in the thrive lineup. I was hoping to be able to have a universal timer for my evergreen campaigns that I could embed in my emails as well. It’s really not that difficult. There are other plugins that do this on the market but they are not as sophisticated as Ultimatum. All that needs to be done is to have a snippet of code that generates the image of the timer that can be embedded in the email. You can see an example of a plugin that does this here: http://outtatimr.com
I’d also like to suggest this feature. I use Outtatimr for common deadlines in emails and MotionMailApp (with api) for Evergreen deadlines in email.
Having the ability to display the deadlines within email is a huge value add.
Yeah, this has been on my feature wish list since we started developing Ultimatum, as well. I really like this idea and it’s one of the features we’re definitely going to look at. If feasible, we will include this in the plugin.
Having an embed code for email would be great .. just as an FYI … the outtatimr plugin doesn’t work with Drip because for Drip to include an image in any emails you send, the image has to be uploaded to drip, not pulled from an external URL
Hi, have you included this feature, display the deadline in the mail?
Not yet, no. We’re still working on the best way to handle this technically. It’s on our roadmap.
Is there a way I can incorporate this right into the “Call To Action” box directly on my sales page? I’d like visitors to only see the countdown after the content reveal feature reveals my buy button.
Also, a little cookie feature I’d love for content reveal is to have an option so content isnt hidden for repeat visitors 😉
Hello Derek,
Thanks for your comment. We’re going to be releasing an update very shortly that will make it easy to add the countdowns directly to your page, inside any content area.
Shane,
Will that option to display countdowns in the page, also allow us to change/update content that appears in that area based on the current ‘state’ of the countdown? For example, ‘Urgent’ state change content as well, much like you show happening in the footer bar example.
Hi Brett,
We’re working on a feature we call “Ultimatum Dynamic Content” which will do just that. I have to say: this is technically very difficult to pull off, if we want to do it right. So, I don’t want to promise anything yet. However, it’s something that we really want to make happen, for Ultimatum.
Been waiting for this one! This is absolutely great Shane !
Glad you like it!
Thanks Shane, extremely appreciative to all at Thrive Themes! It’s plain to see the thought gone on behind the scenes and the commitment to members – really Fantastic!
Seeing as you’ve thought of everything I have a question. When a campaign ends, can it be automatically reset to repeat (if it’s a 3 day campaign it repeats in a 3 day cycle) only with an increase in cost, by $1, and then repeat (add a $1) and repeat (add a $1) until it reaches full price 🙂
Thanks for your comment, John!
Creating an incremental price increase is in the domain of a shopping cart system. If we’d build something like that, it would have to be as an integration with one or several specific shopping cart plugins.
Although having said that, we’re working on an update to Thrive Ultimatum which may make this possible without such integrations. I’ll have to test and get back to you about that.
Hey shane,
Awesome product at the right time. I am planning to launch an evergreen campaign.
I have a doubt.
In lock down campaign settings can i add external links, i want to send subscribers directly to cart. two links to cart, one to my website.
Hello Arun,
In lockdown mode, you can currently only define one URL which is your special offer link. We call this the promotion page URL.
Thanks sooooo much. This plugin is awesome!!! Can’t wait to apply it in my business. My only issue is my email program is not on the list. I use 1shoppingcart.com. I have asked several times in the past about getting 1shoppingcart added. Any chance of adding it to the list?
Hello Franc,
Thank you for your comment!
The good news is that you’ll be able to use Thrive Ultimatum with 1SC as well, you’ll just have to manually change the email parameter. Concerning integrations, the reason we haven’t created an integration with 1SC yet is because it has only been requested by two people. I’m sure you can understand that we prioritize integrations that have more requests.
Hi Shane,
I do understand that with only two 1SC requests, we are at the bottom of the list. 🙁
BTW – what do you mean by changing the email parameter? How do I do this?
Thanks!
When you create an evergreen Lockdown campaign, you’ll have a dynamic link that you can send in your emails. We automatically add an “email” merge field to this link, for various email marketing services. 1SC is not in that list, but you can grab a link generated for a different email marketing service and just replace the merge field with the one for 1SC.
I’m a 1shoppingcart user too and I would love to have it integrated into Thrive Themes.
Brilliant! You have taken “scarcity” to a whole new level.
Love the fact that potential customers will not be able to cheat the countdown. Next time I have a sale they will think twice. I would.
I also thinks that it adds a lot more credibility to what you say overall on your site. No B.S.
Your dedication to producing the best products is why I will always be a member of the Thrives Themes Family. Quality Products Worth Buying.
Just brilliant (did I say that already)!
Thank you very much, Wendy! I agree that the “uncheatable” nature of the evergreen feature is very important. If you build a reputation with your audience that you mean what you say, it makes a difference. If they find that they can just skip or reset a countdown, that’s really bad for credibility.
Yes, from what I see, Thrive Ultimatum is the ONLY plugin that has a true ‘lock down’. Everything else has a ‘way around it’. Up to now, I’ve been thinking of coding my own changes into a timer to force it to reset every 3 days, based on the visitor, to a completely different/random timer value – so that it’s not obvious that is going on – and that leads me to one question does Ultimatum have that option where the Evergreen Timer can reset itself (for each visitor) to a new/random and different countdown value if that visitor re-visits the page after the original Evergreen timer has ended?
Not exactly, but you can set a time limit after which an evergreen timer resets. For example, you could set it up so that if a visitor misses the deadline, if they come back more than 90 days later, the timer resets for them.
Shane,
Thanks for another great plugin. It is going to be a little while before I put it to full use but I am confident that it will add a nice increase to my income this year.
I really like the Evergreen campaigns. Great work.
Glad you like the new addition! 🙂
Shane et al.
Amazing work!
However, I am puzzled by one big question:
It looks like you are taking this plug-in in the direction of marketing automation.
Are you working towards becoming your own version of Active Campaign, Hubspot (considering they have their own CMS) or even Infusionsoft?
(maybe I am just too easily confused by IT things -would not be the first time – but I am wondering…)
Anyway, thanks for all your great work.
🙂
Hello Trevor,
No, our focus is firmly on creating tools to help increase conversions on a website. Marketing automation is a different beast altogether. If we did take this on (it was my plan for a long time, actually), we’d do it in the context of a completely separate business.
So glad I’m a Thrive member. I’ve been using a different product for my evergreen funnel and this will save me $37/month!
Thanks, Kary!
Shaun this is some great stuff. I just have a few clarifications.
So the deadline works across all devices and ip addresses. So if I activate the deadline on my work computer and I go home and check it out on my ipad, I will still have the same deadline?
What if I optin with a different email address?
Thanks in advance,
Marty
Shane, not Shaun sorry about that. damn auto-correct.
Yes, that’s correct. If you use opt-in as a trigger for an evergreen campaign and you sign up with a new email address, we will also be able to detect that and retain the correct countdown time.
Hi Shane,
I love the plugin and I’m looking forward to using it a lot. I am confused about a few things.
What you’re saying above sounds different from what support is saying.
Replies from support:
“Right now cross-platform tracking is possible with Thrive Ultimatum if the user clicks on their lockdown link on each device they use.”
“If they cleared their browser cookies to start fresh it would be like losing the key.”
“If someone signs up with a different email on a different machine, the system can’t know they’re the same person.”
==
I’m confused about a few things. In the video you say – “the most solid, most bulletproof, and most uncheatable Evergreen Countdown Campaign that you can create. Whether your visitors change browsers, change devices, clear their cookies, or even try to be extra clever and sign up for your mailing list again using a different email address, their countdown will always stay true.”
Confusion point 1. “Countdown will always stay true.” How does the countdown trigger for other devices? If they are using multiple devices, do they need to go back to the email and click the link in order to see the countdown timer.
Confusion point 2. Support says if they use a different email, the system doesn’t know they are a different person which appears to be the opposite of what the video says. My question is how does the system know the person is the same person if they are using a different email? Or, is it…
IF they use a different email, AND clear cookies OR use a different browser OR use a different device THEN the system won’t know that they are the same person.
Thanks for your help. I want to make sure I explain the Lockdown feature correctly to clients.
Hello Rick,
The lockdown feature will make your promotion page accessible only to visitors who A) can be identified by your site (either via the tracking link or via cookies) and B) are still eligible for your campaign (for evergreen campaigns, this happens on a visitor-by-visitor basis).
If someone clears their cookies and tries to access the promotion page, they will see your pre-access page instead. The same is true for when they switch devices.
I recommend that, in your email communication about a Lockdown offer, you make it clear that the offer is only accessible through that link in the email. If the visitor doesn’t click the email link, they won’t see the offer.
Now if you are running an evergreen campaign in lockdown and a visitor clears their cookies AND signs up again AND uses a different email address for the second signup, then they will probably be able to reset the timer. If any of those conditions aren’t met, they will still see their previous countdown time, though.
Oh Yeah!
Another great addition to our Thrive Membership! Looking forward to testing it out.
Love the sound of the locking features, so that customers and visitors can’t try to “cheat” the countdown if they miss it. That’ll teach them to take countdowns seriously. Lol.
Keep on rocking!
Thanks for your comment! Glad you like the new plugin. 🙂
Such an amazing new plugin! Puts my old Scarcity Samurai to shame!
Couldn’t sleep last night thinking about all the creative ways I could use Thrive Ultimatum in my business! Thank you guys for working so hard for us and for bringing the most innovative plugins!!
Thank you for your comment, Emanuele!
This is a huge bonus. Thank you. I’m about to release some new material on my website and I can see this plugin doubling my income from that almost immediately. As usual, Thrive Themes has more than paid for itself.
Glad to see that this came at a good time for you, John!
This is crazy good. I’m so glad I decided to double down on Thrive everything when you guys didn’t have 1/4th of the features you provide now. Thank you for doing such a great job!
Thank you, Alex!
Awesome work Shane and Thrive Team, I cannot wait to put Ultimatum into use in my own eCommerce stores.
Thank you for continuing the innovative and original approach!
Thank you, Brett!
You guys rock as always 🙂
Thank you, Karim!
Tried it and it’s fantastic. One thing that would be helpful for me would be to display a different form on mobile phones (I don’t think there is this option like there is in Thrive Leads?)
Hi Samuli,
That’s a good idea, yeah. I’ll add this to our feature request list.
While this may not be totally relevant, I have had a question that, while there is an avast amount of info out there, I have been curious to know from you guys on the topic of creating an audience.
When you have 0, and you think you have a grasp on Copywirting, SEO, Content Marketing, Psychology of Persuasion, etc, it still does not address the aspect of building an audience.
I have 800+ Facebook followers that do not care/interact with my content. I have visits to my website from long-tail blog posts, and people don’t stick around and read other content. Understanding something such as Scarcity principal is useless without an audience to view the offer.
Hello Ryan,
That’s an interesting question. I agree that being an entrepreneur requires a very wide and complex skill set, especially for getting from zero to something.
As you can imagine, there’s no simple answer to this question, but it’s something I’ve been wanting to talk about in some context (perhaps on a podcast).
Wow Shane! The speed of development is really amazing. Still haven’t taken the time to test how this works out but I bet it’s awesome!
As a feature request, I really wish there was easier and quicker way to A/B test landing pages which is necessary for many of us, since Google Analytics A/B testing is complicated and takes time to put HTML code every time. Kinda surprised that Thrive Themes still don’t have this feature I hope you have a plan for this!
Hello John – I can give more details yet but this is definitely on our radar.
Yep, I’m with you on his one, John. That’s a feature I’d also really like for my own use and as Paul hinted at, it’s something that’s definitely on our radar. 🙂
You guys are friggin’ awesome,I joined a few months ago and my then mailing list (in excess of 20,000 before using Thrive has just gone bonkers!)
Just one question, with the lock down feature, is the ‘buy now’ link automatically disabled?
Thank you, Robin!
When you use Lockdown, whatever link you set as your “promotion page” will be inaccessible to anyone who isn’t part of the campaign. We don’t disable any link, but we redirect anyone who isn’t eligible for your promotion away from the promotion page.
Hi Shane
Congratulations to you and the team for another outstanding innovation. Just some feedback I set up an evergreen campaign targeting new customers on my site. I didn’t choose lock down because I already have a way to contact my subscribers about special offers. I noticed that when I use a different browser the offer starts again. I presume that is because I am not in lock down. Is it possible to design the evergreen campaign where I can target new customers and they only see it once regardless of what browser they use? Also in regard to conversion events my shop is located on another domain name it is possible to have that as a conversion link. Currently the links you can have are internal. Thanks once again for offering such awesome products you really do make my life a whole lot easier. Less grey hair and that is priceless!!!!
Yes, that’s correct. If you want to ensure that the countdown always stays true for your visitors, you need to use the Lockdown feature.
Concerning conversion links, the problem there is that you’d have to place a script or something on the external page. Perhaps this is something we can add as a feature in the future.
Thanks so much Shane for taking the time to respond to my comments. Would you consider in a future version of extending the Lockdown options to include first visit to site. Many thanks Jule
Hi Shane,
I’m loving the new Thrive Ultimatum. A question though, can we do split testing and conversion tracking on these countdowns? Also, we probably can’t run two different campaigns at the same time?
Thanks!
First: Is there a way I can incorporate this right into the “Call To Action” box directly on my sales page? (Like Thrive Leads Shortcode)
Second: Is there a way I can setup the countdown timer for just minutes and not only Hours or day wise?
Example: I would like to promote a flash sale via ppc.
Ad: Just 5 Minutes…90% Off…Click here >> Promotional Page with 4.45 Minutes TIMER.
Ad2: Just 5 Minutes…90% Off Coupon…Click here >> Promotional Page with 4.45 Minutes TIMER and Optin to get the coupon
I think this will boost the conversions on ppc campaign enormously
This is exactly what I want to be able to set up!
Minutes not days!
Question: What shopping carts are people using with this?
For example, if I use woocoomerce and sell something normally for $99, but the special offer is, let’s say, $49, would I just create a separate hidden product that the buy now button auto adds to cart?
This is a pre-sales question. Happy to purchase this product if I can sort out how that works.
Thank you
Hi there,
I’m looking for scarcity plugin and wondering if yours might be a good fit.
What I want to do is exactly the following:
1. Users signup to my Active Campaign list
2. They receive an email series
3. If they don’t take any action they receive an email with an special offer
4. This special offer MUST start when the email is sent, not when the user visit the page…
5. After X days the user can’t see the offer anymore…
I could send this every week as a recurring campaign but only once per user…
Please let me know if this is possible with ultimatum.
Thanks in advance,
– Andoni
Hello Andoni,
Unfortunately, we can’t trigger a campaign from something that happens inside ActiveCampaign. The campaign must start with some interaction on your site.
I want to be able to set my Ultimatum timer for just 15 minutes, yet can only find the option to set it for a limited amount of days.
Can someone please help me?